I freaking HATE when they kill the animal after an attack...unless it is to stop the spread of a disease...but why else do that...it doesn't prevent more attacks from happening...
it is like punishing the animals even more for our intrusion into their living room. I think we forget that we don't "own" the wilderness. They are reacting the same way we would if someone intruded in our home....
just pisses me off that idiots trundle blindly and belligerently into their world ,and then are shocked when something bad happens
I completely understand where you’re coming from , but like
@Ronzo I have to respectfully disagree.
Not all but many bear attacks ( although there aren’t a lot) are not necessarily a persons fault or the bears, but even when it is a persons fault , that bear needs to be put down . Before I get lit up for this by anyone reading this ,
1- if a person purposely screws with or harasses a bear they have what’s coming .
2- people make mistakes without intention and some may say well they deserve the attack or death by bear anyway. That’s debatable , but what’s not is now that a bear that’s attacked and or eaten an idiot or someone who screwed up, it has the taste of human blood and now poses a serious risk of death to others in or out of forested areas . Remember too that some attacks don’t take place in the woods or wilderness but in suburban backyards. We all can’t live or don’t live in cities either and yes it would be great to live in harmony with wildlife in and around wooded areas , but the woods , forests and land is out home and environment too. It’s , unfortunate and also very rare that a bear has to be put down but it’s sometimes a necessity.
Black bears are mostly predictable ( in general) in their behavior and will shy away or even run from humans, but sometimes they can be unpredictable and very individual in their behaviors.
The curious ones make me nervous! I had in bear that I saw from I high ridge following my exact path on the flat below that I just walked through ! It was a good distance off and eventually veered of my path but had followed me for at least a thousand yards . This was in northern main by the Canadian border.
I was false charged at about 40 yards in the Catskills by a female with Cubs , This could have gone bad , but I recognized what was happening and backed out slowly and she and the Cubs headed up the slope and away . Thank GOD !!!
While hunting in Massachusetts Berkshire mts. I had this bear come up the back of my tree. I should have just stood up and made noise and it probably ( most certainly) would have ran off but I thought it would walk by . Instead it went behind my tree , stood up , put its front paws on , and I could hear its claws dig in and in a matter of a second I was literally eyeball to eyeball 30 feet off the ground with the 300 pound animal with only the trunk between us ! It was left of the tree and I went right and yelled and in 3 secs hecwas gone . I got video of him but can’t figure how to post here but I’ll see if I can’t post some screen shots of the vid . Strange too, was it was almost middle December with temps in the low teens and snow on the ground . He should have been den’d up . Again bears and the outdoors CAN be unpredictable but as you’ve said and we were taught in scouts and learned with time on the planet. BE PREPARED!!! . Expect the unexpected because even when you do things can still go south , but it can be the difference between being injured and getting killed .
On a side note , if you drum or drum on a pad in the woods I can almost guarantee you’ll bit see a bear . In many places it’s rare to see them as their sense of smell is so great . The bears I’ve seen and those situations I’ve been in have all been in the last ten years. Before that , the only time I saw one in the wild in over 40 years in the outdoors was in 2005 on my first , only , and last bear hunt in New Brunswick Canada . I only kill what I eat and didn’t care for most of the cuts of meat ( unless stewed) so I swore I would not kill another , unless my life was in danger . And I’ll ( after those encounters) more than likely know when that is .