Registered: Jul 2006
Location: MI
Posts: 58

When bear hunting how often does the bear come down out of the tree when you are still getting dogs out of there? I guess I am talking about more in the training season.... What is the worst situation you have found yourself in while bear hunting whith hounds and what did you do to get yourself out of the situation? Just curious.

Thanks.

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Registered: Jan 2007
Location: Vermont
Posts: 161

I'd say probably 60% of the time as soon as you start out of there with the dogs tied bear will come down. 40% of the time you can't get it to move or come down.As far as bad situations you always have to be aware of roads but i had a guy shoot and kill one of my dogs one time. I called the state police real quick before i shot him.

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Registered: Jun 2007
Location: southern wv
Posts: 6

well the worst case i have been in. was bout 2 years ago in boone co. wv. a few of us were out training and my buddy struck but couldnt find the track. well i came threw behind him and struck in the same spot but found the track so everybody came to me we turned loose the dogs and they didnt run 100 yards and acted like they had it caught! so we run over the bank to find a 215lb boar caught in a snar trap. needless to say we had dogs tore all to he!! it broke my buddies red dogs pelvis and now we have 1 3legged bear hound. but after we got the last dog caught. guess who shows up mr. DNR himself. he darted the bear. gave us meds for our dogs and opolgized for it due to while running his trap line the day before he caught 2 of our dogs and took them to our camp. and let me tell ya standing toe to toe with a 215lb pi$$ed off boar is not something i would want to do again. but man the pups really got turned on lol.

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Registered: Jun 2003
Location: vt
Posts: 1256

its pretty common for bear to come out of a tree as soon as u pull dogs back a few feet-- some will vacate a tree in a hurry as soon as they see u coming -

99.9 % of bear are no threat to humans- ive always said that if bear were as bad as coons i wouldnt hunt them-- they are
bigger , stronger , faster but most are very shy -- if the first one you meet is that .01 % u will get eaten -- lol seriously its not a real big deal -- u have a better chance of a tree falling on your head or being struck by lightning than a bear hurting you --
they want to get away - give them room and they will -
ive seen people run over when a bear was leaving tree-- they happened to be standing where the bear was going -- - they can come down that tree and get gone at speeds you just have to see to belive -i got knocked down and stepped on once when i pulled dogs back from a hole - i actually got chased pretty bad by a bear that was just sitting in some tall grass in a swamp ,she had just had all she was goona take from dogs-she put a little scratch on back of my leg and i know i hurt myself from head to to toe from trying to get away - wow i was scared to death but thinking about it after -- she still didnt hurt me and think was just trying to remind me to keep my distance--i know she kind of changed my attitude for a few days - lot of bearhunters get pretty casual around bear and do some stupid things to save dogs- still almost never hear of anybody being hurt by a bear - ive seen people hurt themselves running from a bear that woofed at em-- lot of bear will bluff charge -- the only problem is i dont know how u can tell if hes bluffing- if a bear runs at me i dont try to run but just step sideways -- or keep a tree between you and bear-- you cant outrun a bear -- dont even try--

almost all of the "incidents" ive seen were bear that werent treed -- a bayed bear has a worse attitude -- more likely to be in fight mode--

bear are run by dogs hard here - long training seasons --- in places where not hunted much they can loose fear of people - they are kind of neat animals -- they are capable of killing a moose - but just as happy to eat grass-- i think over the years we have killed the agressive bear and the shyer ones survived-- and bred -- they are trained to fear people and its also genetic-- so many states have stopped bear hunting and in the future there may be more bear problems

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Registered: Oct 2004
Location: Park Falls, WI.
Posts: 487

When a bear bluff charges it will be a rolling gait that makes the bear look big. Had a few of those. The bear will stop three feet from you and pop its teeth.

The real charge the bear will be stretching out covering ground like an athletic Lab going for a retrieve. I had one of those but I got away from the cubs and she stopped when she got to her cubs. I tripped and fell down. I was about fifteen yards from the cubs when she got to them. She looked at me and popped her teeth and left with the cubs. I got up and dusted myself off and finished baiting the bait.
Kyle

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Registered: May 2006
Location: Southern Oregon
Posts: 1344

Most of the bears we chase will tree and stay that way.. A few are nervous and will come down if you pull the dogs off a bit, but a lot are just prefectley happy to stay up there...

We have had one dog killed by a sow that bayed up in a log.. The dog wasn't torn to shreds, he just didn't have enough room to move and she got a few good bites in the haunch and it was enough for him to bleed almost to death.. Dog went into shock and the vet's office couldn't pull him out.. I don't really think she was mean, just cornered and defending herself.

Nick had a bear fall on him.. We caught a problem bear and Fish and Game wanted it gone.. It had been a problem for a while... Anyways.. long story short, the landowner made and iffy shot and this thing started coming down.. Nick was at the base of the tree to take care of it when it hit the ground. The bear dissapeared for a second in a really thick clump of mistletoe stuff and Nick glanced to make sure I had all the dogs tied back and where all the people were.. The bear fell out right at that moment, backwards.. landed right square on him from about 20 feet up.. I really thought that we were going to be calling in a chopper to airlift him out... The bear took off and Nick jumped up after it.. I unclipped a couple older dogs and they got it caught and we took care of it the right way... We laugh about it now, but it was un-nerving when it happened.

Those are our two worst things that have happened.. Most of the time the bear is happy up in it's tree or just wants to get the hell out of there... Sure is a lot of fun..

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Last edited by Melanie H. on 06-11-2007 at 03:46 PM

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Registered: Jul 2006
Location: MI
Posts: 58

Great stories.... Keep em coming...

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Registered: Oct 2006
Location: Wi
Posts: 91

At night I have seen several bear jump out and run toward the brightest light. I have seen a couple people get run over that way.
Charlie

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Registered: Dec 2006
Location: Sandy Hook, KY
Posts: 1009

i get to go if it is dark i will turn my light off,i would poop my pants if one ran at me or just pass out,

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Registered: Jun 2003
Location: Montana
Posts: 424

This bear was only 10 feet up at first but swapped ends and took a shot at my buddy Franks hat last week while we were pulling the last hound off the tree.........


this bear was quiet content to just kick back until we moved the last hound off.......

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Registered: Mar 2006
Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 19374

These are great.... I am just the most scared person in the world when it comes to Bears!LOL... All from the bear rug I grew up with! Shudder!
I'm sorry but if a Bear POPPED it's teeth at me I would just die right there! The fear I have of bears is Slightly more "rational" than my fear of spiders.... I think. The ONLY reason I have Never Ever gone camping is bears. I would rather be eatten by lions and tigers.... Bears just aren't as "beautiful and graceful" to me I guess...LOL... Have to admit the pix I see on here DO show some Beautiful bears...for bears anyway....
Makes you wonder al the times you go out in the woods at night...coonhunting for instance...How MANY bears and cats do you walk right past or under or....SHUDDER.... At least those suckers don't drop down on you with webs like the darned spiders do....LOL....
I really enjoy this forum. I have to admit I really don't ever want to go on a bear hunt... although I'd continue on if I felt safe and the hounds were after bear... but I REALLY REALLY want to get out on one Mt.Lion hunt before I die. First things first, gotta get healthy enough to follow some coondawgs.
Keep the great stories and pix coming. Happy And SAFE Hunting! Heather

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Registered: Jun 2003
Location: vt
Posts: 1256

not sure a bear popping his teeth is real violent-- i think its a nervous reaction-- they open and close mouth fast and it makes a noise-- - ive seen some real non threatening bears do it-


my house dog is old and fat and lazy and will lay on her side and woof--
she dont scare anybody -kind of same thing --

u can almost look at a bear and tell if they are bad or not--



i dont like that stretched out neck and ears laid flat-- in spanks top picture- -- specially when eyes fixed on me-- - lol

i had a big bear one time woof and slap side of tree-i was 30 feet away and i could feel the vibration in my feet -a man with a sledgehammer couldnt have hit tree any harder-- - that got my attention lol

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Registered: Oct 2003
Location: mid-michigan
Posts: 4437

quote:

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Originally posted by pete


i had a big bear one time woof and slap side of tree-i was 30 feet away and i could feel the vibration in my feet -a man with a sledgehammer couldnt have hit tree any harder-- - that got my attention lol

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Registered: Jun 2007
Location: WV
Posts: 5

wv plott i bet i was there when that happened and that was for the strong at heart dont want to do it again but would like to find another one like that but no it so we dont have to drag 20 bloody hurt dogs of off 1 ticked of mad bear but it sure made dogs out of pups real quick

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