A question about an encounter with a bear

[Tom_Murphy]

I had an interesting encounter with a smallish bear this Saturday & I am not sure if I did the right thing. The USFS officers later told me he is a two year old male that they are aware of.

I hiked in Friday night from Lincoln Woods TH and camped off of the Franconia Brook Trail, after the 0.25 mile exclusion area associated with the East Side campground and before the beaver pond bypass. I was camped on a "shelf" west of the trail that might have been a logging road (?). It was certainly a flat corridor hidden from anyone below to the east.

As I was breaking camp, just after sunrise, I heard an "humpf" sound and turned to find a small but heavy bear. The bear was stationary, on all fours, and looking way from me. It was only about 5-10 yards away . I froze and wondered if he knew I was there. I knew right away it seemed way too big to be a cub. Thank goodness for that. I didn't want to startle him, so I said "Hey Bear" in as conversational a tone of voice as I could manage. The bear walked/jogged away a 50 yards. He never looked at me as he moved away. I am still surprised I didn't scream or get more nervous when I first turned around and he was there.

But, after he was in the heavy woods, he turned around and looked at me through the trees. And then seemed to be coming back towards me. Whether it was finally seeing his face or his seeming movement towards me, I got really scared then. I got my poles, banged them together, and yelled at him to leave.

He did kind of run away at that point but nothing other time I saw a bear in the Pemi. That time all I saw was the back end of an incredibly fast animal and my first thought was "fast" and then I thought "that was a bear".

So questions:
Does it make sense that he didn't know I was there until he came up on the "shelf" I was camped on? I think that is what happened.
Should I have yelled at him right away? He was really close.
Do you think he was coming back to check me out again?
Does his seeming lack of speed the second time mean he doesn't fear humans yet?

I wish I had yelled at him right away and he had taken off like a rabbit.

 

[peakbagger]

If the USFS knows of this bear than its human habituated. That changes the rules. A wild bear will generally avoid humans, but like a beagle, they also think with their noses so even a wild bear may come into to investigate the smell of the equivalent of "bear cocaine" which is human food. Bears are also in the "eatathon" time of the year where they are foraging 24/7 to build up winter fat. I expect that makes them less wary of human encounters. If there was a breeze, the bear could have come in upwind, they and many other animals will gladly use an old logging road to move between points and if the bear was upwind it may not have gotten a sniff of you initially.

I do think the bear was surprised initially but did pause and decided to do a second check out. The bear you ran into appears to be in a tug of war between natural instincts and habituation to human food sources. The best thing for the bear in the long run is to restore a healthy fear of people, nothing good will happen to human friendly bear. At some point the bear will be rewarded with human food enough times that it will discover that a bluff charge is worth the effort as enough folks will abandon their food to make it worthwhile to the bear. I think you are right on with your speculation that lack of speed is sign of human habituation. I have what I believe are more wild bears on my AT boundary section, when I have encountered them in the past, they run away as soon as they are aware of me and they don't come back for a second visit.

You probably have seen the approach to dealing with Brown Bears/Grizzly's out west that get human habituated, they harass they devil of any bears doing unacceptable behaviors usually with blanks or bear dogs. Eventually the risk doesn't equal the reward and bears go elsewhere or they get trapped and trucked as last case. That doesn't appear to be the case in New England, the population is high so the approach is the trap and truck when the bear gets to be enough of a nuisance which reportedly is a slow motion death sentence for many bears or the lead poisoning approach where the bear is shot.

Many folks don't realize how far bears will roam and the size of their territories. This bear may have gotten its start watching its mother bluff charge campers at 13 falls. Unfortunately young males tend to get pushed around out of prime territories by large adult males and they end up in less prime areas which frequently line up with human use.

 

[JoshandBaron]

A bear's sense of smell tells me there isn't a chance in hell he didn't know you were there unless there was a decent breeze going the opposite direction. I had an encounter in the Caribou 2 weeks ago at night where the bear came about the same distance as I was preparing my dog's food. The wind was blowing towards him from my site so he knew 3 things: I was there, I had food, and my dog was there. After nearly an hour of constant hazing from me and my dog he finally sauntered off in no particular hurry after doing several more laps. I saw a ranger at the trailhead on my way out and he said I handled it properly. T

 

[Hillwalker]

"When a pine needle falls in the woods. The hawk sees it, the deer hears it and the bear smells it."

 

[Will]

Does it make sense that he didn't know I was there until he came up on the "shelf" I was camped on? I think that is what happened.

He knew.

Should I have yelled at him right away? He was really close.

What you did, calm voice, was fine.

Do you think he was coming back to check me out again?

Probably. The food more than you, whom he probably didn't much care about.

Does his seeming lack of speed the second time mean he doesn't fear humans yet?

Probably.

I wish I had yelled at him right away and he had taken off like a rabbit.

Personally I wouldn't have done a threat thing that close, especially when you thought it possible he didn't know of your presence. Once you were certain he was aware and there was a little distance, threat is good. Poles raised to increase apparent size is very good; also widen stance and diagonal poles out to the sides a bit for breath as well as height. Yelling is OK at that point but probably not real effective.

These are all my opinions from a long hiking life; grain of salt included.

 

[CaptCaper]

I would carry bear spray out in these areas. Easy enough. With that said you should of kept talking to the bear so he doesn't get agitated. Talk in a calm voice and conservation and back slowly to get out of his way. Getting the spray ready that's on your belt or pack. He knows all the tricks to fool and get humans food including scaring humans away from it by coming back. I know the manager at the Cog and he told me a story that a bear was on his porch when he got home one evening. He said the Bear ( big sucker..big boys know all the tricks. I had one here that was the same they don't scare) would not let him near the house or porch no matter what he said or tried. He had to sit in the truck until the Bear was done checking the porch etc out for any food or trash.

 

[nartreb]

I agree with, and won't repeat, most of the responses given upthread, but I would like to emphasize that bears' noses are not magic. Most likely, the bear simply didn't know you were there. That huffing noise you heard is probably the bear clearing its sinuses to get a better sniff after it first got your scent.

I've come within a few steps of colliding with a bear on the trail, and had animals (e.g. moose, not something that would be interested in my food) step right up to my tent while camped.

I would *not* start an encounter by shouting. Startling a bear is rarely a good idea.

 

[skiguy]

I would *not* start an encounter by shouting. Startling a bear is rarely a good idea.

Interesting how the domesticated ones can act. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rmr8gZIRcTE

 

[ChrisB]

I would carry bear spray...

I've never felt a threat from bears here in the East. The few I've encountered were more afraid of me than I of them. And browns/blacks are usually not aggressive like western grizzlies.

But, bear spray is easy enough to carry. Light, effective at close range, and usually a last resort to a charge when everything else has failed.

Given increasing bear populations, why not?

The 11th essential!

cb

 

[sierra]

Before I had my dog, I saw many bear over the years. I solo and for some reason, I see a lot of animals. In CA, I asked about Lions, they said don't worry, you'll probably never see one. I saw one my first week there. CO, you'll never see a lion. Was stalked by one for quite some time, before we had a "confrontation". Anywho, I've chased off many new England bear's by just saying "go bear" in a semi loud voice, only one failed to leave the trail I was on. Maybe crazy, but I threw a stick at him, hit him, he left. I do not think bear spray is worth carrying as a general rule in NH. Maybe for overnights in the Pemi if your nervous, but there has not been a bear attack in many years here, that's a fact.

 

[Stan]

I've never carried bear spray in the east but it may be a more effective way of minimizing bear-human confrontations over the long run. Bears' sense of smell is their best asset and, if the spray will ward off grizzlies, it may well discourage black bears from human activity.

As for coming back to check you out, maybe it was trying to estimate what size cook-pot it would need.

 

[Gray Jay 56]

I think the bear New you were there all the time. After all, you are the guest it's his house and he definitely smelled you. I usually eat my supper a mile before I stop for the night and I have never had food in my tent. But I did have one outside my tent one night but he left after about half a hour. He was trying to get into a bear box about 50 yards away. They only want food.

 

[Tom_Murphy]

USFS has issued a warning about a bear in this area. I wouldn’t be surprised if it is the same one I encountered; just a year bigger now.

 

[Amicus]

A pair of smallish black bears scampered across the Scudder Trail - one of those relatively obscure Randolph Village Trails - about 20 feet ahead of me, four summers ago. My only concern came from the possibility that I was wrong that they were adolescents out on their own, not mere cubs. So I stood still, in case there might be a Momma Bear in the offing. The forest into which they scampered was relatively open hardwoods, so they were easily visible when they stopped and peered back at me from about 30 feet away. Their expression, if I could hazard a guess, suggested only curiosity. After a bit they scampered off, and as no Mater had materialized, I proceeded.

 

[srhigham]

I had my closest bear encounter in June of this year on the woods road to Cape Horn, N.H. I saw a small bear cross the road in front of me and scamper up a tree, take a good look at me, then back down the tree and run into the woods. I was concerned and stopped because I was worried that I was between the mother and young. Sure enough, on the other side of the woods I saw the mother and another young bear running away. Apparently, the young bear was old enough for the mother not to be overly concerned. I started clapping loudly and continued that for several minutes down the road since I was spooked and wanted to continue to scare them away.

 

[KV]

As for coming back to check you out, maybe it was trying to estimate what size cook-pot it would need.

HAHAHA. Love it.

 

[Peakbagr]

There are more bear encounter's this year in the ADK High Peaks than I've ever heard about. They are coming into campsites and occupied leantos, with one growling to chase a family out of a leanto. Rangers have been involved, but so far as I know, none have been euthanized. Rangers used rubber bullets to chase away one.
With the large number of people camping, bears are being reports at the ADK Loj, John Brooks Valley, Colden Lake, Uphill, and the Dixes.

 

[jniehof]

Rangers have been involved, but so far as I know, none have been euthanized.

Yikes, who euthanizes rangers?