THAT'S THE BEAR

[3RRL]

Well, we finally saw "THE BEAR" at camp this weekend...Friday night at 1:00am. Excitement is a mild way to put it. Here's what happened...

When we got to camp we saw sign that he had been in camp and into the ATV shed. Sure signs of bear visitors.
This is the back of the ATV shed where the bear came in. It looked like he had slept there.



There were a few things knocked over in the kitchen area.



He had eaten most of the birdseed out of this 50lb bag!



The only things he got into were the bird seed bag, and Coco's 5 gallon pail of dog food we keep. He bit the pail and pried off the sealed lid.



He also bit a jug of stuff that Loretta spreads around her garden to keep deer and other animals away!

 

[Captinjack]

Bears are like 300# racoons........Undesireable! They get into everything and cause a lot of damage.

You can expect him to return as long as there is food. Anything remotely consumable should be kept in a metal SECURE container.

While nice to see every once in a while, Bears quickly become a large PITA. A good load of birdshot on sight is a great deterrant and will make them wary of humans and run away if seen.

This may simply be a wandering young weaned male that is in search of a new home territory. Hopefully, he will move on and not be seen again.

 

[3RRL]

It was hard for me to fall asleep that night. I kept hearing things in the forest around us. Then around midnight I heard the bear cough what seemed far away. I had heard that before while elk hunting and knew it was the bear. Loretta and I waited for some time but heard nothing else, and soon we dozed off to sleep.

Then, at 1:00am in the middle of the night, Coco our small black lab mix let out one bark and then charged an animal right behind our tent. It was a full moon and we could see the silhouettes very plainly. When Coco barked, Loretta and I shot up and we saw Coco charge the huge bear. Loretta and I saw this and she said matter of factly "That's the Bear".

The bear was completely surprised when Coco charged. He wheeled around and ran right through some buckbrush. We called Coco back and she came. We then got dressed and armed ourselves and got Wes up. I could hear the bear huffing and coughing loudly behind our tent and towards the "parking lot". I really thought he might charge us at that time...I did not know what else to think.

 

[3RRL]

Coco was heroic! She did not hesitate one second to charge him as he approached the camp. She has done this on several occasions in the past too, but we were never sure what it was she was chasing away. Usually coyotes or deer. This time it was the bear. She could have gotten killed easily, but I think the bear was so surprised that she (and we) were there at camp, that he lost his nerve and ran. Especially that she charged him. She is a great dog...a big brave dog trapped in a small body. You should have seen her! She stayed at our side through the whole episode.
Here she is.

 

[3RRL]

In the morning we surveyed the area and the tree he was in. Unbelievable to see a giant animal climb a tree like that. The shear clamping strength needed to pull up all that weight is hard to imagine. We took some photos that actually show the "footprints" he left on the tree trunk.





You can see where the bark has been "pressed in" by his clamping the tree trunk...unreal!

Throughout this episode, Loretta and Wes (Coco too) remained surprisingly calm. lol ... Seemed like I was the most excited of all of them? Of course I was extremely worried about them. But it all turned out alright.
Due to our home schedule, we will not return until August 18th (Loretta's birthday). So I hope he does not get the idea that camp is vacant again for him. It was an exciting weekend, to say the least. Needless to say, I did not sleep well the next evening up there.

 

[Thomas]

Afternoon Rob. I'd say you and the Mrs. had night full of memories...yikes...maybe #8's or 6 bird shot in his butt from fair distance might get him to thinking before returning....be safe out there.

 

[Ductape]

Great story Rob ! The hair was standing up on the back of my neck just reading it.... i could feel your excitement.

I'll ask out of ignorance.... but you have black bears, or brown bears out your way?

Keep the pics coming. Hard to believe you've been out there 3 years already.

Scott

 

[3RRL]

Great story Rob ! The hair was standing up on the back of my neck just reading it.... i could feel your excitement.

I'll ask out of ignorance.... but you have black bears, or brown bears out your way?

Keep the pics coming. Hard to believe you've been out there 3 years already.

Scott

Yup Scott, been camping up there every other weekend for three and a half years now. Three years this September in South camp and a half year before that at Old camp. It's been a fun ride.

Out here we have Black bears which of course, come in a variety of colors. This one was a cinnamon color ... different than the usual black ones the neighbors have seen a lot.