Was charged by a bear tonight.

I

Irish B

New member
Well if any of you know me you know you know I live in a black where bears visit daily. Theres been a new bear coming around lately. Tonight I had the dogs out in the pen when they started barking historically. My GSD barks at everything under the sun but the only time by husky hybrid ever barks or huffs is when a bear is around. So I grab the big flashlight and the .357 and go get them. I looked around and saw nothing so I let the dogs out to come inside. What I didn't know was the bear was on the side of my house and after hearing me decided to walk over to the front of the house behind me to check things out. As soon as I let the dogs out the blast past me and attack the bear. I call them off and put them into the house and start to yell at the bear to chase him off away from my house when he stops, turns around, and charges at me huffing and chomping. I fired a shot into the ground and he stopped dead in his tracks and turned around and ran away. After hearing the shot my wife ran out with the shotgun and dogs. I have never fired my 357 without hearing protection but let me tell you a 180 gr buffalo bore leaves you deaf for five minutes. Very weird behavior for this young bear who was maybe 2 or 3 years old and maybe 200 lbs max. I usually end up with 4 or 5 good bear stories by the end of the summer. This was only just second time ever being full on charged at close range. Really gets the heart pumping.
 
I liked the part with the wife coming out with a shotgun. Hang on to her. And don't <do anything to make her mad> ...
 
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Glad you're OK Irish. Glad it didn't turn out ugly. And +1 for the above comment. It's good to have back up with a shotgun.
 
I'm also going to tip my hat to the lady with a shotgun. It's the right kind of girl that fights beside her guy.

Glad you're alright!
 
Great read! Maybe the dogs got the bear all adrenalined up and he was a shade on the dumb side. If something gets me wound up my judgement can get fairly dicey too. Most black bears are reported to be chickens and really likely to vamoose if approached.
 
When I was a river guide in the Rogue River wild and scenic section we would have encounters with black bears nearly every night. One night a bear woke me up when he was carrying my 96 quart ice chest away. Our group jumped up and threw rocks at him until he dropped it and swam across the river. Of course most of these black bears were Yogi types. They just want the pic-a-nic basket. We were always armed but never had to fire on one.
 
Huffing and chomping = full charge or false charge ??
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Apparently such behaviors are not indicative of intent to harm and so would indicate the charge to most likely be a false charge. False bear chages include charging and then reversing direction and also charging past what they were charging and often continuing away.

Huffing and chomping are indicative of the bear being scared.
http://www.bearsmart.com/resources/north-american-bears/communication

or is being threatening (and likely scared)
http://www.bearbiology.com/fileadmin/tpl/Downloads/URSUS/Vol_3/Jordan_Vol_3.pdf

...not considered threat behavior...
http://www.bear.org/website/bear-pages/black-bear/communication/62-harmless-bluster.html

...used with a false charge to help keep from being attacked...
http://web.mac.com/benjaminkilham/Site/Understanding_Bear_Behavior.html

...bluffing
http://www.bearstudy.org/website/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=54

...more about not being a real threat and/or being scared
http://www.bear.org/website/bear-pa...herrero-say-about-mothers-defending-cubs.html
 
mete and DNS, I don't think the problem is with people believing you, I think it's simply a matter of "what if?"

As in, if I assume the bear will really try to complete the charge, and I am ready to deal with that prospect, I am probably better off than if I assume (because statistics so indicate) that he is probably bluffing, and he turns out to be in earnest.

It is arguably more dangerous to assume a bluff.
 
mete and DNS, I don't think the problem is with people believing you, I think it's simply a matter of "what if?"

As in, if I assume the bear will really try to complete the charge, and I am ready to deal with that prospect, I am probably better off than if I assume (because statistics so indicate) that he is probably bluffing, and he turns out to be in earnest.

It is arguably more dangerous to assume a bluff.
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Trying to clear up what wasn't unclear again?

I made no statements about people believing me and made no statements about the danger level. mete was trying to find out if the charge was real or not and I provided insight into what the behaviors indicate. This was an after-the-fact assessment, not a what-if predictive assessment. If the bear was determined to get Irish B., then the warning shot would not have made any difference and quite possibly, shots in the bear would not have mattered either as the bear would have continued until he dropped. The bear's behaviors and the lack of follow through on the charge indicate that it was a bluff or false charge.

Nobody has suggested not being ready to deal with a problem. Nobody has suggested that the indicated behaviors were absolute for determining what they mean. Nobody has suggested that a bear can't change its mind. It would be stupid to pull a Timothy Treadwell and not exercise appropriate precautions. Irish B obviously didn't pull a Timothy Treadwell, and he did make sure the bear didn't change his mind by firing a warning shot. I have pointed out several times that even brief physical contact with bears can result in serious injury and hospitalization.
 
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I have never fired my 357 without hearing protection but let me tell you a 180 gr buffalo bore leaves you deaf for five minutes.
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The very reason I don't own a .357 anymore. Caught a wild pig out in the open once in California, we had shotguns but only had bird shot. I had my GP100 and unloaded on it. Needless to say, my ears rang for a good while after that.

My go to gun for everything handguns is my Glock 21 in .45acp, 13 rounds of that ought to solve most problems, even bears.

The only revolver I own now is a 4" S&W Model 10 with 158gr. LSWC and I feel plenty confident with it.
 
Here is what I hear 24/7/365...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1u_8Qg1npAM

It is loud enuff to drown out baying dogs less than 100 yards into the woods...

It drowns out, nearly completely, the ceiling fan with a wobble and noise I used to rely on to help me fall asleep... Now I have to have the TV on for at least 1.5 hours as I am also insomniac that I may need that much time to finally fall asleep deeply enuff that the ringing don't wake me when the timer cuts off the tv...
Never tried to protect my ears from gunfire, explosives, un-muffled engine noise etc...

Once you damage them... it is too late...


Brent
 
I fired a few rounds of .460 S&W w/o hearing protection once while hunting...my left ear rang for 7 friggin months. Then one day it just stopped.

I guess the nerve ending (hair?) either died, or it healed. They used to think hearing damage was permanent, but they discovered about a decade or so ago that it actually can heal.

Either way, never...ever...ever...again...ever!!
 
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