UT Campers Kill 5 Bears This Summer

[cowslayer]

http://wildlife.utah.gov/news/09-07/bears_killed.php

This summer 5 nuisance bears have been killed by campers this summer.

Two years ago a young boy was killed by a bear up AF canyon in Utah.

I don't know all the details to each of the cases... that being said...

This isn't a drought year, the bears have plenty of food to eat... so why more sightings and problems? Do we have more bears in Utah now days? Do we need more tags? Is baiting leading to bears that are fearless of humans/camps?

When do you shoot and not shoot? When the bear is on his death charge?

3rd degree felony for shooting a problem bear that the DWR would probably shoot anyways?

How many bears did the DWR have to kill last year?

CS

"Helping turn good tags, into great ones." - www.vipoptics.com

 

[alp75]

If a bear ever gets aggressive with me or my family then I wouldn't hesitate to shoot it. It said it right in the write up. A bear should run away when they encounter people. If they get aggressive then they have lost their fear of humans and have become a danger. That being said, every bear I have encountered has turned tail and ran.

 

[bobcatbess]

WELL CowSlayer!!!

IF MOST PEOPLE KNEW WHAT GOES ON AFTER THEY SHUT THE LIGHTS OFF & WENT TO BED THERE'D BE ALOT LESS CAMPERS IN CAMPGROUNDS!!!

MOST TARDS HAVE REAL POOR BEAR ETIQUETTE RESPONSIBILITIES!!!

IT'S PERTY EASY ARITHMETIC!!!

YOU THROW A BEAR A SAMICH!!!

MORE THAN LIKELY HE'LL BE BACK TOMORROW NIGHT FOR ANOTHER SAMICH!!!

AND IF HE DON'T GET THE SAMICH WHEN HE RETURNS HE'S PROBABLY GONNA BE A LITTLE GROWLY!!!

THERE ARE EXCEPTIONS TO THE RULE!!!

BUT MOST INCIDENTS ARE CAUSED BY TARDS NOT TAKING PROPPER CARE OF FOOD IN CAMP SITES!!!

I'VE BEEN CHARGED BY 2 DIFFERENT BEARS OVER THE YEARS!!!

BOTH TIMES WITHOUT A WEAPON!!!

BOTH OF THEM IN PISS POOR MOODS!!!

SOMTIMES TO GET IN ON A PISSCUTTER IT TAKES SOME STEALTH!!!
I THANK MY FRIEND Feleno FOR THE STEALTH CAMO!!!

REMEMBER!!!

THERE'S ONLY ONE bobcat!!!

 

[alp75]

So bess, if had a weapon when charged by those bears would you have used it? Just curious.

 

[1911]

Oh he had a weapon all right. He used it, and it was effective. After he emptied his bowels, the bear, sensative to the odor, turned tail and ran. When he says his brand can stop a charging buffalo at 500 yards he is not joking. If any bear is gonna make a meal of the cat it will be one crappy tasting kitty.

 

[buglinbilly]

I've baited bear for about 30 years and during that time I have learned a lot about bear behavior. Most will avoid humans and most have their fears, but some bears don't.

Through the years I have several experiences with deer too that weren't afraid of me. One small buck let me pet him years ago, but would not let my hunting partner near him. So animals exhibit strange behavior at times and bears are no different.

Bears by nature are driven by their nose and their hunger. They more than most critters use their olfactory senses to find food. If natural food is abundant there will be less incidents, but during the years when the mast crops fail bears have to find other food to take its place and sometimes that is found in a camp ground.

This year has been an exceptionally wet and cooler year in some parts of the state. I have noticed in the areas I frequent (mostly northern to central Utah) that the Service berry crop is non existent this year in the large part of the area I roam. The same can be said for the acorns. I am sure that is not state wide, but when that happens to those two food sources, it is most likely happening to other similar food sources, thus making the bear roam more and come in contract with people.

Baiting does not cause a bear to loose its sense of fear around people from the experience I have witnessed. If anything it increases that fear.

But bears associate humans with food and thus frequent areas where people leave food. This has been happening for thousands of years and as long as there are people and bears, it will continue to happen.

When you shoot your deer or elk and leave the gut pile, you have in essence created a human food source and the bears understand that. In other words you have baited a bear. So for those that think that baiting should be discontinued, they better be prepared to pack out their gut pile and related waste to a bear proof container.

There are more bears in Utah that most people realize and they should increase the number of permits but that likely won't be realized or happen on either part.

Bears will always be bears and so most years we will have some conflicts.

And I don't usually agree much with Bessy, but if everyone knew or understood what is happening around their camp in the night they would be amazed and many would crap their pants, as the cat hit the nail square center that time.

Have a good one. BB

 

[gb22]

During the (Idaho) hunting season before that young man was killed near Provo, I was charged by a bear. He emerged from the brush, swung his head from side to side while shifting his weight from one front leg to the other. He let out a couple of "woofs" and charged.

It was during a muzzleloader elk hunt. I'm glad I was carrying a double-barrel rifle. The first barrel hurt him but he righted himself and came again.

When he went down (2nd barrel), he was about 12 feet away.

Since that incident, I've read several times that bears are bluffing and will "break off" their charges. I don't know that I was scared (during) but I know I had no interest in deciphering his intentions, which seemed very apparent.

Any experts? What are the odds he would have broken off, had I been unarmed? The tracks showed he had been paralleling me for a couple of hundred yards (about 30 yards to my left).

We were just inside one of our wilderness areas...the bear had probably seen people several times (maybe myself on previous trips) but he was not living near houses or campgrounds.

I've seen lots of bears; I've even thrown pine cone at a couple. The others HAVE all run away.


Within the shadows, go quietly.

 

[bobcatbess]

WELL alp!!!

PROBABLY A GOOD THING I DIDN'T HAVE A GUN ON ME WITH THE ONE BEAR FOR SURE!!!

THIS WAS THE BIGGEST BOAR I'VE EVER CAME EYE TO EYE WITH!!!

HE WAS SO MAD AT ME HE'D OF MADE jackrussel LOOK LIKE AN ANGEL!!!

((( NO OFFENSE jackrussel!!!)))

HE WAS SNAPPING & POPPING HIS JAWS LIKE NOTHING I'VE EVER SEEN!!!

HE WAS ONE MAD SOB!!!

HE CAME WITHIN 10 FEET OF ME alp & I KNEW DAMN WELL I COULDN'T OUT RUN HIM!!!

HE WAS WOOFIN & SNAPPIN THEM JAWS!!!

THATS WHERE I LOST ONE OF MY NINE LIVES!!!

GUN???

HELL I DIDN'T EVEN HAVE A SAMICH TO THROW HIM!!!

SOMTIMES TO GET IN ON A PISSCUTTER IT TAKES SOME STEALTH!!!
I THANK MY FRIEND Feleno FOR THE STEALTH CAMO!!!

REMEMBER!!!

THERE'S ONLY ONE bobcat!!!

 

[Silentstalker]

Chris,

I think personally with my limited experience with Utah bears that there population is growing. It was only a few years ago that I did not even see bears on our waterholes or preseason scouting. Now I see them in the spring, fall, summer, they are even finding our kills before we do on occasion.

On my Bear hunt this past spring, I had around 9 bears hitting 2 baits. They were a long ways apart too. All different bears. New ones showing up every day until I pulled them. We need to harvest a few more each year to keep the nuisance bears down. JMHO.

Have a great day.

Chad

 

[longshooter338]

NOBODY SAYS IT QUITE LIKE BESSY!!!!

 

[Lambo]

Several years ago my cousine and a couple of his friends were on a camping trip in Southern Utah. They were sleeping in sleeping bags under the stars right next to his mothers camper. During the night he was violently awakened. A bear had grabbed him by the head and had pulled him from his sleepin bag and was draggin him off when he woke up. He yelled, the bear dropped him and stood up on his hind legs possibly wondering how his meal had suddenly come back to life. Well to make a long story short. ha recieved sevier lacerations on both sides of his head where the bears bite marks were. Now, according to tha bite marks this would have to be a bear of considersble size to open his mouth wide enough to grab him by the head. As far back as I can remember, I think the Fish and Game hired a local guide and set off after the bear. well They ended up treeing and killing a bear that was in the area. But they (the Guides) didnt think that it was THE bear.
Lets be carefull out there
Lambo

 

[hornetcreek]

>YOU THROW A BEAR A SAMICH!!!
>MORE THAN LIKELY HE'LL BE BACK
>TOMORROW NIGHT FOR ANOTHER SAMICH!!!
>AND IF HE DON'T GET THE
>SAMICH WHEN HE RETURNS HE'S
>PROBABLY GONNA BE A LITTLE
>GROWLY!!!
>BUT MOST INCIDENTS ARE CAUSED BY
>TARDS NOT TAKING PROPPER CARE
>OF FOOD IN CAMP SITES!!!
>
>
>I'VE BEEN CHARGED BY 2 DIFFERENT
>BEARS OVER THE YEARS!!!

So, when you caused your incidents, did you throw the bears a "samich" or was it the cat costume that riled them?

 

[bobcatbess]

WELL AS I STATED!!!

I DIDN'T HAVE ANY SAMICHES!!!

AND I DIDN'T HAVE ANY PIC-A-NIC BASKETS EITHER!!!

LETS JUST SAY I WAS PULLIN EM IN & THEY GOT A LITTLE TO CLOSE!!!

AND MY STEALTH CAMO DIDN'T HELP!!!

SOMTIMES TO GET IN ON A PISSCUTTER IT TAKES SOME STEALTH!!!
I THANK MY FRIEND Feleno FOR THE STEALTH CAMO!!!

REMEMBER!!!

THERE'S ONLY ONE bobcat!!!

 

[Lambo]

Chad,
were you successfull in taking a bear? post pics if ya did. Good luck on both yuo and yur brothers hunts this fall. Ya know how to reach ne
Lambo

 

[dryflyelk]

I've seen more and more bear sign every year for the past three years. This year I bumped a small blond bear on a trail maybe 20 yards in front of me. It was the first time I've actually seen one in the wild in Utah. The week before I found a huge track in the mud just a hundred yards from that very spot (posted in the bear forum). Two days after I saw that bear, a bear was killed close to where I was hiking in hobble creek. They are getting much more prevalent every year.

I didn't use to carry a gun when I scouted. Now I do. My G29 goes where I go. If I ever get into a position where I feel in danger, like a bear getting into my "personal space" of say 20 yards or so, and acting aggressive, he's going to get warning shot. If that doesn't do the trick and he's still coming, and I'm still kicking, I'd unload on him.

 

[buglinbilly]

Here's a bear that last year kept getting closer and closer to me and all I had was camera. I took some pretty bad photos of him as it was early morning and I had picked up a stick just in case. He kept comming closer and closer and yelled at him but he kept coming. I quit taking photos and when he got close enough I hit him on his nose with the stick and yelled at the same time. He jumped onto a nearby tree and yelled more and hit the tree with the stick and he finally climbed the tree. Here are a few photos of that encounter.

Here's just after he jumped onto the tree.

Here's a photo I took as he climbed the tree after hitting on the trunk and yelllng at him.

He finally sat on limb and I took photos a few photos of him before I left. I felt good once he was up the tree, but I was a bit concerned as he walk around me only yards away. But he never did try to charge, he just got too close for comfort.

Have a good one. BB