Bears?

[HikingGuy]

There are a whole lot of bears in my area, has anyone ever been confronted by a bear? How would one deal with such of a confrontation?

 

[Captain]

We have bears here too but they don't bother us. Probably because we go the other way when we see one. I've never come face to face with one and I hope to never.

 

[hikingprincess]

I have never even seen a bear in real life outside of the zoo! I would completely freak out if I came face to face with one out in the wild.

 

[SmackontheWeb]

Bear pepper/mace spray. I live in the TN mountains and black bears are present in pretty much all the parks/nature areas. Got a can about the same size as your home CO2-type fire extinquisher. They've even got nifty holsters for them. I'm not crazy about the added weight but it beats a mauling. However, I have been stomping around these mountains for decades and except for signs of their presence, I have never had an encounter with any bears.

 

[Michael]

There aren't any bears in my area, and that's how I like it. Especially since bear spray is illegal around here.

 

[HikingGuy]

I will have to look into bear spray, I don't know if it is legal or illegal here, I guess I need to call Department of Natural Resources, they should be able to tell me.

 

[oldmangunner]

I have never really had a problem with bears. As long as you remember not to leave food in places it should not be then bears will usually leave you alone.

 

[HikingGuy]

I was told they are less apt to bother you if you keep your food in your car where they cannot smell it, is there any truth to this? I just worry they will go after my car instead of me.

 

[Alliegator]

They will tear into anything to get food if they are hungry enough. Your food at your camp should be away from the camp and strung up between two trees with the food in the middle. We try our best to avoid them too. If they are somewhere we want to go, we either wait until they are gone or we go around-far around.

 

[evergreen]

If you are in bear country try making as much noise as possible so that they can hear you and don't be down wind because they won't catch your scent and won't notice you are coming, the general idea is if they know there are humans in the vicinity they will stay away from them. A bear spray is always handy tho too.

 

[HikingGuy]

I can't find any information in my area on bear spray. I will have to keep looking. I may have to call the Department of Natural resources and ask them.

 

[faye]

I never had an encounter with a bear face to face yet. And I hope not in the future! I am really scared of them!

 

[evergreen]

If you want to get the low down on bear sprays go to your local camping equipment supplier or a hunting shop should have them to, worst comes to worst a pepper spray should work fine to.

 

[HikingGuy]

Good to know. Do you get fined if you use them without permission? Would I need like a permit or something to use it, or is that waived because it would be for survival.

 

[Michael]

Good to know. Do you get fined if you use them without permission? Would I need like a permit or something to use it, or is that waived because it would be for survival.

The laws vary by region. You're best off looking up the law for your state to see what it says. In some states it's totally legal for non-felons. In other states you need an FID or LTC card. Still other states cap out the concentration of the active ingredient at various levels. I think one state caps the size the container can be.

 

[Paige]

I've been to the Smokies on vacation and went to Cades Cove to see the village. Bears are usually every where and people are so stupid. We saw a mother bear with three cubs and people were pushing their kids toward her to get a picture. I left but I didn't hear of any mauling. People can be so stupid around wild animals sometimes.

 

[HikingGuy]

We went to Newfoundland years ago and stayed in a national park, our camp site was very close to most wildlife, we had a bear sleeping under a tree and moose eating in the field.

 

[dinosaur]

All excellent ideas and sound advice. I also carry a .50 caliber rifle. A 400 grain slug is a strong deterrent.

 

[evergreen]

Good to know. Do you get fined if you use them without permission? Would I need like a permit or something to use it, or is that waived because it would be for survival.

Like the op said it depends state to state, but even if you don't have a special certificate you can carry it, it's mot like a gun where you kill the bear this just scares it away, rangers won't bother you either, the biggest problem would present itself when buying it in my opinion, but even that's a formality.

 

[Bear Warrior]

I have ran into bears but never had a problem with them. In each case they just looked at me turned and walked away. Knocking on wood.