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mvernelson
senior member (77)senior membersenior member
  
04/12/2017 09:56PM   (Thread Older Than 3 Years)
Kinda funny I just happen to watch this movie tonight on Netflix then happened across this article in reference to the movie and real Black bear encounters. Enjoyed the read. Rare percentages yes even though fatal predatory attacks are on the upswing. One should definitely at least know the right way to react to bear encounters. You could be that one statistic. If you didn't catch the movie, its a good one to catch before you head into the woods this spring lol.

.https://www.outsideonline.com/1962221/how-survive-black-bear-attack.
 
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jeremylynn21
member (49)member
  
04/13/2017 04:51PM  
Link didnt work, Ive seen it before. Pretty good.
04/13/2017 08:55PM  
Oh my gosh are you talking about Backcountry?

I watched that movie last year - a week before I went into the BWCA. Couldn't sleep any of the nights- paranoid out of my mind of a bear sniffing me through the tent, and now we've actually switched to hammocks so I'm doubly paranoid... I've finally taken to wine and Melatonin to help me sleep in the backcountry, and always sleep with bear spray.

On that trip (mere days after I watched this movie) I awoke one morning to the tent open/doors flapping in the wind, and deadpan quiet with no husband in site. All I could think of was that damn bear - in the MORNING! You always fear the night, but as Cliff Jacobson pointed out last spring at the Outdoor Adventure Expo - if you see a black bear in camp - during the daytime, you'd better be nervous. Usually - a teenage male bear that are unpredictable.

Husband was out fishing, and not dead, and we were all fine and safe.

We do trip with our dogs though, so that makes me feel a bit better.

Then my husband and I just watched it again last weekend, right before we go camping again. I love/hate that movie.

I'm such a glutton for punishment!
04/13/2017 11:15PM  
Link from the first post

Link
04/13/2017 11:22PM  
I live in Alaska, off grid and 6 miles from my nearest neighbor in one of the heavier concentrations of Brown/Griz bear populations in AK, the Kenai Peninsula.
I do almost everything Solo, canoe, backpack and hike.

Whether we do or do not carry bear spray, we need to be bear aware. Learn and understand bears and their behavior.
There are many videos about bear behavior, I encourage all of you to view them.
Here is one.
Also make sure you understand/know the difference between a predatory and a defensive attack.
In a nutshell.
Always fight a Black Bear, only fight a Brown/Grizzly bear if it is a predatory attack, otherwise play dead.
In the last two years 3 people have been mauled within 8 miles of where I live by Brown/Griz bears. All 3 mauling's were defensive and the people survived.

Good video on how to be Bear Aware
MikeinMpls
distinguished member(1339)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
04/14/2017 10:40AM  
This is interesting. I know many people are petrified of black bears in the BWCA. Of course I have a healthy respect, but I've never grown to fear a possible encounter. I have had bears in my camp, during the daytime, twice, and seen many more while paddling. Both times in camp, rocks and banging on pots and pans did the trick. Interesting data Linden about fighting a black bear.
04/19/2017 06:22PM  
quote BasecampMom: "Oh my gosh are you talking about Backcountry?


I watched that movie last year - a week before I went into the BWCA. Couldn't sleep any of the nights- paranoid out of my mind of a bear sniffing me through the tent, and now we've actually switched to hammocks so I'm doubly paranoid... I've finally taken to wine and Melatonin to help me sleep in the backcountry, and always sleep with bear spray.

On that trip (mere days after I watched this movie) I awoke one morning to the tent open/doors flapping in the wind, and deadpan quiet with no husband in site. All I could think of was that damn bear - in the MORNING! You always fear the night, but as Cliff Jacobson pointed out last spring at the Outdoor Adventure Expo - if you see a black bear in camp - during the daytime, you'd better be nervous. Usually - a teenage male bear that are unpredictable.

Husband was out fishing, and not dead, and we were all fine and safe.

We do trip with our dogs though, so that makes me feel a bit better.

Then my husband and I just watched it again last weekend, right before we go camping again. I love/hate that movie.


I'm such a glutton for punishment!"


If you worry about bears attacking, leave your dogs at home. Dogs are more aware of their surroundings and may notice a bear before you. They will go to get closer, maybe bark at the bear which will proceed to whip their butts. The dogs will then come running to you with the angry bear right behind, a bear that would otherwise have avoided your campsite.

Most bears do what they can to avoid humans unless they have been taught that they can get food from them. Keep your campsite clean, keep your food out of their reach when you aren't cooking, and leave the real strong smelling food home and you will probably never see a bear. That is, unless the previous camper taught bears about getting food from humans.
04/21/2017 09:44PM  
Lets consult Cliff Jacobson and Kevin Callahan...



bahahhahahaa
muddyfeet
distinguished member(742)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
04/21/2017 11:00PM  
quote BasecampMom: "Lets consult Cliff Jacobson and Kevin Callahan...
bahahhahahaa"


That's hilarious.
04/23/2017 06:04AM  
quote RMinMN: "
quote BasecampMom: "Oh my gosh are you talking about Backcountry?



I watched that movie last year - a week before I went into the BWCA. Couldn't sleep any of the nights- paranoid out of my mind of a bear sniffing me through the tent, and now we've actually switched to hammocks so I'm doubly paranoid... I've finally taken to wine and Melatonin to help me sleep in the backcountry, and always sleep with bear spray.


On that trip (mere days after I watched this movie) I awoke one morning to the tent open/doors flapping in the wind, and deadpan quiet with no husband in site. All I could think of was that damn bear - in the MORNING! You always fear the night, but as Cliff Jacobson pointed out last spring at the Outdoor Adventure Expo - if you see a black bear in camp - during the daytime, you'd better be nervous. Usually - a teenage male bear that are unpredictable.


Husband was out fishing, and not dead, and we were all fine and safe.


We do trip with our dogs though, so that makes me feel a bit better.


Then my husband and I just watched it again last weekend, right before we go camping again. I love/hate that movie.



I'm such a glutton for punishment!"



If you worry about bears attacking, leave your dogs at home. Dogs are more aware of their surroundings and may notice a bear before you. They will go to get closer, maybe bark at the bear which will proceed to whip their butts. The dogs will then come running to you with the angry bear right behind, a bear that would otherwise have avoided your campsite.


Most bears do what they can to avoid humans unless they have been taught that they can get food from them. Keep your campsite clean, keep your food out of their reach when you aren't cooking, and leave the real strong smelling food home and you will probably never see a bear. That is, unless the previous camper taught bears about getting food from humans."




While I had a few encounters with bears over the years. My favorite one was in 2012, on my forty day trip with my dog Bernice. In the night I woke up to her growling, nothing major... kind of under her breath. We both just fell back asleep. Next morning there was a big Bear turd outside our tent. Nothing else disturbed.
To me a dog can not be free roaming. I liked Bernice because she always stayed in eye sight. Also l feel a good dog will look to you for direction on these matters. My first encounter was in the seventies. Old Ruby was a tough old Chessie. I was playing cards at the bottom of the big Rock at our campsite by the lake. Heard a pot clink and looked up to see a bear walking off with my pack. I flew up the rock after it and old Ruby barring her teeth was right behind me. That bear dropped the pack and ran. My point, a dog that stays with you sort of makes you a pack. I believe bears patrol campsites more than you'd think. I'm sure if you were awake at the right time you'd hear them say... dang, another clean campsite. Haha.
ockycamper
distinguished member(1372)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
04/24/2017 04:23PM  
We train our guys that go up every year in a 3 step plan. Bear comes in to camp:

everyone gets in a group about an arms length apart and bangs pots and yells

If the bear advances and continues to do so we would use the bear spray

If a bear exhibits the "attack signals" after both of the above. . .(popping the jaws, swating the ground, blowing and snorting). ..and the above continue not to work and the bear continues to advance.. . .yes we carry firearms. In our camp we carry a Marlin 45-70 government rifle as a last resort.

WE have never had to go past step one. Actually we have had far more Moose Encounters then bear encounters. ONe year my son in law was asleep in the hammock and heard sniffing just outside. . .then the hammock was nudges. Without thinking he pulled back and threw his elbow that diretion and connected with the Moose's head. He was fully awake at that point. But the moose moved on.
SaganagaJoe
distinguished member(2113)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
04/24/2017 07:49PM  
Grandpa chased a bear out of camp in the BWCA with an axe once. They didn't have a clean camp and the bear was sniffing at a tent with two of his students in it (school trip). Everyone was fine. Like anything else it's a great story after the fact.
BuckFlicks
distinguished member(628)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
04/25/2017 04:29PM  
To me a dog can not be free roaming. I liked Bernice because she always stayed in eye sight. Also l feel a good dog will look to you for direction on these matters.


This...

I wish my dog would be like this. I would love for her to come with me on canoe and camping trips.... but she's a beagle who is a) very obstinate and stubborn and 2) follows her nose and ignores me calling her if she is sniffing something she's more interested in... which would be everything in the damn woods.

I know she can hear me... if I go out the door and yell at her for 5 minutes to come in, she'll ignore me without even so much as a twitch of the ear. But if I quietly open the door and shake the treat bag once, she immediately stops what she's doing and sprints full speed to the door (1/2 acre lot... big yard for her to wander in.)

She'd be a terrible dog to take outdoors, or even to take on a walk around the neighborhood.. though she would love a wilderness trip, I'm sure. She also barks every time a leaf blows across the porch, which I'm sure everyone else in the wilderness would hate me for. Every time I see someone who has a dog with them just chilling out in the front yard or instinctively just going where the owner goes without a need for a leash or a lead, I have a slight flash of envy. I think a border collie will be my next dog. Maybe a BC/Lab mix.

My wife loves Chihuahuas. We have two already and she makes it frequently known that she wants another. It's a race to see who gets to replace their dog first ;-) I can't deal with three Chihuahuas in the house.
 
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