Bear Encounter - cool or idiotic...you decide

[BeeMaa]

I ran across this video on YT and would like to hear what the membership thinks about it. The guy filming says "cool", but I suspect his response would have been different had he been mauled.

 

[IvW]

I know jacksh....about black bear encounters but I see two major dumbasses in this clip....
Brainless idiots.....
When they get chowed the bear is at fault...
Same as wild encounters by dumbass tourists this side of the pond.....get your rental car destroyed by an elephant...etc.etc.etc...

 

[curtism1234]

 

[BourbonTrail]

They didn’t provoke the bear, but I have to agree with Ivor. That would have been handled differently by people who spend time around bears. Not sitting around filming it for one thing.

 

[Hunt anything]

Depends on if the bear just walked out on them, if it did remaining calm was the best thing they could do. This appears to be what happened but can’t really tell by the short video. I think I would have backed out a bit though.

 

[375Fox]

I think it’s a pretty cool encounter. It doesn’t seem like they tried to encourage the bear, but it’s unfortunate to think that bear will probably be removed at some point as a problem bear because of this behavior.

 

[Firebird]

This is why at bear spray is made-to teach the bear to avoid humans, not investigate them for food. It’s cool, but this was a missed teaching opportunity

 

[375Fox]

This is why at bear spray is made-to teach the bear to avoid humans, not investigate them for food. It’s cool, but this was a missed teaching opportunity

I’m assuming this is somewhere in western USA. How many people would actually carry bear spray on them while fishing in an area without grizzlies? I’ve had one closer encounter with a black bear than I would have liked while fishing in Pennsylvania but carrying bear spray here is unheard of.

 

[Scott CWO]

I’ve been around a few bears. You can actually see the bear hesitate and likely consider attacking before ultimately continuing to walk off. It’s a large, fearless black bear. The people in this video were very lucky.

 

[1dirthawker]

i always have a large handgun when out fishing etc. i woulda shot it and ate it later.

i agree with the not cool crowd, shoulda run that bear out because it is going to be a problem later.

 

[Tundra Tiger]

I am around bears (coastal brown) a fair amount - work and personal. Blacks? Not really. I have been close to a lot of browns. My opinion? You're missing a category: "Darwin nominee dumbass". Is it cool for us to watch? Sure. But that was just plain stupid. They got lucky.

I don't carry pepper spray. At some point I would have gotten verbal with "Hey bear" and maybe had to follow with a warning shot. I have never had to go past that with browns. I would not have been filming at stick poking distance.

 

[Paul Raley]

In a sense it can be perceived as "cool" encountering a wild animal like this but in my opinion no wild animal should be habituated towards humans like this because normally it does not end well for both man or beast . If it was me there I would have taken the opportunity to teach the animal to be scared of humans .
Rubber bullets , bear spray , rocks , gun shots , etc might have done the trick .

 

[KMG Hunting Safaris]

I think its about getting into that personal space of any wild animal. You just can't guarantee the outcome. I think they were a bit irresponsible. Situation could have turned for the worse at a rapid rate.

 

[AjFourie]

Look I have zero experience with with bears, I saw one once in a zoo and that's pretty much it for my bear encounters. That being said, we do spend allot of time around other animals that could potentially be dangerous. I'm sure anyone with some experience with some of these animals will agree that it is always better to give the animal it's space, things can change quickly and then they end up blaming the bear.

 

[BRICKBURN]

That bear has certainly seen it's share of coolers and fishing bait in its life time.

Hiding behind the stump??!! Surprise the bear....
Those guys should skip a little beer consumption and turn their heads a little more often in Bear country.

They are very lucky that bear was on a tour and habituated to humans.

One day it will not turn out well for someone.

 

[Longwalker]

We have black bears around our yard at our summer cabin in Northern British Columbia almost weekly. Although bear encounters are common, we don't get complacent. Our big dog takes care of most encounters. My wife always carries pepper spray. I carry a rifle slung on my back most times. We've had to get serious about chasing away a bear that was acting like that a few times over the last twelve years, but haven't killed a nuisance bear yet.
Regarding the video, If I had no means of defence, I'd be backing out of there. If I had pepper spray, I would have used it. If I had a rifle, I would have fired a warning shot before the bear ever got that close. If he kept coming he'd be dead.
My good buddy who lives full time near our cabin has had to shoot 6 bears last year alone. He gets the call when the local game warden can't make the long distance drive to take care of a nuisance bear in the neighbourhood. Some of those problem bears have threatened people, but all started out just like that one, then progressed to breaking into cabins, killing livestock and poultry, or pets, or other assorted mayhem. It always starts with a bear that is not afraid of people.

 

[Randy F]

I would have been backing away. They’re lucky it wasn’t a big old sow with a couple of cubs on her heels.

 

[Ryan]

Video- idiotic

I am around bears (coastal brown) a fair amount - work and personal. Blacks? Not really. I have been close to a lot of browns. My opinion? You're missing a category: "Darwin nominee dumbass". Is it cool for us to watch? Sure. But that was just plain stupid. They got lucky.

I don't carry pepper spray. At some point I would have gotten verbal with "Hey bear" and maybe had to follow with a warning shot. I have never had to go past that with browns. I would not have been filming at stick poking distance.

I agree with you on everything but the warning shot. Alaska Magazine had an article 10 or so years back about bear protection. One of the take aways from stats and experts was warning shots aren't really all that loud to them and rarely phase them much. And now you have less shots in your weapon. The only exception to that are cracker rounds that drop near them and then explode. I have a friend who works for USFWS and has had to use one of those. The initial shot didn't phase the bear, but when the cracker went off near it, it left in short order.

 

[Money d Luffy]

I don't think this is a good idea, Lots of things could go wrong.

 

[sestoppelman]

Other than not being aware of the bear and checking behind etc., I think they did fine.
Stay calm, dont freak out, jump up etc.
Stay calm, dont piss him off, bear walks away. Not always going to be that way, but in this case I honestly dont think they could have done any different.
And yes they were lucky too. Big bear!