Had a bear come thru camp

[avf100]

Where were you camped? It's fairly common up here so we never leave any food or...especially beer out Glad it didn't do more damage as they can be quite destructive. They are pretty easy to chase off if you don't surprise them. They act like a kid in the candy jar when you yell at them.

Regards,
Kevin

We were at McGill campground, which is above Frazier Park, here in So Cal.

[kevinpo]

We were at McGill campground, which is above Frazier Park, here in So Cal.

I used to dirt bike ride and gold mine up by Gorman back in 1979-85 time frame.

Cheers,
Kevin

[MN-Mark]

I have had many bears come through camps while tent camping. They were all more afraid of people than we were of them. Except one. We were fishing right on the US / Canadian border in northern Minnesota. Smallies were hitting so it was after dark when we got back to our campsite. The back of the tent was ripped open, a pack was pulled out and tore open and a first aid kit was ripped up. He must have smelled some ointment or something in the first aid kit.

Our food was hanging in a tree away from camp. About midnight we could hear him trying to get our food packs down. We heard a big crash when the branch broke and the branch, bear and food all came crashing down. We tried to scare him away (remember it’s after midnight and pitch black and we only had flash lights). The bear stood up and roared and charged at us. You never saw two people turn and run so fast! This was before I knew that bears would bluff charge. But no way were we calling his bluff.

We jumped in the boat and tried to scare him away but he always stayed between us and the food. We knew there was an island about a mile away and we found it in the dark and slept on the bare ground. I was surprised how well I slept.

When we returned to our camp in the morning the bear was still there but our food was gone. We we were able to chase him away in the daylight. We ate a lot of fish on that trip!

Later that day we saw some US forest rangers and told them of our experience. They were very interested as they were trying to locate a bear in the area that had lost all fear of humans. When we showed them on the map where we were camped they were disappointed because our camp was a mile into Canada and there was nothing they could do.

Five days later and 8 miles away a camper was mauled by a bear. We will never know if it was the same bear but makes one think.

I have encounter many bears both in the wild and acclimated to people around campsites. Just give them space and let them know you are there and they will leave. I have never been afraid or nervous except that one time. There was something different about that one.

Mark

[ShooTingSTar]

When I was a kid I had a black bear chase me into the back of my dads pickup truck camping at Crater Lake, OR. Never knew I could fly till then!

During my 25 years living in AK I had a rental unit in my home for 15 years. One of my tenants was a very nice African American woman and her son. She was a department head at the hospital where my wife at the time worked. Urban bears are a real problem in Juneau, AK. So one day I'm yakking with her and she tells me she had the apt. door open with just the glass screen door closed. She looks at the door and there is a black bear checking out the interior of the 3 bedroom apartment unit. She said she grabbed her son's baseball bat and went out to confront the black peeping bear. She told me. "It was gonna be black on black" I nearly fell over I was laughing so hard.

[Canyonlight]

When I was a kid I had a black bear chase me into the back of my dads pickup truck camping at Crater Lake, OR. Never knew I could fly till then!

During my 25 years living in AK I had a rental unit in my home for 15 years. One of my tenants was a very nice African American woman and her son. She was a department head at the hospital where my wife at the time worked. Urban bears are a real problem in Juneau, AK. So one day I'm yakking with her and she tells me she had the apt. door open with just the glass screen door closed. She looks at the door and there is a black bear checking out the interior of the 3 bedroom apartment unit. She said she grabbed her son's baseball bat and went out to confront the black peeping bear. She told me. "It was gonna be black on black" I nearly fell over I was laughing so hard.

That's the best thing I have read in a long time........that is funny and still laughing after I read it the first time an hour ago !

Dan

[toolman.dustin]

I've never been face to face with a bear. But, while camping in Stonewall, CO, in July 2019, I talked with a lady who lives in Trinidad. I mentioned we had a bear go thru the campground the night before that took down 20 humming bird feeders and sucked the syrup out of them. She told us that just 4 days earlier she had two little lap dogs that she let outside in the early mornig, while in Trinidad. She heard them barking and went to the door just in time to watch a bear swoop up one of the dogs and eat it. I was shocked at the way she talked about this situation. I looked at her husband and he smiled and said, well, at least she's started talking again. She's been so stunned she didnt talk for 3 days. I'm guessing witnessing something like that would be difficult to process.

[ShooTingSTar]

Was camping years ago at Liard River Hot Springs provincial park. It was mid afternoon and back then my X and I tent camped. I decided to take a nap in our tent. I awoke to X screaming BEAR, BEAR, BEAR. I jumped up and couldn't get the tent door zipper open so went through it. By gosh there was a bear in our site. Big black one. I was armed at the time and shewed it out of the site. We sat there and tracked it around the north loop of the campground by watching campers pop up on the roofs of their RV's like Lemmings as the bear cruised the campground. But moose are a bigger issue on the board walk trail up to the hot springs.

Also, years ago I was making a high speed run from Whitehorse Y. T. to Fairbanks, AK. cruising along at a buck ten when a very large mama grizzly/brown bear comes out of the woods along the Alaska Hwy. I climb on the binders and stop 75' short of her. She walks to the fog line, looks both ways and lets out a loud woof and one by one her 3 small cubs pop out of the woods and they cross the Hwy. Then after that cool experience it was back up to warp speed.

During our return RV'ing trip in 2016 for 90 days up north we were north of Pink Mountain when we crested a hill and there was a brown cloud over the Alaska Hwy ahead of us about 1.5 miles. Thinking fire 1st, but no after being in the fire business for 10 years before switching to law enforcement in AK. Not smoke! As we closed and slowed we noted a large heard of bison stampeding along the highway heading north. So I stopped in the road. Didn't want a head on with 2,000 lbs of muscle in the event they decided to change lanes without signaling. They passed. We moved on

[orbiker]

All great bear stories.
Almost 50 years ago our family and both my uncle's families were camping at the Boundary Waters Canoe Area trailhead campground. The whole campground was awakened twice in the night. Our family was in a tent trailer and the uncle's families were in trailers. They are from St Paul. A bear or 2 were trashing the trash cans. Someone starting screaming and beating pots and pans together. We could see the bears moving around. There was not a lot of sleep that night.
The next day trash was all over the place. This is way before bear proof trash cans. All the families headed out on a 5 portage trip to an island in the middle of a big long lake. No bears there for our 5 night stay. What a great experience. I even carried the canoe. I was 15. KEN

[SGT ROC]

Probably 25 years ago, maybe more, we were camping in a pop up. Us and twin sons. We were camping at the Allegheny Reservoir (Kinzua Dam) - Red Bridge Camp ground to be exact. We were awakened to thumping an noises under our end of the camper. We thought id was Raccoons. Turned out to be a bear, which we did scare away. Very common in our neck of the woods. He went to the next campsite and took their cooler with him. They never did find it.... THE next night we heard it again, so started beating on the bottom of the camper to scare it away. DW had a flash light and told me to stop. She said to come look. It was a Skunk. Thank god it didn't spray. I'll take a bear any day..... The kids laughed their buts off.....

[ShooTingSTar]

LOL Bob. Need to carry a case of ketchup. Just in case.