Bear Charged!

[madtrapper85]

Long story short,

I stalked this one bear down an old logging road but lost eye site of him as he went around the corner, as i came to the corner i snuck just around it hoping to see it again, to get a better look at it, and sure enough there it was, 20 feet away. the first thing i did was check the wind and the wind was coming towards myself so i thought great it doesn't have a clue im here and can't smell me. So i sat an watched him for a bit, and decided i didn't want him, only a 5'5" bear, a younger one. And then all of a sudden he turned and came straight for me, i toke the first shot infront of him to see if that would make him turn, but he kept coming so i reloaded and went to fire again... CLICK.. crap i reloaded again quickly and tried again...CLICK... so at this time the bear was less then 5 feet away so i was holding my rifle out and grabbing my knife while yelling and swearing at the bear, finally about 3 feet away he just stopped in his tracks and toke off into the bush.

Looking back I feel a 3inch blade is great for skinning but not for defense. so i now have a good 9 inch blade, and man was i lucky.

I still can't figure out why he came at me. maybe thought i was another bear. I think my size worked for me too. im 6'4" and 270lb i would like to think i could give the bear a good run for his money but i don't ever want to be that close again by myself.

[fun2ride0]

Holy Cow, glad you're OK. What happened to your rifle? Was it a misfire?

[lostindian]

Good to hear that you are OK and probably a few pounds lighter now that's one story I'm not going to forget thanks for sharing!

[boxhitch]

Just a curious little fuzzy guy, he wasn't serious.
Good for the heart rate though I bet.

[ruger#1]

Maybe put a bayonet on your rifle. Glad to see your still here. Did you leave your shorts in the woods?

[peashooter]

No offence partner, but I think a 5' 6" bear would have his way with you. You are darn lucky that was a bluff he put out there.

[Tenacious Billy]

Yes - I also think the bear would probably have made you it's biatch.

[SHACK]

I would worry less about how big your knife is, and worry more about why your rifle failed to fire!!!! ;)

[OutWest]

I think most everyone would have a tough time with a bear that wanted to take you out. Glad to hear you're ok and what a story!

[Hemi]

I would worry less about how big your knife is, and worry more about why your rifle failed to fire!!!! ;)

I was thinking the same thing, why would you try and chamber a round when you heard the first click. That was just looking to make a big problem a whole lot bigger. Glad you are ok and got out of it allright...

[buckguy]

Good workout for the ticker eh....Definately would want to know why the rifle didn't fire. Good to hear you are alright. Wild animals are after all unpredictable, good to hear he was just bluffing you.

[BromBones]

You had better luck than Lancasters guy did a couple days ago!

[RJ]

I guess no more warning shots? Make that first one count :-D
Glad to hear things worked out tho :mrgreen:

[boxhitch]

You had better luck than Lancasters guy did a couple days ago!
That hasn't hit the airwaves yet.

[peashooter]

Note to self. Tag in pocket, decent size bear charging me at less than 20 feet, put a warning shot in his chest!

[KodiakHntr]

but he kept coming so i reloaded and went to fire again... CLICK.. crap i reloaded again quickly and tried again...CLICK... so at this time the bear was less then 5 feet away so i was holding my rifle out and grabbing my knife while yelling and swearing at the bear, finally about 3 feet away he just stopped in his tracks and toke off into the bush.



That bear definately wasn't serious....If he'd of wanted you, you wouldn't of had time to try misfire number two, or fish a knife out of its sheath.

Not to make light of an adrenaline charged encounter, but its nice that it worked out for both of you.

[steepNdeep]

I still can't figure out why he came at me. maybe thought i was another bear. I think my size worked for me too. im 6'4" and 270lb i would like to think i could give the bear a good run for his money but i don't ever want to be that close again by myself.

Glad it worked out with just a stain in your shorts... After seein' the bear in my avi go Tasmanian Devil when I shot it... I'd put my money on the bear. :wink:

[Rattler]

Wow, I bet you did some cursing at your rifle....

Glad your ok and thanks for sharing the story...

[Barracuda]

I have to ask what type of rifle was it?

[wolverine]

Yes - I also think the bear would probably have made you it's biatch.


Yeah, X2! A hundred pound dog would f*&k up all of your shit let alone a 5 and a half ft. bear. Just think teeth, claws and tough as hell. Glad your okay though. Perfect excuse for a NEW rifle too!

[BiG Boar]

What caused the miss fires ?

Do you know how fast a bear can cover 20 feet?

[peashooter]

faster than you can say, oh sh*&!!!!!

[Big Lew]

I have no idea what type of gun, or what type of reload it has, but I've seen several people with bolt action systems experience similiar problems. In the excitement, they don't fully bring the bolt back enough to eject the spent shell and reload another. At the time they are only looking toward their quarry, not the gun, and usually think there is a problem with the shell or the gun.

[Barracuda]

at a full run about 44 FPS and they can do it for a long distance

[twanger]

Think it was the smelly pants that stopped him:mrgreen:.

[islandhunter]

short stroked the bolt???

[peashooter]

i bet big lew nailed it.

[Barracuda]

be interested to find out if it was short stroked? if it flung brass yet failed to feed or if it was a pin issue.
Practice practice practice with dummy rounds if it was user error

[deer nut]

What's the Lancaster story????

[Rubberfist]

Glad to hear you made it out allright, although I suspect your underwear was DOA...

[Big Lew]

Think it was the smelly pants that stopped him:mrgreen:.
Can't stop laughing! Good one!

[Big Lew]

I've also seen clips not loaded properly so that the next shell isn't high enough for the bolt to pick it up. This scenario would explain him hearing a "click" of the pin being released.

[rifleman]

yer one lucky dude. you should buy a lottery ticket. that bear was playin with ya. glad yer alive ta tell the story.

[Muledeerjohn]

good to hear your story and definitely a big eye opener for alot of us that hunt solo. Someone was definitely smiling down at you

[BromBones]

What's the Lancaster story????

Bay up with the hounds, bear was mauling a dog, guy tried to shoot it but the rifle misfired a couple times. He got on the bear and got a few licks in with his rifle as a club to get the bear off the dog, until the bear turned on him.

Bear proceeded to give him an ass-whoopin, until the dog tackled the bear again. He tried the rifle again and nothing, bear came at him again. More ass-whoopin' from the bear. It finally buggered off, and the rest of the crew found the bear and smoked it. 40 something stitches later, and he was back out hunting again the next morning.

Guess he'll have a story to tell!:-D

[tuffteddyb]

i tried a neat experiment once.made my dog sit and stay i got about a 50 yard headstart and then started running,he caught me in about 20 feet or less, i figure a bear is faster than that.
you one lucky dude.

[RayHill]

Bears are bad ass. I shot a smaller size bear this year right in both lungs and he ripped all the bark off the bottom of a tree before dieing, big teeth and claws!!!

[rollingrock]

I think this bear hates human meat. ;)

One incident involving bear while hunting made my wife want me to quit hunting cuz I'm a solo hunter at most time. When they want you, they stalk and ambush you and will not make a sound before they charge at you. By the time you see the backwards ears, it's too late.

[mbariesheff]

I think you prob missed the first shot if he was 20' away and you quickly shot I call bluff on you actually aiming in front of him. (We all make our stories work to our advantage in a scenario as such) Glad you're ok though haha

[hunter1947]

Maybe the bear did not relize what you where till he was almost on you ,last moment he smelt you ??? ,glad for you and the bear that all worked out at the end..

[sawmill]

I think you prob missed the first shot if he was 20' away and you quickly shot I call bluff on you actually aiming in front of him. (We all make our stories work to our advantage in a scenario as such) Glad you're ok though haha
What a dick head comment:evil:

[B.C.Boy(100%)]

Glad to hear your OK, to bad about the rifle acting up.

Ah, charging bears, I haven't yet experienced one this year, not enough time out in the woods this spring, it's a lot of fun when the ticker gets going so much that your heart is pounding out your own breath.
Adrenaline is a rush.
It's even better when your stalking them in bare feet (nice and quite).

When ever I've been charged by a bear, I just hold my position and keep my muzzle pionted at them, if they don't stop before the muzzle touches their forehead, then they get the pill, but I have yet to pull the trigger in that situation, they generally stop 4-5 feet away and either sonder off or run a way just as scared as you are.

I have way more fun stalking bears then shooting them I think, but still would like some bear hams and burger for this summer.

Since were on the topic of bear charges, I thought I'd share this moment in time with all of you. not trying to hyjack the thread or nothing, just sharing.

This is just one of my memorable bear charges, it was pretty cool.

Last year I came across a nice bear, but wind wasn't good, stalked the bear any how.
Bear took off into bush, never been on this road before so I pushed on and checking it out, working my way back up the old grass covered road I could hear the bushes wrestling, so I got down on the ground in a cross ditch and waited to see what would come out, well it was a smaller bear then the one before, she didn't take long to spot me and then she was gone, I decided to play it out and wait in the cross ditch some more, 10minutes later another bear pops out bigger than the small bear but not as big as the first bear I saw, it saw me hesitated a bit and then walked back into the forest.
Well now I'm stoked three bears one corner, lets see what come out next, so I wait some more, and sure enough out comes the big one, and looks around and then spots me, he stands up, snarling, spitting, and chomping his jaws (his adrenaline), he drops to all four and proceeds to charge me.

I stand up from the ditch and keep my rifle steady. He charged 4 times, he stopped every time, then took off into the bush, I'd wait 15 minutes and he would come back out onto the road and charge again each time he popped out onto the old road, wind was in my favor now that I was on the low side of the switch back, but the old bear wanted to know more.
He took the high road of the switch back and tried to come down through the christmas trees, I left my boots and socks in the spot I had been holding earlier, walked back down the lower road as the bear moved through the small trees. He makes noise, I move.

I could hear him sniffing a way trying to get my scent, snorting and buffing he was.
He finally came out onto the lower road and looked around, didn't see me laying down in the ditch. then he started up the lower road toward my smelly boots and I followed him in my bare feet, he got about 20 feet from my boots and realized I wasn't there.
He then started to look around for me, and there I was 25' behind him rifle in hand and ready.
I think he gave up after these 2 hours of stalk tag (as I call it).
He just walked up towards me and laid down about ten feet in front of me and showed me his belly, I approached him a little and then sat down about 5-6 feet a way.
We both studied each other for a while. then his little lady popped out of the bush onto the road where he had been coming onto the road from out of the bush. She could see the two of us, grunted at him, and then she went back into bush from where she came. and he paid little attention to her. Probably because I was sitting right there, he still needed to keep his wits about him.
I decided that I was going to push on and let these three have the rest of the day to do what ever they do. (eat grass)
Walked past him and collected my boots and walked back up the road to the truck, he followed me for about 500m but then went back to the other two bears that were probably waiting for him to give them coast is clear signal or something.

Man as I wrote this I had a little adrenaline push through me just remembering the whole thing. I don't get that when I think of the Coal Harbour bear that swiped at me when I tried to touch it, that was a close one. lol ah snap, good times.

I was out hunt bears, but other then aim and pull trigger, how could I shoot a bear that I just shared an amazing experience with?
I felt good before that experience and felt the same after.

FYI; I'm NOT Timothy Tredwell, and the word Crazy is way beyond stale to me. lol

[Mr. Dean]

Repeat after me...... Never, NEVER put trust in a bear that's in close proximity. No matter the size, colour or species. It sounds like you like hunting them like I do (taking your time and getting in close to judge) and I have several similar stories, as yours - They can be VERY cagey lil' buggars.

Now wipe out the corn-n-nuts and get back out there! :smile:

[madtrapper85]

It was a savage 111, what happen with the gun, was the back part of the clip popped out when i fired (clip was still in gun just wasn't high enough for the bolt to grab another round), i tired it since but it never happened again. Has anyone else has had this problem with their savage?

Funny thing was i wasn't scared when it happened it was more like reaction like what am i going to do. Happened way to fast to get scared. Thinking of the incident after wards, makes the hair on my neck stand up!

But next time i think im going to bring another person with me hunting.

[J_T]

As a bowhunter I don't always have the luxury of holding up a gun in defence. I've had many close encounters.... too close. This past year I learned the best defence. Grab "The Hermit" and throw him in between me and the grizz. After a week in the bush, the bear wanted nothing to do with him.

[madtrapper85]

I think you prob missed the first shot if he was 20' away and you quickly shot I call bluff on you actually aiming in front of him. (We all make our stories work to our advantage in a scenario as such) Glad you're ok though haha


What a dick head comment:evil:

mbariesheff first of all you don't know me, so that's a very naive thing to say. And second you weren't there. its very easy to take a shot at the ground.

[madtrapper85]

Thanks for the support guys, i am a little nervous with getting out again but im itching to go. I still love stalking them and have learned a lot from this...

[madtrapper85]

b.c boy thats crazy but an experience.

[Barracuda]

i have seen the D mags not inserted correctly and not feed on some rifles but not pop out? Is that savage the one with the botton on the side of the forend? perhaps you gripped/depressed the release button by accident on the first shot?
Its always fun dealing with bears.

[Albafly]

I think this bear hates human meat. ;)

Too many worms in 'em humans....

Glad to hear it all turned out as just a close call. Good learning experience for the future, i guess. I have also had a rifle with a faulty loading mechanism, but i luckily found out at the range.

[The Hermit]

As a bowhunter I don't always have the luxury of holding up a gun in defence. I've had many close encounters.... too close. This past year I learned the best defence. Grab "The Hermit" and throw him in between me and the grizz. After a week in the bush, the bear wanted nothing to do with him.

That one is a very sensitive bear, clearly she was insulted at all the profanity and abusive language used in self defense! And the coup de gras was hitting her on the snout with that stick! Honest mom J_T made me do it!!!

[troutseeker]

I've been charged by gears, it can be a little intimidating. Mind you I charged bears myself twice, the first one was sneaking up on my buddy fishing a nice pool on the Cowichan. The second one was last summer as I was walking up a fishing trail on the Elk river. That little bugger came to me and would not go way. After a few minutes of him following I had enough, picked up a rock and the biggest stick I could find, and ran straight at him yelling like I was Braveheart. That bear turned and ran and I hit him square in the ass with the rock, haha. I lost sight of him fast but he did not look ready to slow down yet...

[GoatGuy]

Seen guys short stroke, pull the bolt right out of the gun, get the gun jammed up, cycle all of the shells right out of the gun without firing one off (quiet fire), guys squeeze the trigger (multiple times once) without loading the gun (done it myself on a turkey :mrgreen:, nothing down the pipe cause I was the caller) and honest misfires.

Tough to judge a book by it's cover without being there. Lots of things that can go wrong when the action's fast and furious.

Glad you're OK.