See if anyone can beat this story....Black bear are intelligent & sneaky

Some years ago, me Jonathan and my oldest son Stan got permission from a friend to hunt on his property. His property is only about 15-20 minutes from our property, Anyway, we drove up, opened the gate, drove in and got our gear and set out to find some elk. We found a nice area on the side of this small mountain overlooking a narrow valley.
We spread out a few yards from each other and started scoping the valley and tree lines. Wasn't to long and we spotted a movement down below in the valley. Turns out to be a black bear. We watched him until he went completely up the valley and disappeared. We discussed the situation, thinking he may have scared off the elk in the area. We decided to sit and watch for a while longer and then move on. It couldn't have been 15 minutes since we saw that bear disappear, when I heard a bunch of branches breaking! Yelled at the boys, "get your rifles, that bear circled behind us"! We made all kinds of noise and say that bear finally taking off back in to the forest.
That was definitely a learning lesson, to be and stay alert to your surroundings!!
We then moved off to another area, but that season, never saw an elk on that piece of property.

About 20 years ago I was working on the Thorne Bay Ranger District of the Tongass National Forest, on Prince of Wales Island in Alaska.  Deer season had started and I was going for our winter's meat.  I had hiked in a couple of miles on a ridge leading up to Baird Peak, which ended at a long escarpment of cliffs.  At the base of the cliffs was a ledge of dirt where the sides of the old volcano had slid down during the 1964 earthquake.  It being towards noon I stopped to choke down a sandwich and a cup of tea, then settled back to take a nap before continuing on.

When I woke up, I saw a large black bear come out of the brush on the ridge I had walked up.  He turned away from me and started on along the bottom of the cliffs to where he could get up on top of them.  At this time he was probably 150 yards away.

Well, and this was NOT one of my brighter ideas, I figured to stop him and get some photos by giving a squeal on my deer call.  It stopped him alright.  He turned around and looked right at me, then started walking to check out what kind of critter I was.  Not going fast, but keeping his eyes on me as he very deliberately paced my way.  I stood up and started waving my arms and yelling at him to no avail.  He just kept on keeping on.  When he was probably 15 yards away I put a round from my .30-06 between his front paws and he stopped, looked down at the ground, then back up at me.  In the meantime I was reloading the NEF break open single shot as fast as I could and let me tell you, I have never felt more vulnerable than I did then.  The bear looked down at the ground again, then back up at me, thankfully decided he didn't want to mess with me and took off at a lope the other way.

Of course now he was going the same way that I would have to go to get up in the alpine where the deer were hanging out and I decided I had been out there long enough and it was time to go home.  I wasn't going to contest the trail with 300 or more pounds of bear!

I saw him several more times up there but he ignored me and I left it at that.  I know he was aware that I was there since there were only so many trails to get up above timberline and he followed the same ones I used.  Once he even stopped and looked right at me from 30 yards away or so before continuing on with his business.  I DID start carrying the .308 Winchester 88 after that so I had some quick back-up rounds available....

A friend of mine came across a similar situation.
Me and Jonathan and my oldest Stan were hunting on a friends property at the base of the Spanish Peaks in Southern Colorado. We went one way and Dominic went the opposite way. We had been hunting walking the area for quite a while, when Dominic appeared in front of us from the opposite direction. He was white as a ghost. Asked him what was wrong. He told us he was walking through some brush when he heard some brush breaking in front of him. He figured it was a deer so he proceeded cautiously. Turns out him and this black bear end up starring at each other about 10-15 apart. Fortunately he started yelling and jumping up and down and the bear took off. He decided to head back to the adobe bunk house at the ranch.

Smart man, that Dominic!

~Kees~

Years ago I shot a nice 6 point (western count) mule deer, cleaned him out and started a mile drag back to the truck. In traveling that distance with many breaks I would hear brush breaking behind me. Turns out that a young black bear was following along and when I would stop he would stop. That happened a half dozen times until he decided to move closer and he paid for that move with a heart shot. Then the work really started with moving both of them to the truck. I was so tired that I had to get on the CB and call a friend to come and help me, what a day ...

Several years back I went deer hunting with a friend in WV. His dad owned a large property and it was obvious that quite a lot of game moved around in it. On a late Saturday afternoon he and I were sitting on a small bluff keeping watch on a shallow draw that went from our left to farther up the mountain on our right side. I carried my flintlock longrifle and Bryan had his bow with him. We sat together with me on the left side of a large oak and Bryan on the right side. A while later a big blackie came strolling across our front heading up the mountain. As we sat there this fat guy spotted us. At first he merely turned for a better look. A few moments later he decided he would come over to say "Howdy" or maybe he just wanted a closer look.
On he came until he was just below us around 8 feet lower than we were. We sat still as he studied us up close and personal. Then "Big Guy" finally decided we weren't interesting enough to hold his attention more than a couple of minutes and went back where he had left his "trail". He busily started overturning boulders and logs looking for insects. We watched him until darkness fell and he was still there when we got up and left. Bears do not frighten me at all. They'll normally let you know well in advance if they become upset with you. The one thing that did cause chills to go up my spine was this. As dusk fell, coyotes, farther up the mountain started yowling. It was a pack of them maybe a couple hundred yards away. Now I've lived around coyotes most of my life, watched them and even shot one down in my native Georgia. But just the thought of half a dozen of them getting wind of us in the dark wasn't particularly reassuring.

I once plugged a Grouse 3 times with my 20ga! Walked up to it as it was still standing there.


Turned out to be a perfectly shaped, grouse log.

OH! I'll just mention one last thing. I was not personally involved but... I was working at the fire department on dispatch when I received a call from the APD. The LEO told us there was vehicle with two cats, outside the Athens city limits, on the highway (stopped). This was in the jurisdiction of the County Police and we dispatched for them as well. I mentioned to her how much I'd like to have one since you can drive them about anywhere. She responded, "no, not that kind of cat but real jungle cats. I radioed the officer assigned to the section in question. Now this particular officer was what sociologists refer to as a "smart ass". I gave him the information, location and vehicle make and specifically described what the APD lady said.
He sneered into the mike and condescendingly - he often talked down to dispatchers anyway - went "o...kay kitty cat huh"? The line of folks wanting to punch him in the mouf (Southern for "mouth") was quite long. He called in his arrival and went silent. Several long moments later he very sheepishly radioed, "Sergeant", and gave the 10-code for assistance.

Epilogue: It turned out this guy was driving while carrying TWO (2) AFRICAN LEOPARDS IN THE BACK SEAT! Apparently they became "rowdy". Now when two leopards become rowdy it's not anything like what most people can imagine, it's more like a nightmare. He was forced to give up the leopards, likely was fined, and ended up with a LARGE bill for the massive upholstery repair.

Hanshi wrote:OH!  I'll just mention one last thing.  I was not personally involved but...  I was working at the fire department on dispatch when I received a call from the APD.  The LEO told us there was vehicle with two cats, outside the Athens city limits, on the highway (stopped).  This was in the jurisdiction of the County Police and we dispatched for them as well.  I mentioned to her how much I'd like to have one since you can drive them about anywhere.  She responded, "no, not that kind of cat but real jungle cats.  I radioed the officer assigned to the section in question.  Now this particular officer was what sociologists refer to as a "smart ass".  I gave him the information, location and vehicle make and specifically described what the APD lady said.
He sneered into the mike and condescendingly - he often talked down to dispatchers anyway - went "o...kay kitty cat huh"?  The line of folks wanting to punch him in the mouf (Southern for "mouth") was quite long.  He called in his arrival and went silent.  Several long moments later he very sheepishly radioed, "Sergeant", and gave the 10-code for assistance.  

Epilogue:  It turned out this guy was driving while carrying TWO (2) AFRICAN LEOPARDS IN THE BACK SEAT!  Apparently they became "rowdy".  Now when two leopards become rowdy it's not anything like what most people can imagine, it's more like a nightmare.  He was forced to give up the leopards, likely was fined, and ended up with a LARGE bill for the massive upholstery repair.  

Hanshi, you know, it takes all kinds to make a world....but that is FUNNY!!

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Hanshi, you know, it takes all kinds to make a world....but that is FUNNY!!
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It is true that fiction can't hold a candle to reality. As an LEO you're 10 times more likely to come across the humorous, bizarre, absurd and belly laugh funny situations than serious ones. I may later on relate a few more of the outrageous happenings.

I find the animal world a bit surprising, and with more intelligence than most I have met.

CVA Fanboy wrote:I find the animal world a bit surprising, and with more intelligence than most I have met.  

Must agree, Uffda and myself have seen some amazing things that animals will do in the wild as well as on the farm. Don't sell them short ....