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Bearly believable....I had to paws for thought...
Moral of the story.
Do not poke bears with a hiking pole then chuck your bike at them.
Thankfully my dog is good at dealing with bears which is handy in Rossendale!
https://www.rover.com/blog/karelian-bear-dogs-instead-sheep-dogs-herd-bears/
Always a shame to read the bear was put down, just for protecting its land.
just for protecting its land.
Don't think that's what it was doing
What I don't understand is why he didn't get on his bike and cycle back the way he came?
I think, with grizzly bears, you are supposed to keep still. I don’t know how poking it with a stick makes this unprovoked.
Edit: and no sudden movements - like poking with sticks and throwing bikes. He should have used his pepper spray before it got that close.
I had a very similar encounter with a brown bear a couple of months back , fireroad descent about 60 kph , came round a corner and the bear was standing in the road eating something on the verge. I skidded to a halt and it looked at me and ran into the forest.
As this is the third recent encounter i just waited a couple of minutes and rode past, spending the rest of the ride shouting ‘ Bear im coming ‘ before every corner much to the amusement of every tourist i passed.
I think if what this guy is saying is true its a pretty amazing story, i guess he could have cycled away but at that range the bear could easily catch him before he could get enough speed.
As for killing the Bear , i used to be of the opinion that this would have been totally wrong but you have to consider that if the bear had lost its fear of humans there is a chance he would do it again, and every headline like that increases the chance of a local cull. Its almost like one bear can save the many.
I think, with grizzly bears, you are supposed to keep still
yeah...that's a theory - for black bears you do X, for brown bears you do Y and for Grizzlys you do Z. To paraphrase the book on bears my mate "kindly" gave before I did TransRockies in 2009 "most people, especially under the stress of meeting a bear in the wild, wouldn't be able to tell if it was a brown, black or grizzly..the best thing to do is to shoot it, then work out which one it was" 🙂
While we were doing the TransRockies a couple of weeks ago, one of the motorbike outriders came across a mother Grizzly with 2 "teenage" cubs in the middle of a fireroad...he said he "revved the **** out of that bike, and they just looked at him and carried on with whatever they were doing. Personally, I'd take my chances on riding gently away if I saw one 30m away..they have crap eyesight. Or, we were told to pick your bike over your head and make yourself look as big as possible. We were also told that bearspray really only works in "brown trouser" range, and chances are if there is any wind, you'll just spray yourself 🙂
Anyway, he had a v lucky escape, putting it mildly!
I think, with grizzly bears, you are supposed to keep still
yeah…that’s a theory – for black bears you do X, for brown bears you do Y and for Grizzlys you do Z.
😀 yeah, people can’t keep still for a wasp, never mind a 600kg predator, just run around waving arms in panic.
I want a pocket knife that contain 5 forestry workers, ultimate trail building tool!
On a more serious note, he's one lucky guy and glad he's ok. At least he's got a great story out of it.
The species name of the grizzly bear is Ursus Arctos Horribilis. Go figure.
Bikes in British Columbia during our honeymoon. I wasn't stepping too far off the trail to take a pee!
When we did the TransRockies I always carried a jar of honey that I could tip over my teammate if we met a bear.
My study of American media suggests making your mate carry the pic-a-nic basket is more effective.
The species name of the grizzly bear is Ursus Arctos Horribilis. Go figure.
Grizzlies aren't a species. They're a sub-species of brown bear.
An important distinction to make when you're suddenly faced with one in the wilderness, I feel.
Bastards killed the bear. That’s sad.
Nasty story all round.
It's the Pizzly Bears that I'd worry about....
Or are they Grolar bears?
Grizzlies have a hump back.
The general rule is if it has a hump, make a lump’
Ie:play dead, a grizzly will lose interest after a few scratches.
A black bear, otoh, will eat you if you play dead, so the rule for those is ‘if it’s black, fight back’
Other nuggets of wisdom include don’t run, despite their size a bear can outrun a human quite easily. They can also climb a tree better than us.
All this from my friends on ontario.
Surely the best thing about this story (well apart from the guy surviving)
Is this
on
Mount Doogie Dowler
- he and his brother had plans to climb the mountain
named after their grandfather
.
My climbing buddy and I were walking the West Coast Trail on Vancouver Island some years ago, watching nervously for bears all the while. At one point where you had to leave the beach and climb a big ladder to get back onto the cliff top there was a commotion going on in the bushes at the foot of the cliff. We were quite scared, thinking it was a grizzly, so we shot up the ladder then stopped on the first rest platform to watch. It really was a huge commotion with branches snapping and saplings swaying, something very powerful was in there trying to climb the cliff.
Suddenly it stopped, the bushes parted and out stepped a sweating, red-faced Japanese tourist carrying a huge rucsac. He looked up at us and said: "Ah! Ladder!"
We didn't know how he had managed not to see the 200' ladder going up the cliff. How we laughed with relief.
They really are fantastic creatures. You can’t out climb them, out run them or swim away. They’re better (and quicker) at all three. I think my tactic, should I ever come across a bear in the wild, would be to cry and possibly soil myself.
The National Park Rangers are advising hikers in Glacier National Park and other Rocky Mountain parks to be alert for bears and take extra precautions to avoid an encounter.
They advise park visitors to wear little bells on their clothes so they make noise when hiking. The bell noise allows bears to hear them coming from a distance and not be startled by a hiker accidentally sneaking up on them. This might cause a bear to charge.
Visitors should also carry a pepper spray can just in case a bear is encountered. Spraying the pepper into the air will irritate the bear's sensitive nose and it will run away.
It is also a good idea to keep an eye out for fresh bear scat so you have an idea if bears are in the area. People should be able to recognize the difference between black bear and grizzly bear scat.
Black bear droppings are smaller and often contain berries, leaves, and possibly bits of fur. Grizzly bear droppings tend to contain small bells and smell of pepper.
possibly soil myself.
This could work. Especially if you'd been eating hot chilli in the past few days.
Given that a grizzly can sprint at 30+mph I'm not sure he would have been able to out run it if he'd tried and it had pursued him. If he had pepper spray on him I'm surprised he didn't use it though (although it's easy to question decision-making in hindsight and without a giant bear approaching you...)
A black bear, otoh, will eat you if you play dead, so the rule for those is ‘if it’s black, fight back’
From Wiki: Approximately 70% of all American black bears are black, though only 50% of American black bears in the Rocky Mountains are black. Many American black bears in northwestern North America are cinnamon, blonde or light brown in color and thus may sometimes be mistaken for grizzly bears
I like what you did there tjagain 😂
funkmasterp
Subscriber
They really are fantastic creatures. You can’t out climb them, out run them or swim away. They’re better (and quicker) at all three
you don't need to be able to outrun / climb / swim the bear, just at least one of the people you're with
Always a shame to read the bear was put down, just for protecting its land.
From Pinkbike a week ago:
In the following days, rangers set about tracking the bear but there was a final twist in the tale as they soon realised the bear was tracking them and eventually came within metres of them. Sgt. Dean Miller of the BC Conservation Officer Service told CTV News, “It was definitely a little threatening. It actually probably stalked us for about half an hour while we were thinking we were stalking it – it was just happenstance that one of the officers actually picked up on the bear’s odour from behind us and alerted the second officer who then destroyed the bear.”
I know they are fast but surely jumping on the bike and going the other way is a far better idea than thinking 'this would be cool to film'..
I'm assuming he was going up the mountain so he'd have been heading away from it going down the hill..
What tyres for escaping angry bears?
is a far better idea than thinking ‘this would be cool to film’..
Welcome to the 21st century, how has your hibernation been?
What tyres for escaping angry bears?
Something with a fairly hard compound and low rolling resistance , would have to be a 29er too 😉
I crashed the bike in bc on st6 a couple of years ago, whilst straightening the bars and generally coming to my senses I heard a bear near by - I was out of there like a shot, so Hans dampf front Vittoria saguaro rear works for me.
When I'm back home in Michigan I always ride with a Timber bell as generally Black Bears will leave you well alone if they hear you coming, but just in case I also always carry a pistol.
I rode the High Country Pathway back in July and whilst I saw plenty of evidence of bears I didn't actually see one, even with spending two nights camping wild.
Black Bears will leave you well alone if they hear you coming, but just in case I also always carry a pistol.
So just to be sure I'm reading this correctly, a loaded firearm you're carrying on your person is less likely to result in injury than a bear you've never even seen?
So just to be sure I’m reading this correctly, a loaded firearm you’re carrying on your person is less likely to result in injury than a bear you’ve never even seen?
Why would a loaded pistol result in injury? Until a round is chambered it's not 'live' and I never carry it with a round chambered.
I didn't see a bear this time but I have seen them many times before, hence why I take precautions.
A loaded firearm blowing your dick away is something you can control if you are sensible.
A bear isn’t- but yes, statistically idiots with guns are more dangerous to themselves than bears.
https://www.countbayesie.com/blog/2015/2/18/hans-solo-and-bayesian-priors
But if you are not an idiot, say a park ranger and spend a lot of times in bear country - having a gun Could be safer.
Thankfully my dog is good at dealing with bears
Its true that the best form of defence is to take your dog with you, my closest encounter was on a dog walk. My border collie which is the most gentle dog you will ever meet was walking about 10 meters ahead of me when she started growling at something in the forest, i didnt take much notice at first as it happens quite a lot and is normally deer but as i got closer i could see it was a large brown bear which
upon eye contact with me turned and ran , i then walked a few paces and then ran like hell about 3km to the main road.
So a dog is the best early warning system you will ever have...and will offer the bear distraction and give you enough time to get away, although that will almost certainly mean you will loose your best friend in the process...
But if you are not an idiot, say a park ranger...
Or anyone else who has spent a large proportion of their adult life using various weapon systems in a professional capacity.
Or anyone else who has spent a large proportion of their adult life using various weapon systems in a professional capacity.
Though of course most people aren't and even those that are aren't beyond things like negligent discharge and so on.
Yes handled properly (pretty much) anything is safe but given trends with guns in other environments I'd wager trying to pull a gun on an advancing bear whilst in genuine fear isn't likely to end well more times than not.
I never carry it with a round chambered
Yeah that would be dumb unless you're in a Holywood movie.
Daft question, if it's in your camelback whilst you're hiking, do you need a concealed carry permit? (not sure if it's required for ownership anyhow in your jurisdiction)
The phrase I've been told is
"if it's black, fight back. if it's brown, lie down. if it's white, you're dead"
Thankfully, it's quite civilised in the UK and you have more chance of catching hypothermia in the deadly sweetspot of cold/wind/rain
Thankfully, it’s quite civilised in the UK
Never ridden home through a northern city centre at 3am on a Saturday then? I'd take the bear over a Hen or Stag every time.
<cool story bro>
Last weekend I was road riding in Penticton (BC) and had two bear encounters.
First one I barely (pun intended) saw...it was deeply engrossed munching berries in a bush at the side of the road and I was only aware of it when it got startled as I rode past...it just dived deeper into the undergrowth away from me.
About two hours later, I was heading fairly quickly down a hill on a quiet, narrow-ish road when I came around a blind corner and another bear was waddling down the center of the road about 20 metres away from me. The screech of my brakes startled the bear and it dived off the road into the undergrowth before I could pull out my phone to take a picture! 😉
As I was fully lycra'd up, I wasn't carrying bear spray and I was not expecting to run into bears on a (tarmac) road...
The next day, I was hiking nearby and saw a momma bear with a cute baby bear just ahead on the trail. My dog (on leash at the time, luckily) barked once and the bears ran off. Made plenty of noise from that point onwards and didn't see them again.
Moral of the story? Penticton bears don't like humans and will run off rather than attack...
</cool story bro>
what caliber pistol do you carry? Would it need to be a bit of a cannon? I’ve seen people fishing in Alaska with .50 pistols in case of bear attacks.
It isn’t good when wildlife encounters lead to an animal being killed. On the plus side, the animal will usually be eaten and it’s fur used. it is worth remembering that the reason you don’t see bears in UK is because previous generations got rid of them.
This was probably a bit scary
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/yukon-bear-chase-whitehorse-1.5169982
Yes handled properly (pretty much) anything is safe but given trends with guns in other environments I’d wager trying to pull a gun on an advancing bear whilst in genuine fear isn’t likely to end well more times than not
University students are given rifles on Svalbard.
Polar bears are quite good at chomping on humans.
Again - a risk assessment shouldn’t be done on a simple how many humans are killed by firearms accidents vs bears. Risk and odds are not fixed but fluid and relative, if you spend a lot of time in bear country your odds of getting chomped on by a bear go up drastically in comparison to everyone else - making picking up a firearm a sensible choice in certain circumstances.
Daft question, if it’s in your camelback whilst you’re hiking, do you need a concealed carry permit? (not sure if it’s required for ownership anyhow in your jurisdiction)
Not a daft question at all.
If it's in your Camelbak its needs to be unloaded and in a hard case unless you have a concealed carry permit. Michigan has quite strict rules on what is considered 'concealed', which even means that when transporting a pistol in a vehicle ideally it should be stored away from the passenger compartment of the vehicle (in the trunk/boot). As I am not a permanent resident of Michigan I cannot apply for a concealed carry permit and thus have to open carry.
I am allowed to open carry as, when I purchased my pistol, I was legally a resident of Michigan and purchased it having passed the relevant background check with the local police (for which you are issued a Permit to Purchase). I have a small paddle holster with active retention, that I wear either on my left hip or at the small of my back.
As an veteran I take weapon safety very seriously and only carry when there is a risk rather than "because the 2nd gives me the right". To this end I never carry if I'm riding in the south of Michigan's lower peninsula as the chance of seeing a bear at anytime of the year is pretty low. If, on the other hand, I'm in the northern part of the lower peninsula or in the upper peninsula then, dependant upon how rural the trail is, I will likely carry.
The High Country Pathway I rode back in July is in the northern part of the lower peninsula and is both a fairly long trail and fairly remote (I spent two nights camped out on my own), hence I carried.
what caliber pistol do you carry?
.45 ACP (a Kahr CW45). I usually use Buffalo Bore .45ACP +P ammunition with hard cast lead bullets.
University students are given rifles on Svalbard.
Not to shoot bears tho - to shoot over them to scare them off IIRC. I don't think the students get them anyway - I think they have rangers / guards to carry the rifles
Non-gun person asking, would that get through a bear’s fur? I’m assuming yes.
Are bear bangers good for scaring off grizzlies? All I really know about them is that they are unpredictable. The bears not the bangers. I’ve been face to face with a Sow and cubs. She walked away. I was a little shaken. Was a big animal.
edit: carrying a gun isn’t an option where I live and there are such mixed opinions with varying degrees of bravado when it comes to dealing with bears that I’m always interested to hear about first hand experiences.
Not to shoot bears tho – to shoot over them to scare them off IIRC. I don’t think the students get them anyway – I think they have rangers / guards to carry the rifles
They fire warning shots but if they ignore them then they will shoot them.
Students do take rifles with them out of settlement.
Non-gun person asking, would that get through a bear’s fur? I’m assuming yes.
Depends upon the calibre and load you use. Higher pressure loads aid penetration.
.45 ACP + P hard cast lead rounds have fairly decent penetration.
.45 ACP hollowpoint rounds (as preferred by the police and for 'home defence') would likely do very little damage to a bear.
Ideally you'd use a rifle calibre but carrying a rifle or rifle calibre pistol when mountain biking isn't really practical.
Thanks for the info.
Bear bangers are good providing you aim them so they land between you and the bear. A friend once used on and it landed behind the bear who then ran towards him....
I always carry bear spray. If I'm riding solo then it's on holster or in a modified bottle cage. In a group on the outside of my pack.
I see a few bears every year in the Canadian rockies (~6 so far this year) and have never used spray. They mostly bolt or just look at you and then carry on eating. Closest ever was this<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;"> year a cinnamon brown</span><span style="font-size: 0.8rem;"> maybe 30ft away but in a big group so he just wandered off.</span>
Reading this with interest - MCJnr just back from the World Scout Jamboree in West Virginia.
Strict "no food in tents" rule, but they saw black bears on site a few times. Also a strict "no guns on site" rule apart from the shooting ranges. Seems to have reached a natural compromise, but I'm assuming in the event of a bear getting "disruptive" then there would be a plan in place to remove it one way or another
When I did a post grad at Georgia I went hiking on a number of occasions with mates, one always had a gun. The one time we saw a supposed "small" black bear, I have never been so happy to see 2 guys produce guns from packs. And I am a gun hating vegan.
Currently in BC and met this little chap afew days ago. We were in a car, and kept a good look out for mumma bear(who didn't appear) and didn't hang around long. However i was amazed the number of people who pulled up, got out with kids to look just feet away. Theres warnings everywhere to keep 100m from bears. Warnings from me and a local couldn't dissuade them. Not surprising people get in trouble.
I have seen many black (black, brown, blonde) bears in BC and the Alberta Rockies, sometimes less than 20 feet away. I have never once felt overtly threatened, just healthily wary, and moved swiftly on to minimise disturbance. One one occasion at the Moonraker Trails near Golden we didn't see anything but I was pretty spooked by the atmosphere in the woods. Humid, raining, heavy wet vegetation bowing down over the trail. The hairs on the back of my neck were well up.
How many bears have I not seen and been within a few feet of? Sometimes riding down a trail you'd round a corner and suddenly jump out of your skin because of a large black mass right next to you - every time it was a burned out stump from a lightning struck tree, but it got me every time.
I have only seen a Grizzly once, in Yellowstone, and there is no mistaking it. A different scale of beast.
Black bear droppings are smaller and often contain berries, leaves, and possibly bits of fur. Grizzly bear droppings tend to contain small bells and smell of pepper.
🤣
Oh, and don’t forget to lock your car doors, and never leave food in it...
https://boingboing.net/2019/08/09/bear-trashed-the-inside-of-thi.html
The other thing to beware of with bears, is them plummeting off a clif onto your car, and the car catching fire!
https://www.whiskeyriff.com/2019/08/07/bear-falls-off-a-cliff-lands-on-police-car-the-car-crashes-catches-fire-and-burns-up-nearby-the-forest/
I was on a very remote part of Vancouver Island last summer and went for a run up to a small lake on a trail that had been cut through the rain forest.
I was told it was ok to go up there but maybe take the dog with me. The dog was old so I thought it was unfair to make him go.
On the way back from the lake I started hearing powerful crunching noises in the forest. The advice is to stop, pick up a big stick and ‘look big’
I honestly never been so scared in my life. I could tell I was being watched and stalked. Me and a little twig wasn’t going to do anything against the power of the thing I could hear so I slowly started walking back facing the direction of the noise.
Back on the main road (a dirt track cut through the bush) I ran as fast as I could (which in reality was pointless)
Back at the lodge the owners said that it would have been a bear, and that I was lucky it wasn’t a Coyote as they have killed a few people over the years in that area.
We then went over to mainland BC. However this experience had completely put me off doing any mountain biking
However this experience had completely put me off doing any mountain biking
It shouldnt. Like anything else in life its risk and reward, im not going to miss out on a epic ride because there is a very very remote chance there will be an encounter again.
that I was lucky it wasn’t a Coyote as they have killed a few people over the years in that area.
Are you sure they didn’t say cougar? Generally the first thing you know about a cougar attack is when you are explaining to St Peter why you are in such a mess.
I find cougars more concerning than bears. As the climate warms up they are moving further north, right into my area.
We then went over to mainland BC. However this experience had completely put me off doing any mountain biking
That is very understandable. My wife stopped camping in a tent after we were growled from the trees on one camping trip.
Always a shame to read the bear was put down, just for protecting its land.
This is bollocks. The bear sounds like she was being aggressive in a way that grizzlies do once they have become acclimatised to humans.
And for a BCer, that guy sounds like an idiot. We were taught growing up what to do in case of bears - both grizzlies and black - and he did exactly the opposite.
Are you sure they didn’t say cougar?
Just checked and yes was Cougars. This warning was at the side of the start of the trail
