DIRECT , FIRST HAND , --- Have you ever been Attacked by any bear WHILE ARMED ? --- If so , WHAT WAS THE fIREARM , and cartridge ?

How did it come out ?

If you had it to do over , -- what was the lesson .

If you've been attacked more than once , and you don't have much time , -- what was the most remarkable attack ?


------ I'll start off , my only humble attack was by a Blackie , when I was about 19 ; -- I wasn't armed , -- so it wouldn't count here . .

I'm sure there will be plenty of posters with "hairy bear attack" stories but I must have been doing something wrong all these years to have never been actually attacked! I've seen hundreds of Black Bears of all kinds of color phases in every kind of situation you can imagine, armed, un-armed, day, night, carrying meat, close, far away, camping, fishing, backpacking, mountain climbing, cutting firewood you name it never so much as bum rushed or nothing. Every time as soon as the bear knew I was there they were gone.
Mind you I still keep my eye on them every time until I know they are well on their way but I must admit I am not afraid of being "attacked" as I think the chance is remote at best.
In my humble opinion your best chance of mixing it up at least with a Black Bear are in areas where residents have fed them or allowed them to feast on garbage or scraps or where they are accustomed to being fed at a campsite or from cars feeding them snacks. Bears can become un-predictable once they lose that fear of humans and then associate them with food.
Grizzlies or Browns are altogether a different story and thankfully I've not had that number of encounters with them as Blacks.

Bluff, not a real attack, but here goes. I had a fence building crew in a big wall tent, as we were building range fence 30 miles from town. Several black bears were in the area, and the FS shut down a nearby camp ground on account of the bears. One night one of my guys woke me up and said there was a bear hanging around our kitchen shed. When I went down to look, the bear charged. I had a .45 ACP and was squeezing the trigger when he stopped at about 20 feet away. That bear was probably around 300 lbs, and my pistol felt woefully inadequate. He stopped and walked up the hill above me a short way and was huffing and popping his teeth. I shined my flashlight around and found he had gotten my meat cooler out of the rafters, so I high-tailed it back to the tent and let him have the meat. After that I took even greater pains to put our food out of reach. My brother-in-law had a bear tag, so I got permission from the property owner for him to come hunt. The first day nothing showed up. The next day he was changing into his orange t-shirt when he looked behind his truck to see a different, and even more troublesome bear, watching him from 30 yards away. It wasn't too hard to fill that tag.

...I track wounded big game with my tracking dog and that include brown bears too...I have shot 3 wounded bears so far and it was just once I got charged...after some 5 km tracking the dog catch up with bear and it was holding the bear, barking and howling at it in the woody slope, I sneak up close 30 m or so and peak over the ridge - the bear was shot high in his front right leg - and saw bear sitting giving me the oportunity to shot broad right side...it was then wheh I made mistake, instead of shooting it hard on his shoulder I take a neck shot that went bad (too low) instantly after "bang" the bear gave such an dreadful roar and located me in the instance and attack (it was FAST) I was just able to work the bolt when he was with me - now the lucky part - since he was shot in the right front leg and he came slightly from mine right - I was just able to put the gun at his shoulder to push my self away passing the bear and pulling the trigger - bullet (9,3 x 62 19 g TUG) went slightly quartering passing the breast on through the base of the neck breaking it, I sliped at that moment and rolled down the slope - lost the site of the bear for a moment but luckily he was unable to get up...gave him another shot and it was over...if the bear had his right front leg in order I would be dead meat there and it gives me the creeps every time I remember as at this very moment...so just my 2 cents - always (if possible) aproach the wounded bear above, when shooting attacking bear go for the center of mass, becouse it wont be a steady target - usually swinging head, and use as big gun as you can handle (I think all guns and bullets suitable for big cats are just perfect)...

mouse93,
Tracking brown bears with a tracking dog is a great idea, I wish I could do it but unfortunately in AK that is illegal. I suppose you could get permission from a trooper but I know one guy who used a dog to help him finish off a bear and he got tagged for it.
Just thought I'd let you know, if you don't already.

There was a story in the newspaper here last spring about a guy that had a very close encounter with a grizzly. He stepped off the trail to releave himself and was charged and knocked down by the bear. The bear took off after knocking him down. He was carring a .44 mag, but said he the bear was on him so fast he didn't have time to draw it. He described the impact of the bear to being hit by a linebacker.

The following is an excerpt from one of my articles on hunting black bears in BC. The guide's name is Roy Pattison.

***

I trusted his judgment; he obviously knew what he was seeing after having chased Canada's bears for over 20 years.

Once, however, it had been the other way around. On a fall hunt, a few years ago, a female client from Germany put a bullet through the hump of a big grizzly. Armed with a 30/06, Pattison, along with his German shepherd, Radar, followed the bear into the bush. The dog soon found the wounded grizzly, and Pattison put three 220-grain bullets into it.

Still, the enraged animal managed to launch an attack, tearing a huge chunk of flesh from Pattison's left buttock. The bear then bit the guide's ankle and turned him upside down for a good shaking. The dog's persistent harassment and Pattison's kicking and screaming eventually caused the bear to let go and flee.

While Pattison spent a week in a Prince George hospital receiving numerous skin grafts and treatment for a chipped ankle bone, his brother and friends unsuccessfully searched for the bear.

The following spring the lady from Germany returned and again wounded a big grizzly. This time, with a new-found respect, Pattison borrowed his brother's .458. Radar again located the bear, and two shots from the big-bore rifle put it down for keeps.

When Pattison removed the hide, he found four healed gunshot wounds and recovered two 220-grain, 30/06 slugs; the grizzly was the same one that had mauled him the previous fall. The 10-foot tall, life-size mount sitting in the main lodge now serves as a reminder of the guide's adventure.

I've seen the bear that Roy has mounted in his cabin. He said the bear picked him up and shook him like a dog shakes a rat, breaking his ankle. I do know that after that fiasco he no longer uses a .30-06 on grizzlies, has switched to a .338 and likes it a lot better. That should tell you something.

Don't Get Far From The Guide!
Should be the title of my closest encounter with a Bear!
I was Hunting in northern Alberta in the flat country out of Grande Prairie!
My Hunting partner Louie and I got into trouble TWICE on that Moose Hunting trip, with Bears!
The first incident began innocently enough! Louie and I had never seen a "buried" Grizzly kill! And we had wandered out of safe range (arms length!) from our native Albertan Hunting Guide - Joe Smith!
We came upon a 5 foot high mound of twigs, limbs, small trees and leaves. It was so out of place that we started kicking at it and pushing the "mound" with our feet! Trying to figure out what it was!
Joe came running towards us from a hundred yards away and was yelling at us to retreat from the mound toward him - quickly!
Once at a safe distance Joe explained what it was (a Grizzly killed and buried Moose - most likely half eaten) and that the Grizzly would not be far away and likely to charge us for messing with its food!
Sweat came upon me!
A day or two later Louie and I AGAIN got out of arms length frm Joe the Guide! We discovered a large hole in the flat ground that went straight down! Louie put down his Rifle and lay on the ground and stuck his head in the hole! Joe AGAIN came a running to us in time to yell instructions just as the hole in the ground erupted in roaring and scrambling fur!
Joe yelled at us "its a Grizzly boys - shoot him in the head"!
The Bear was literally at mine and Louies feet as we fired into its head as it charged up out of the ground roaring and swiping at us!
This time I sweated and pissed myself!
The beautiful nearly 400 pound Grizzly colored Black Bear died at our feet and thankfully it turned out to be just that a huge boar Black Bear! We had no intention of Hunting Black Bears but that bruiser gave us no choice what so ever!
It turns out that Black Bears in the flat country of Alberta often dig straight down in the ground (no hills around to dig into!) and this one was making or had made a nifty den to hibernate in!
I prefer to Hunt in Bear country with the ultra positive safety, type pre-64 Model 70 Rifles. I was using one of these in caliber 30/06 on that Hunt and simply would have been Bear food if I had needed to work the action and put a cartridge in the chamber like I see some folks do with lesser Rifles do.
Long live the pre-64 Winchester Model 70's!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I had one give me quite a bit of trouble in my holiday trailer this year at work.She ripped the side tin off and got her head under my bed,chewed my water cans and caused quite a ruckus for a few nights.One night she wouldn't quit and kept hammering on the wallsI cut a hole in my window screen ,opened the window a bit and let her have it at 5 feet with OO buck.Felt kind of bad but it was a real problem bear.Tons of trouble this year with quite a few different ones in northern alberta.Black bears

I have no where near the experience of many who post here, but I'll share three lesson worthy black bear encounters I've had over the years. None are attacks in my book, but encounters that showed me a lot of my weaknesses and a little of my strengths.

1) About a dozen or so years ago I spent most of the day hiking up to a meadow between two mountains to setup a base camp to longbow hunt deer for five days. This area was full of bears and I had been warned to keep a clean camp. At that time it was illegal to have a firearm in that area when hunting with a bow. Friends and family members were concerned that I was unarmed and alone for five days. My response was "when was the last time you recall anyone being killed by a black bear". I reached the meadow late in the evening with little daylight left. I had little water and needed to hike to a nearby spring for water. I decided to just dump my gear (food and all) at my base camp site and quickly run over to the spring. When I returned in near darkness, I walked right into a bear that was going through my gear. This bear was probably just as scarred as I was when it ran past me, but at the time I thought it was going to run over me. I fell backwards over my gear and about peed in my pants. I did almost nothing right and just about everything wrong. I had no business being there at the skill level I was at, but in the long run I think it helped me to improve.

2) I spotted a black bear and worked my way into a position to ambush it as it came up a narrow draw. I was using a primitive muzzleloader that I needed to get w/in 50yds to effectively use. I was alone (my partner was nearly 2 miles away on a different mountain). I stopped at the base of a large tree w/ the gameplan to shoot from around this tree as soon as the bear was w/in my range then I would roll back around behind the tree to quickly reload. I shot this bear near broadside tight behind his shoulder. As I recovered from the recoil I could see him spin around, go down and get back up. I quickly rolled back around the tree and just managed to partially remove my ramrod when the bear had covered the 40+ yards to my tree running directly past me so fast that I could feel the breeze off of him. He continued about another 60yds straight up this narly draw until he dead ended into a clump of blow downs. I managed to pull myself together and watch this bear kick the crap out of the clump of trees for about 15 seconds before he did a blood curdling moan and fell over dead. This situation really taught me how much damage a bear can do even when he is dead on his feet. Thank goodness he found the trees and not me.

3) I was following up on a wounded black bear that went into a thicket. This bear turned on me in a dead run w/ his head down. I intended to locate and kill this bear so I cannot say for sure what it would have done when it got to me. I felt as though it intended to bowl me over. What I did that I feel good about was to lower my position to level my rifle on the same plane as the center mass of the oncoming bear. The bear ran head first into a 300gr partition. Even though it was an immediate CNS kill, the momentum of the bear carried him to my feet. As prepared as I was I would never had time to get off more than that one aimed shot. I also felt very vulnerable on my backside the entire time in the thicket. I think this bear could have easily circled behind me if he wanted to.

With all this stuff said, I've always felt that the weakest link in my equation was me and not my equipment. Bigger guns are good but not always the answer.

Gary

Here's another I forgot, and it was my first bear. I was 19, and had been hunting elk and bear with my muzzleloader. Before daylight I had hiked a few miles up to a lake, and hunted in the area until about 11 a.m., when it got warm and I got sleepy. I sat under a tree on the bank of the lake and took a nap. I woke to a loud splash and sat up to find beautiful, shiny black bear swimming around after the ducks. When he climbed out I fired and shot over him. I could see glimpses of him as he ran through the trees at the edge of the lake. He must have been spooked by the sound of the bullet striking beyond him because he was coming around to my side of the lake. I had reloaded when he stopped out in the open. I fired again and rolled him, but he got up and crawled off into the woods, roaring and growling. I again reloaded and with heart pounding, followed his trail into the thick timber. After I had gone maybe 50 yards he burst out from under a spruce tree with a roar and came at me. The shot had hit his spine so he wasn't moving real fast, but at 10 paces, I nearly S&%# myself! I threw my gun to my shoulder and shot him in the head. He dropped just a few feet away, and in the same instant I turned and ran back to the edge of the woods. I quickly reloaded, and was so excited I broke the ramrod when the bullet seated against the powder. With only one shot left, I crept into the woods and found the bear very dead where he had dropped.

JS,

Yup. I've seen it too. It's one heckva a grizz. Roy is still going strong, and the bear hunting there is still super.

The excerpt I posted was from an article I did in the 1980s after killing two BIG bears at Roy's place. About two years ago, I took my son there to hunt, and I killed another large one. There's a photo of the life-sized mount in the Trophy Room section here.

It's too bad the grizz are now on allocated permits in his area. While glassing for blacks, we spotted two together feeding along the gas line cut. One was as big or bigger than the one Roy has mounted. And it was a beautiful silver-tipped color. The other one was smaller and much darker. -TONY

Snellstrom:

Thanks for an interesting post -and I agree with you. Nonetheless, there is always the odd bear who "didn't read the book". I recall in the early 1980s (I believe) when a female black killed two young boys fishing in Ontario's Algonquin Provincial Park and also an engineering student serving as some kind of intern during summer being killed by a black bear in oNtario in the same area(outside the Park) In his case it was surmised that his pack lunch in his knapsack had attracted the bear. I regularly hunted black bear in Canada for many years and never used a tree stand. I always sat with my back to a tree - and always paid attention as dark came on to sounds near me - because a black would attack if surprised - and I did realize that a black might actually pass close by my tree. It never happened (probably because as we all know, wind currents shift minute by minute after dark and I was probably winded) You sound like a guy who has been around black bears a lot. I respect your experience - but the claws on my first black as we loaded him into the truck (and which I noticed for the first time after my excitement had cooled) made me understand that this wasn't Bambi!

Hello the campfire:
After reading most of the poest on this thread, I thought I would add my own. I am not sure if it qulaified as an attack but it was tense for a few min. Then we could not stop laughing.
A couple of years ago my wife and I were opening up our house in Tenn. It is just off the National Park, in whart was then a sparcly developed development . We have had the house for thirty years, and have seen a few bears from time to time.
This afternoon, we had unloaded the car, turned the water on and were sitting on the front porch resting before supper. ( the evening meal for the Yan, I mean northerners amoung you) when we heard a lot of noise in the kitchen. A small (150-175 lb.) black bear was standing in the kitchen trying to eat the empty trash can. He lookd very large at that point. I must not have closed the back door well enough when I came in from turning the water on.
The drill up there is to shout and bang pots together to run the bear off. Shpouting did not work, and he had the corner on the pots. Finally my wife's screaming got to him and he went out the door with my favorite trash can. I followed him out, now banging pot, tto try to run him off. He decided that he would rauther be in the house and started back to the door. I went in and locked the door but not before he stood up and waved both of his paws my way. Damn they looked big.
He tried the door again before he gave up and left, no dout wondering what kind of hosts we were. Animal control could not find him when they came 3 hours later.
I DID NOT THINK THAT MY .38 SPL. WOULD DO MUCH BUT MAKE HIM MAD, SO I LEFT IT IN THE CAR.
I am of the opinion tha tI was a lot more afread of him than he was of me.
Happy New Year (if that does not offend anyone).

Judge Sharpe

Judge Sharpe:

This "damyankee" read your post with interest. As a retired lawyer, I was glad to see that the "Court" would take the time to explain the difference between "supper" and "dinner" to us damyankees. Perhaps this damyankee can explain to a Reb that in upstate NY we have the same expressions for eating.

NOW, (having gotten past the social amenities) how does it happen that in Tennessee - a state famed for the markmanship of it shooters ( The original ad for Pony Express riders said that they had to "ride like Comanches and shoot like Tennessseans") you are holding a 38 Special? ( I like the cartridge and to this day think it's better than the 9mm -but let's face it! It's the 45 that plants them!) Judge, you have not upheld your heritage!