# walk up on bear in the dark



## ALPHAMAX (Mar 29, 2013)

who's walked up on a bear in the dark on the way to stand? and what happened?


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## GA DAWG (Mar 29, 2013)

I've walked up on several at night Coon huntin. Some run. Some have just stood there. None have tried to get me. Had one parallel us one night about 50 yards. Prolly a 300 pounder. That's the only time I've wondered what one was gonna do. Thank goodness he left.


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## ga.farrier (Mar 29, 2013)

I had one start popping his teeth at me as I was walking out. He was about 50 yards away but he didn't do anything else. Then had one years ago come out of a tree just as I went by it while going to my dogs coon hunting. He came down so fast it sounded like he broke every limb and he hauled butt as soon as he hit the ground.


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## 7Mag Hunter (Mar 29, 2013)

Walked up on one during the day !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He was digging in some dead trees next to the trail I was on and
ran about 10-15 yds, spun around and begun rocking back and forth
and popping his jaws.......I reached for my pistol and realized I left
it in the truck !!!!!!!!!!!!!
It was the day before BP season, and I wanted to check out one last area
for a good tree for my climber and was in a hurry and forgot it............
Kinda tense for 10-15 secs till he slowly turned and walked away.....

Big round body and small ears....250 lbs..........Looked like a black
VW when i first saw him....
(note to self---make sure you have 45acp when in the bear woods)


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## Unicoidawg (Mar 29, 2013)

Some run, some stand there and stare, then others will pop their teeth and bluff charge. If one charges stand your ground, make as much noise as possible and make yourself as big as possible 99.99% of the time they'll go the other way.


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## GA DAWG (Mar 29, 2013)

If one charges me. Im gonna run lol.


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## PappyHoel (Mar 29, 2013)

GA DAWG said:


> If one charges me. Im gonna run lol.



I hunt the bear woods and I'm not looking forward to my first encounter.  . I haven't walked up on one yet, but I know it's a matter of time.  Maybe tomorrow morning?


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## snook24 (Mar 29, 2013)

Walked up on a few. Most ran but a couple climbed trees. They then popped then slapped the tree and shook branches...it's crazy. They say they won't hurt u and no need to be scared but each time it happens I just wanna pee myself lol


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## Marlin_444 (Mar 29, 2013)

Lookin forward to the experience


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## 7Mag Hunter (Mar 30, 2013)

Marlin_444 said:


> Lookin forward to the experience





10-4 on that !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I will have my 45 next time I see one !!!!!!!


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## snook24 (Mar 30, 2013)

I got my conceal weapons permit so I could carry my 40...ill prob never need it but ill tell you I feel a heck of a lot better walking around up there at dark than I did before lol


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## miles58 (Mar 30, 2013)

My dogs have pointed a couple in dens.  Once right after  married second wife a friend and I and her were out grouse hunting and he crawled into a den that was occupied.  That bear cam out and crashed around n the brush for a while.

A few years back I found a dead calf on the edge of a hay field.  A few weeks later I was back in that vicinity and went looking for the calf.  I found a drag trail in the chest deep hay.  It went 30 feet or so one way, then it's turn at a sharp angle and go another 30 feet or so.  After following for a hundred yards or so it dawned on me it probably was a bear that dragged off the calf.  A little ways later it dawned on me it could walk around one of those corners and be right on top of a sow with cubs on that calf.  Sometime I don't think so quick.    That was the only time I EVER worried about a bear, and that spooked me pretty bad that I did something that dumb.

Dave


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## tree cutter 08 (Mar 30, 2013)

most have ran, some pop there teeth, some have held there ground as i have walked by. i had on charge last year scouting during small game. had my 4yr old with me. he came close enough i could have shot him from the hip with my 22mag rifle. i hollard as soon as he came out of the ivys into the road bed and he finally turned and ran only about 50yds and went back feeding on white oaks. he was a young boar maybe 150. walked up on several sals with cubs and she always runs while the cubs will climb a tree most of the time. most that have shown agression are young boars


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## NCMTNHunter (Apr 1, 2013)

Yall's bears must be a little more aggressive than ours.  Every bear i have ever walked up on tore the woods down to get away.


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## ALPHAMAX (Apr 1, 2013)

walked up on one dec 2012 season rabun co. about 20 yrds from it,and it just raised it's head up stared at me and then started eating grass again.I turned and walked away. it wasn't scared of me,freaked me out & this was in daylight


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## 7Mag Hunter (Apr 1, 2013)

Bears can see your flashlights and will not wait on you to get
close !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Chances of you walking up on a Bear in the dark are less than you
winning the GA LOTTERY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Ain't gonna Happen !!!!!!!!!!


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## Blueridge (Apr 1, 2013)

The 3 that I walked up on, 2 ran and 1 paralleled me for 100 yds or so pooping his teeth. All I had was my trusty longbow. I was "un easy"


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## FMBear (Apr 1, 2013)

I've walked up on 3, all in the evenings leaving the woods.  One was only at 15 feet.  In every situation, they tore the woods down trying to get out of there.  Always startling though, just like having turkeys bust out of a roost above you in the dark.


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## j_seph (Apr 1, 2013)

Unicoidawg said:


> Some run, some stand there and stare, then others will pop their teeth and bluff charge. If one charges stand your ground, make as much noise as possible and make yourself as big as possible 99.99% of the time they'll go the other way.


 Easier said when your as big and strong as a bear. I would be nothing more than a plump rabbit


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## tree cutter 08 (Apr 1, 2013)

7Mag Hunter said:


> Bears can see your flashlights and will not wait on you to get
> close !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> Chances of you walking up on a Bear in the dark are less than you
> ...



dang i should buy a loto ticket! i did walk up on one early one morning during bow season. i was easin down the ridge to my stand and was within 30yds and woofffff. turned on my light and caught his hind end headed the other way. he didnt go far and started poping his teeth. i climbed up into my lockon to discover my seat pad was gone. he's still over in the ivy bushes woofing. i stayed put and when it got light enough to see here he comes. he had been laying around for 2 or 3 days in that one spot eating white oaks. i bet there was a 5 gallon bucket of bear poop laying around. i watched him eat for 30 mins under my stand before he left. i had a big 8 patterned on cam until that bear found those acorns and moved in. i did finally kill the deer but it was 2yr later.


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## Supercracker (Apr 2, 2013)

Not at night but.......

a few years back I was walking around on a lease in the off season with my longbow generally exploring and looking for pigs. About 50 yds up the road/trail I saw what I deduced was a yearling calf messing around in the brush about 5 yds off the road. Probably eating wild grapes something. After doing some quick, probably ill advised math in my head  I arrived at feral cows being legal year round. So it was GAME ON. 

The wind was perfect. Steady and in my face so I hugged the treeline along side the ditch while easing up. At about 20 yards or so I got down on all fours and crawled slowly in the ditch up closer to where it was trying to find a hole through the brush. When I was about 5-8 yards away a decidedly non calf animal stepped out of the brush into the ditch about 8' in front of me.  

I remember looking up at it and my first thought being "wow, Florida bears are much much bigger than I expected". Then it huffed at me and did that thing where it bounces up and down on it's front legs a time or two and it all hit me. 

That "calf" was  a largish cub........
this is the sow........
I'm on all fours.......
she can't smell me yet.................
SHE THINKS I'M A PIG!......
I only have a longbow.....
I'm going to be the first person in history to be killed by a Florida Black bear." 


Luckily right then the wind swirled and she got a whiff of me and literally fell over backwards running away. But it took a long time for the pucker to go away.


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## ALPHAMAX (Apr 2, 2013)

If only you could'a  It's amazing what the outdoors brings to the table at times. Most of us have proly had some crazy encounter sometime or you soon will. that would have been scary that close,close enough to


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## irishredneck (Apr 4, 2013)

Walked up on one Turkey hunting on a WMA. He stood up from behind a bush about 8 yards from me, I froze, we looked at each other for 2 seconds then he ran one way and I ran the other.


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## kreekhunter (Apr 4, 2013)

Yes sir you can walk up on a bear in the dark i've done it. One time i was setting a live trap in a cypress head in a clearcut about an hour after dark about 60-70 yds off the dirt rd. I heard something splash in the water and didn't think nothing about it the 1st time, then it started coming closer and wooffffed so i shined the light to see what it was and it was a very large bear 15-20 ft away. You know the fight or flight ? I will tell you my flight kicked in and i flew back to the dirt rd. I don't think my feet touched the dirt but 3 or 4 times going across that clearcut. I went back the next day and got my live trap when it was daytime. My dogs have treed 2 bears coonhunting I got the dogs off the tree and backed up bout 30 ft from the tree and the bear came down and got gone very quickly. For those of you that say you can't wait till that experience, all i can say is it's like nothing else. The hair will definately be standing up on the back of your neck.


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## GA DAWG (Apr 4, 2013)

You think those bears came down quick Kreekhunter? Blow your squaller next time but don't get in the way. I've saw several treed accidently of course.


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## Dana Young (Apr 5, 2013)

In 40 years in the bear woods off north Ga I have had more than 100 bear encounters most in the daylight. as said most run some stand their ground until you keep getting closer then they run. sows with cubs usually pop their teeth. Never I repeat never run from a bear and never show any fear and they will retreat 99.99% of the time I have been bluff charged a couple of times over the years, I charge back and they tuck tail and run. I am way more cautious around wild hogs than bears


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## Marlin_444 (Apr 5, 2013)

Dana Young said:


> In 40 years in the bear woods off north Ga I have had more than 100 bear encounters most in the daylight. as said most run some stand their ground until you keep getting closer then they run. sows with cubs usually pop their teeth. Never I repeat never run from a bear and never show any fear and they will retreat 99.99% of the time I have been bluff charged a couple of times over the years, I charge back and they tuck tail and run. I am way more cautious around wild hogs than bears



Wondered when you would amble by "Bear Whisperer"... I look forward to seeing you in the mountains this season!!!

Take care good friend!


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## Dana Young (Apr 5, 2013)

I'll try to come up


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## EAGLE EYE 444 (Apr 5, 2013)

Two things immediately come to mind when I think of walking up on a bear in the woods in the dark or during daylight hours........

First, probably crap in pants.

Second, probably set new elapsed running time on a marathon run.


I'm thinking that I would definitely fit in the first category for sure.  

For some reason, bears and I just don't mix well together.  Sorta like oil and water.


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## molon labe (Apr 5, 2013)

I have had several close encounters with black bears and have never had one act aggressive towards me. I walked out on the front porch of the cabin in 2003 just at daylight and had one almost commit suicide trying to get away , he went over the railing and dropped about 15 ft , come to find out it had been chewing on all the scented candles on the porch. we have had them come out of the woods when grilling out , had to quit putting bird feed out because they will flat eat bird seed and destroy feeders. but never had any act aggressively.


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## tree cutter 08 (Apr 5, 2013)

x2 on what dana said


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## kreekhunter (Apr 6, 2013)

GA DAWG said:


> You think those bears came down quick Kreekhunter? Blow your squaller next time but don't get in the way. I've saw several treed accidently of course.



Oh yeah Ga Dawg they came outta them trees.  The 1st bear we accidently treed was a biggun' i just got the dogs and let him have his space. By the size of him i'd say 250-300 lbs. When he come outta that tree he got further pretty quickly. On the way back to the truck i did have to look back behind me a couple times though. LOL The other bear the dogs treed i did blow my squaller and lit him up bright as my light would go. He wasn't but about 60-70 lbs so i had a little fun with the fella i had hunting with me. Just glad mama bear wasn't around, didn't whip the dogs, but i hope they don't do me like that again.


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## REB 73 (Apr 6, 2013)

I 've walked up 7 before 2 sows 5 cubs about 100yds away
in daylight didn't make my presents know they fed away from me. Also had two climb the tree i was in teen cub was
the first on wma the second was at home hunting 200 lbs sow she didn't fair so good two different hunts.All in daylight though.


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## pacecars (Apr 17, 2013)

I have walked up on a few and most have run off. I had one a couple years ago when my wife was with me that started popping its teeth, grunting and bouncing up and down on its front paws. We backed out and moved down the way and he followed us in the woodline. We walked back to the truck in the other direction and he followed us. This bear had been seen by several members of the club and had a noticible leg injury and was aggressive toward several people. Game and Fish just said bears aren't normally aggressive and he was probably not a threat.


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## pacecars (Apr 17, 2013)

Funniest bear encounter I had was bow hunting a few years ago. I was sitting in my tree stand just before sunrise when I could make out something on the cable between 2 trees that was supporting the feeder. When I looked through my binoculars I found out it was a small cub that was shinnying out the cable just like a person would do, upside down underneath hand over hand (paw over paw). He made it about half way before finally falling off. He hit that ground and took off bawling.


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## OceanNutt (Apr 17, 2013)

I walked up on one on Coleman River a few years back. Its so thick in places you cant see real good on the ground. I went to the edge of an old overgrown food plot to watch for hogs where they had been rooting. I found a spot that was perfect to see every bit of the field. I went to set down and not 5yds into the thick brush on the edge one was bedded up. I didnt know it was around till it did its growl whoof sound. Scared the crap out of me. All I could see was little black spots through the brush. I just backed up real slow. Didnt know if it was 100 pounds or 600 pounds. And all I had was muzzleloader. It never came out and I didn't hear it leave, but I wasn't about to go check. Come to find out a few days later I shot my muzzleloader and it was off by feet so prob wouldn't have hit it if I had to. Up here you run into bear all the time if you hunt the west side of the county. Usually don't get to me but that one did.


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## Lukikus2 (Apr 18, 2013)

GA DAWG said:


> If one charges me. Im gonna run lol.



Worse thing you can do.



NCMTNHunter said:


> Yall's bears must be a little more aggressive than ours.  Every bear i have ever walked up on tore the woods down to get away.



X2

Except the time me and one slipped up on each other. 



7Mag Hunter said:


> Bears can see your flashlights and will not wait on you to get
> close !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> Chances of you walking up on a Bear in the dark are less than you
> ...



Not everyone uses flashlights given a nice moon.


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## pnome (Apr 23, 2013)

Well, to be honest I couldn't say for sure it was a bear, it was too dark to tell.  All I know it was big and made too much noise to be a deer or coyote.

Walked up on several during the day.  They all ran quick.  Have had two walk up on me.  They ran once I alerted them to my presence.


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## The mtn man (Apr 24, 2013)

I have a 1st cousin that walked up on one in Habersham co. bout 15 years ago in the dark going to his stand, It was a sow, must have had a cub, she bluffed him a couple times, he loaded his 742 and kept walking, she finally charged him from behind, he shot her in the face and head at point blank range, he came out called gw, when they showed up they had an army of gws, he took them to the bear thinking he was in the right, they arrested him and charged him, He went to court, charges were dropped , judge stated gw couldn't prove it wasn't self defense.Bad situation.


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## ALPHAMAX (Apr 24, 2013)

believe I would have had to shoot as well


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## The mtn man (Apr 24, 2013)

I have an encounter almost every year during turkey season with a sow, 3 years ago my son was 11 we walked up on one with a cub, it was about the size of a coon,(the cub), the cub ran up a tree and started bawlin, the sow bluffed us several times, we walked backwards for a ways, she escorted us back to the truck never getting more than 30yds from us, son almost pooped. last year he and a friend were turkey huntin in a ground blind I had set for them in a woodline next to a field, I could watch them from my truck, they had 3 gobblers comin to them when they tucked tail and ran, I though they had spooked them, when 5 bears strolled up to their blind, was a big sow with 2- 2year old cubs and 2- yearling cubs, the small ones destroyed decoys, one of the 2 year olds stuck it's head in the blind window, thats when I entervened. the sow was irritated but left.


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## southernboy2147 (Apr 24, 2013)

never walked up on one but saw one out of my stand once and was to scared to get down. made somebody come and get me with a gun cause all i had was a bow. I cant imagine walkin up on one


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## NC Scout (Jul 20, 2013)

*Ditto*



NCMTNHunter said:


> Yall's bears must be a little more aggressive than ours.  Every bear i have ever walked up on tore the woods down to get away.



and all I ever see is his big black butt leaving that place!


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## The mtn man (Jul 22, 2013)

Sows with cubs act aggressive, but mostly all bark and no bite, most are just curious, they do not fear us when city people feed them at their (mtn retreat) or whatever they call it.Usually don't end well for the bear.


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