BS: Livin' with Black Bears Question....

Subject: RE: BS: Livin' with Black Bears Question....
From: bobad
Date: 17 Jun 05 - 10:40 PM

I've had this knife also for about 35 years. It's never been used in anger against any living thing, thank goodness.

Subject: RE: BS: Livin' with Black Bears Question....
From: Peace
Date: 17 Jun 05 - 10:22 PM

Rap,

I have owned two of those knives. They are THE best, IMO. I prefer the Puma for throwing because the blade is thicker and it has the heft. The 116374 However, when I bought the only one I ever owned, I seem to recall it costing about $60. Price has gone up a bit in 35 years. I expect the Buck Knife has too. Each of them cost about $60 back then too.

I find the Puma to be a less-than utilitarian knife unless you're skinning something big. The Buck is a great knife. Keeps an edge and has a good feel to it.

BM

Subject: RE: BS: Livin' with Black Bears Question....
From: Mooh
Date: 17 Jun 05 - 09:50 PM

Rapaire...I have that same knife (among others), and a fox whistle. The knife has never seen bear, but it's had its share of salmon and trout. Given the salmon/bear relationship, it's sorta appropriate. I like the Fox whistle but it almost puts out the ears! A classier looking whistle is an old Scout model, though class don't matter a damn if your life's on the line.

Peace, Mooh.

Subject: RE: BS: Livin' with Black Bears Question....
From: Rapparee
Date: 17 Jun 05 - 08:53 PM

As I said, when I go into the woods today I go packin', mostly to scare any critter off with a loud noise. And yes, I have a very nice knife I take along, too. That's a Buck "General," 7.5 inch blade, phenolic hilt, and I keep it very sharp (like a knife should be kept).

Subject: RE: BS: Livin' with Black Bears Question....
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 17 Jun 05 - 03:37 PM

And here I thought this thread was about a question Little Hawk's kid brother asked.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Livin' with Black Bears Question....
From: gnu
Date: 17 Jun 05 - 03:24 PM

Yeah. I just hope it was quick. I sometimes get laughed at when the old guys see my shiv on my belt, but, someday, I might be the one who lives to laugh.

Subject: RE: BS: Livin' with Black Bears Question....
From: Rapparee
Date: 17 Jun 05 - 03:07 PM

Lordy. And this guy was a veteran bushman, too.

Subject: RE: BS: Livin' with Black Bears Question....
From: gnu
Date: 17 Jun 05 - 09:42 AM

Another black bear attack.

Subject: RE: BS: Livin' with Black Bears Question....
From: Boab
Date: 23 May 05 - 02:39 AM

Re. the Cougar. My longhaired partner was in the habit of taking an evening hike up the highway. Something under a year ago, she was returning eastward towards home when she heard a rustling in the bush on the steep bank to her left. Her first thought was either a bear or a deer [ bears don't feel the need to be silent in the bush, and are noisy in their travels]. The animal suddenly materialised--and it wasn't a bear--nor was it a deer. It was a real-live spitting cougar. It landed crouching in the drainage ditch by the roadside a mere few feet in front of her. In retrospect, I am of the opinion that it was the dog [she had "Ruby' on a leash]which was the target. She tried all the dodges as she'd heard of them, but the cat wouldn't be turned. Fate, sheer luck or the Lord was on her side. A car came into view, travelling east. She flagged it frantically to a stop, and asked sanctuary of the two girls in the front seats. They were Tofino lassies, and had her in that car tout-de-suite. Hornblowing and engine-revving sent the beast back into the bush.They brought a shaken-up lady home safe. She hasn't hiked the highway since. It has to be said that the sighting of a cougar is a rare thing indeed. I have NEVER seen one, but in the twelve years I've been here, I am certain that THEY have seen ME many times. Sneaky barstewards. Most people live a lifetime on the Island, and never once see a cougar. They are there nonethe less. Always be aware of any high rocks or trees by the side of the trail. It may happen once in a lifetime---but it can happen.

Subject: RE: BS: Livin' with Black Bears Question....
From: Boab
Date: 23 May 05 - 02:17 AM

Black bears are so common in our yard that it pays to watch where you put your feet! Had one little black guy trying to open our steel garbage can, while his Ma watched from about five yards out. I "shoo-ed" the cheeky wee bugger back from the trash can, and stood there to discourage it from returning.It regarded me for a scant five seconds, decided I was harmless, and joined me on the opposite side of the trash can! Ma bear, meanwhile, decided to move on down hill, and turned and ambled off. The wee fella decided that he'd better follow Ma, and off he went. The pair stopped at the foot of the short downhill, and stood looking at me. I did the recommended war dance [whoops included] which they seemed to regard as the afternoon's entertainment. Then I made a mistake. I gathered a handful of gravel from the drive way, and heaved it at them. Baby bear was up the nearest tree pronto, and Mama bear began galloping in circles, growling and headshaking. Shit! She didn't like me at all! Luckily, the car was parked close by, and I was into the front seat like a shot. Now, I was aware that this sow had started out with TWO cubs, but had lost one to a speeding car on the highway. I started the engine, and belted out some horn blasts. Wee bear was down in a flash, and the pair of them hightailed it [and believe me, they CAN move very fast] down into the bush.
They'll tell you that most black bear sows aren't inclined to attack, not even to protect their offspring. DON'T COUNT ON IT!

Subject: RE: BS: Livin' with Black Bears Question....
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 May 05 - 12:12 PM

That's what a lot of people thought.

Subject: RE: BS: Livin' with Black Bears Question....
From: GUEST,gnu
Date: 22 May 05 - 11:20 AM

A forester who cut down a tree to count the rings rather than using a bore sampler? Unbelievable!

Subject: RE: BS: Livin' with Black Bears Question....
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 May 05 - 10:04 AM

Oh, good. A record-breaking huge black bear. Let's shoot it so we can weigh it.

Reminds me of the lame-brained USFS forester who found what they thought was the record-breaking bristle-cone pine in Nevada in the Sierras. Nothing would do for him but to cut the tree down to count the annual rings. . . they found another, older one, and barred that yimyat from getting anywhere near it.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Livin' with Black Bears Question....
From: GUEST,gnu
Date: 22 May 05 - 09:14 AM

Re my post above, I've mentioned this on other threads... any hikers ever see one of theses "tunnels", shaped like a horseshoe, recognize it for what it is and stay away from it. Black bears who make these tunnels are usually large boars or elderly dry sows (very rare for a sow) who use these as regular paths and, more importantly to note, to ambush. I know old fellahs who will not venture near a tunnel unless in pairs and with the express intent to harvest.

Some bears will construct a number of tunnels parallel and inter-joining so they can move quickly and quietly to determine what is walking along a tunnel before they attack.

Bears also parallel their game without the use of tunnels. If you hear something "following" you off to the side, a trick is to move at a fair pace and suddenly stop to listen. You'll soon know what's going on. Also, while stopped, pitch sticks or rocks ahead of you in your travel direction while stopped and listen to see if it moves forward following the noise. You can probably figure out the next move on your own.

One more thing. I would never have fired as quickly as I did if I had met up with this bear in the "open" woods.

Subject: RE: BS: Livin' with Black Bears Question....
From: GUEST,brucie
Date: 21 May 05 - 11:55 PM

". . . but I did see the duck shit when he was about three feet off the water."

If I'd been with you, you would have seen me shit, too. Heckuva story. And if that bear's still around, he's probably ornery and just waiting for some ol' human to wander into his life.

Subject: RE: BS: Livin' with Black Bears Question....
From: gnu
Date: 21 May 05 - 09:55 PM

Steamin'... minds me... I was three hours from the truck on a due east bearing. It was a cool October day, mid afternnon, and I was on an old logging road, headed for a crossing of Big Forks Stream in Kent County, New Brunswick. I could hear water and see a level alder flood plain to my right as I walked down a slope... beaver pond, I was sure. I knew the old stream crossing was close. The logging road turned to a trail and then to a path and then to a "bear tunnel".

A bear tunnel is a few feet wide and a few feet tall (depends on the bear), like an archway. Then, I could smell it. Plain as if I had some on my 'stache. I stopped and replaced the number six in the top barrel with a slug. I crouched and moved forward slowly while I held my shotgun tightly on my hip, safety off, trigger finger on the side of the breech. I stepped over the pile of steaming fresh bear shit and continued to the edge of the stream.

I broke out of the dense alders and small hardwood trees about ten feet from the edge of an old wooden bridge and stood up from my stoop, putting the safety back on. Now, I don't know who was more scared... the duck that lifted from the pool where the old bridge used to be or me, but I did see the duck shit when he was about three feet off the water. I knew what he felt like.

I surveyed the area. It was like Eden in the middle of nowhere. Absolutely beautiful. There was at least a hundred good sized trout in the pool, even with the duck there. I made a hundred yard half-circle to the upstream and downstream sides looking for ruffed grouse sign and was impressed. I knew I would be back again for partridge at a better time of day. I laid down at the edge of the bridge and had a smoke.

I got up and started the long walk back to the truck. At the entrance to the beer tunnel, I crouched and took about four steps in when he appeared, in the middle of the tunnel, broadside, about twenty feet away. He filled the tunnel and all I could see was head and shoulders. Immediately, I kneeled and fired both barrels into the brush above him and reloaded in an instant. He was gone and I hadn't seen which way.

I advanced at a good pace but kept a keen eye out until I was a good fifty yards past where he had stood. Two hours later, I was at the truck, scraping bear shit off my right boot. Ya know... someday I will go back there after them partridge... someday. That was about fifteen years ago.

Subject: RE: BS: Livin' with Black Bears Question....
From: Peace
Date: 21 May 05 - 07:55 PM

. . . an' if it's still steamin' you are TOO CLOSE TO THE BEAR.

Subject: RE: BS: Livin' with Black Bears Question....
From: gnu
Date: 21 May 05 - 07:51 PM

Nope. My brother never ate no roughage in his life. That there bear been eatin healthy.

Subject: RE: BS: Livin' with Black Bears Question....
From: Peace
Date: 21 May 05 - 07:47 PM

That was a photo from your brother, gnu. LOL

Subject: RE: BS: Livin' with Black Bears Question....
From: gnu
Date: 21 May 05 - 07:41 PM

Yup...spit...that there's...spit...b'ar shit awright.

Subject: RE: BS: Livin' with Black Bears Question....
From: Peace
Date: 21 May 05 - 07:37 PM

You asked. Here it is, Bobert.

Subject: RE: BS: Livin' with Black Bears Question....
From: gnu
Date: 21 May 05 - 07:36 PM

In berry season, it looks like a dark coloured cow pattie with a lot of seeds. In the absolute opposite season, it looks like my brother's but not as wide or as long.

Subject: RE: BS: Livin' with Black Bears Question....
From: Bobert
Date: 21 May 05 - 07:29 PM

Well, well, well....

A 900 pound black bear? Heck, I bet the piccure of it weighed in at over 10 pounds...

Aww, jus' funnin'.... Hmmmmm?

Hey, that's a purdy danged big bear.... But if I run into one that big the last thing that bear will remember is the sound of me chamberin' a load of 4 shot in the 12 guage.... He gonna be a danged rug....

Ahhhhhh, now I got a question fir all you beariers, ahhhh, bear folk (no not nude) 'er whatever folks that know 'bout these critters... So hear goes. We all that a bear poop in the woods, right... But, ahhhh, like what is bear poop like? No, gol dangit, I din't mean like to play with 'er injest... I mean, what do it look like 'cause when we was down (up) in Pine Grove (Luray) today takin' another load o' stuff we come 'cross where somethin' had tore open a bag o' ProMix we had and half ruined it... So the P-Vine says to me "Go ask yer beariers, 'er bear folks (no, not nude) 'er__________ what does bear poop look like."

So Iz askin.

What does bear poop look like?

(Ya know, Bobert, this question IS gonna come back to haunt ya....)

Nevermind...

BObert

Subject: RE: BS: Livin' with Black Bears Question....
From: Peace
Date: 21 May 05 - 06:19 PM

Ursus freakin' biggus.

Subject: RE: BS: Livin' with Black Bears Question....
From: GUEST, Ebbie
Date: 21 May 05 - 06:17 PM

Wow. Gnu, if that weighs in at 900 pounds, it will be almost twice the 'normal' weight for a blackie. Let us know the final figure!

Subject: RE: BS: Livin' with Black Bears Question....
From: gnu
Date: 21 May 05 - 03:21 PM

I got a call from Dale earlier today. I've "mentioned" him on some other threads and made him out to be an outrageous character. Well, he is real and he's more than outrageous. He wanted to know why I wasn't up country for the long weekend and he was pretty excited.

Late yesterday, he guided an American sport from New York to a record black bear. He couldn't even get it out with his old toyota truck and he was calling from a ranger station in a small town waiting to get it weighed. He figures it might beat the world record, also taken in New Brunswick, of 902 pounds dressed.

Bobert, if you ever meet up with one that big, you have my deepest sympathies.

Subject: RE: BS: Livin' with Black Bears Question....
From: Bobert
Date: 18 May 05 - 07:51 PM

So, ahhhhh, now we have asords, an' spears, an' Afican music, an' a bottle of womenz, an', an'....

Jeeze-a-mo-pete.... Next thing someone is gonna come up with is some danged Shatner idea....

I can smell it a'comin'.... 'Er Pa and Reg Boyz....

Bobert

Subject: RE: BS: Livin' with Black Bears Question....
From: Rapparee
Date: 18 May 05 - 04:01 PM

Bears have two arms and that's plenty!

Subject: RE: BS: Livin' with Black Bears Question....
From: Dave (the ancient mariner)
Date: 18 May 05 - 03:55 PM

Just Remember you have a constitutional right to "Keep and Arm Bears"
;-)

Subject: RE: BS: Livin' with Black Bears Question....
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 May 05 - 03:52 PM

Rapaire, don't cast pearls before swine. Keep the BS in the MOAB where it belongs!

Subject: RE: BS: Livin' with Black Bears Question....
From: gnu
Date: 17 May 05 - 05:55 PM

I thought you might like both of those last two, Ebbie. I hope SINS sees the last one. She'll get a kick out of it.

BTW, did you know the U.S. "7th" is the Garryowen regiment?

Oops. I just realized I posted "Calvary" above. Slightly different from "Cavalry"!!! Perhaps a Freudian... the hill of Garry Owen versus "THE Hill?" Hmmm. Maybe it's the painmurderers. Must check my subscription to see if it's renubile.

gnu (but don't tell anyone)

Subject: RE: BS: Livin' with Black Bears Question....
From: GUEST,Azizi
Date: 17 May 05 - 03:08 PM

Hiya!

I just thought I'd drop by to let you know that the African American secular folk songs thead has some discussion of a song called The Grizzaly Bear and a dance called The Grizzly Bear.

"Come on up!" to the non-BS threads and post a comment or two.


Ms. Azizi

Subject: RE: BS: Livin' with Black Bears Question....
From: GUEST, Ebbie
Date: 17 May 05 - 01:14 PM

Rapaire, your character has gone about as far off topic as I routinely do! But I enjoyed it anyway. How about starting a thread of tall tales?

Subject: RE: BS: Livin' with Black Bears Question....
From: Rapparee
Date: 17 May 05 - 11:48 AM

Yeah, but that ain't nothin' to this scar here that I got early one Spring when I was out checkin' out the trap line my Uncle used to run up around Triangle Lake. He'd taken a bit too much the night before, it bein' his Bachelor Party and all. And lemme tell ya, that was SOME party! They brought in the here hootchi-kootchie dance girl that could make her tassels twirl in opposite directions, an' so fast that we thought she was gonna take off. Looked like the engines on a B-25, like we used fly over Germany durin' the Big War. One time we was comin' back from a run over some place along the Rhine with two engines shot up, most of the port wing gone, no vertical rudder, the hydralics shot away, the landing gear gone and the navigator pourin' oil into the system so's the bearings wouldn't freeze. And lemme tell ya, if they froze up, it's be like that time up in Alaska when we were mushing from Eagle City to Dawson and Fred's feet froze so solid that....

Subject: RE: BS: Livin' with Black Bears Question....
From: GUEST, Ebbie
Date: 17 May 05 - 11:39 AM

LOL

Subject: RE: BS: Livin' with Black Bears Question....
From: GUEST,gnu
Date: 17 May 05 - 11:30 AM

I loves me Kippered Snacks, with a wee toddy of Black Rum and Coke, up at the camp, tellin bear stories. See this here scar on me neck? Well, I forgot me Seventh Calvary Regiment sword one troutin trip and I just happened to pick up walkin stick at a beaver dam fer steadyin meself on the slippery rocks. One end was right pointy, kinda like a spear...

Subject: RE: BS: Livin' with Black Bears Question....
From: GUEST,brucie
Date: 17 May 05 - 09:47 AM

Do you like Kipling?

I don't know; I've never Kippled.

Subject: RE: BS: Livin' with Black Bears Question....
From: GUEST,Rapaire
Date: 17 May 05 - 09:17 AM

Kipling did NOT write about "screw-gnus."

Subject: RE: BS: Livin' with Black Bears Question....
From: GUEST,gnu
Date: 17 May 05 - 06:39 AM

Ebbie: "I first read that as 'Screw the gnus'- Took me aback."

I first read that as 'I first read that as 'Screw the gnus'- Took me back.'- Took me back.

Subject: RE: BS: Livin' with Black Bears Question....
From: GUEST,Fay Wray
Date: 17 May 05 - 12:05 AM

Problem Solved. (Cost you a fortune in bananas, though.)

Subject: RE: BS: Livin' with Black Bears Question....
From: GUEST,Rapaire
Date: 16 May 05 - 09:30 PM

Kipling wrote about "the screw-guns."

Well, you could get REALLY historical...and demonstrate your manliness and machismo and hairy chest at the same time....

Subject: RE: BS: Livin' with Black Bears Question....
From: GUEST, Ebbie
Date: 16 May 05 - 08:19 PM

I first read that as 'Screw the gnus'- Took me aback.

Subject: RE: BS: Livin' with Black Bears Question....
From: GUEST,gnu
Date: 16 May 05 - 07:21 PM

Screw the guns.

Subject: RE: BS: Livin' with Black Bears Question....
From: Peace
Date: 15 May 05 - 11:09 PM

Bobert, what AM I gonna do about you. Listen up, son, listen up I say. The rocks are for the bears. It works like the old treatment for crabs--a subject with which I am intimately familiar. You throw a handful of sand onto your 'unmentionable location'. Then pour beer on the same place you just put the sand. The little buggers will get drunk, start fighting and stone each other to death. Easy. Just do the same with the bears.

Subject: RE: BS: Livin' with Black Bears Question....
From: Rapparee
Date: 15 May 05 - 09:43 PM

Bobert, this stuff is the answer ta yer problems. You jist leave it out fer the bears ta find and they'll head fer the hills double quick. 'Course, they might come back the next day gunnin' fer ya.

Subject: RE: BS: Livin' with Black Bears Question....
From: freda underhill
Date: 15 May 05 - 08:25 AM

LoL!

Subject: RE: BS: Livin' with Black Bears Question....
From: Bobert
Date: 15 May 05 - 08:13 AM

Well, gol danged, brucie, I didn't see no bear eatin' rocks... Seems all they wanta eat is people... Now the P-Vine has even more to be concerned about... Does wearin' a bell offer you an protection from these rocks???

Subject: RE: BS: Livin' with Black Bears Question....
From: freda underhill
Date: 15 May 05 - 12:35 AM

watch what you leave on the verandah, Bobert..

Subject: RE: BS: Livin' with Black Bears Question....
From: Peace
Date: 15 May 05 - 12:22 AM

Thus will the sands of time flow . . . .

Subject: RE: BS: Livin' with Black Bears Question....
From: freda underhill
Date: 15 May 05 - 12:20 AM

Don was so excited to be going bear hunting. He spotted a small Brown Bear in the woods and shot it. Then there was a tap on his shoulder, he turned around to see a big Black Bear. The Black Bear said, 'Don, you've got two choices, either I maul you to death or we have sex.' Don decided to bend over.

Even though he felt sore for two weeks Don soon recovered and vowed revenge. He headed out on another trip where he found the Black Bear and shot it. There was another tap on his shoulder. This time a huge Grizzly Bear was standing right next to him. The Grizzly said, 'That was a huge mistake Don. You've got two choices. Either I maul you to death, or we have rough sex.' Again, Don thought it was better to comply.

Although he survived, it took several months before Don finally recovered. Outraged he headed back to the woods, managed to track down the Grizzly and shot it. He felt the sweet taste of revenge. But then there was a tap on his shoulder. Don turned round to find a giant Polar Bear standing there.

The Polar Bear said, 'Admit it Don, you don't really come here for the hunting, do you?'