Non Lethal Bear Encounters (pics)

theat said:
Yeah, definitely nuts! I have spent a lot of time around bears and I think I have developed a good sense of what an aggressive bear looks and acts like. If you watch their body language and facial expressions, you can get a good feel for how aggressive they might be. Of course, they are wild animals and can obviously snap at a moments notice, so I wouldn't recommend anyone get close to any bear. This sow was acting very submissive and even kept covering her eyes with her paw. I still only stuck around long enough to get a few pics and a short video.
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Thanks for the pictures theat. Just don't Treadwell on us. Stay safe. mtmuley
 
theat said:
Yeah, definitely nuts! I have spent a lot of time around bears and I think I have developed a good sense of what an aggressive bear looks and acts like. If you watch their body language and facial expressions, you can get a good feel for how aggressive they might be. Of course, they are wild animals and can obviously snap at a moments notice, so I wouldn't recommend anyone get close to any bear. This sow was acting very submissive and even kept covering her eyes with her paw. I still only stuck around long enough to get a few pics and a short video.
Click to expand...

Seems that there was a guy in Alaska that thought the same thing about bears. Didn't work out to well for that individual......or his girlfriend.....as I recall! Again, "Awesome" photos Theat! Thanks for sharing them!!
 
theat said:
I was looking through some older pictures of mine last night after an evening of glassing some of my favorite early season bear spots. I thought you guys might enjoy seeing some pics of my more interesting bear encounters that I was able to capture. I have been charged a handful of times, but for some reasons in those instances my mind went more towards self preservation than "get the camera".

This is a bear that I ran into on day 11 of my first solo unlimited sheep hunt. I was climbing a steep ridge headed for a ram I had spotted the night before. The bear was moving quickly downhill towards me at 75 yards when I first saw it. I immediately pulled my pistol and got ready to defend myself as my first impression was that the bear was running right at me. Fortunately the griz had not seen me at all and was just making its way down the mountain. At about 40 yards it turned to avoid the little cliff bands where I was and ended up sitting down about 50 yards away. The bear was just sitting there looking down the hill, so I decided to set my handgun down and grab my camera. To get this picture, I had to say "hey" a few times until it looked over in my direction. It saw me at that point, but didn't seem to care much about me. She looked my way for a few seconds then started looking back down the hill. She left about 30 seconds later. Not sure if it was the same bear, but at 3 the next morning a grizzly woke me up in my bivy sack by tearing into my pack leaning against a tree 10 yards from me. I grabbed my rifle, rolled over, pointed the gun at the bear and yelled at the top of my lungs. Luckily, I must have sounded scary since it ran off. Although, it did spend the rest of the night circling me huffing and stomping the ground. I could only see it when it walked though streams of moonlight through the trees. That was a long night!

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This is a sow that I spotted while shed hunting. I snuck into about 150 yards to get some pictures. Eventually she spotted my dog running around me and ran off behind a boulder and never came back out. I was curious to know where she had disappeared and headed over to the rocks to find out if she was still there. On the other side of the rock was a small cave and sure enough it was her den and she was in there. I don't think she liked the company!

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I stumbled onto this bear a couple days before the one above in the next drainage over. I had no idea he was there until I was 30 yards from him. He huffed a bunch and climbed up a huge ponderosa. He put on quite the show. I didn't have any bear spray or a weapon other than my dog on this one. I wouldn't have stuck around, but once he was up the tree I felt pretty safe.

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Great pics!! The cave picture is awesome!
 
Very cool pictures! Bears are my favorite animals to observe.
 
What a collection of beautiful bear photos. Thanks for sharing them.

Bears have always fascinated me but I'm not keen on surprise encounters. Today's the day I reconnect the electric bear fence.... I'm glad we don't have Grizzlies or Brown Bears here.
 
theat said:
I was looking through some older pictures of mine last night after an evening of glassing some of my favorite early season bear spots. I thought you guys might enjoy seeing some pics of my more interesting bear encounters that I was able to capture. I have been charged a handful of times, but for some reasons in those instances my mind went more towards self preservation than "get the camera".

This is a bear that I ran into on day 11 of my first solo unlimited sheep hunt. I was climbing a steep ridge headed for a ram I had spotted the night before. The bear was moving quickly downhill towards me at 75 yards when I first saw it. I immediately pulled my pistol and got ready to defend myself as my first impression was that the bear was running right at me. Fortunately the griz had not seen me at all and was just making its way down the mountain. At about 40 yards it turned to avoid the little cliff bands where I was and ended up sitting down about 50 yards away. The bear was just sitting there looking down the hill, so I decided to set my handgun down and grab my camera. To get this picture, I had to say "hey" a few times until it looked over in my direction. It saw me at that point, but didn't seem to care much about me. She looked my way for a few seconds then started looking back down the hill. She left about 30 seconds later. Not sure if it was the same bear, but at 3 the next morning a grizzly woke me up in my bivy sack by tearing into my pack leaning against a tree 10 yards from me. I grabbed my rifle, rolled over, pointed the gun at the bear and yelled at the top of my lungs. Luckily, I must have sounded scary since it ran off. Although, it did spend the rest of the night circling me huffing and stomping the ground. I could only see it when it walked though streams of moonlight through the trees. That was a long night!

View attachment 104549

View attachment 104550


This is a sow that I spotted while shed hunting. I snuck into about 150 yards to get some pictures. Eventually she spotted my dog running around me and ran off behind a boulder and never came back out. I was curious to know where she had disappeared and headed over to the rocks to find out if she was still there. On the other side of the rock was a small cave and sure enough it was her den and she was in there. I don't think she liked the company!

View attachment 104551

View attachment 104552

View attachment 104553


I stumbled onto this bear a couple days before the one above in the next drainage over. I had no idea he was there until I was 30 yards from him. He huffed a bunch and climbed up a huge ponderosa. He put on quite the show. I didn't have any bear spray or a weapon other than my dog on this one. I wouldn't have stuck around, but once he was up the tree I felt pretty safe.

View attachment 104554

View attachment 104555

View attachment 104556

View attachment 104557
Click to expand...
Incredible!!
 
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