A newbie question on bears

[Bobgorilla]

Mad Jack, with no bear experience personally I'm just guessing but the pepper idea has merit however it might take a couple of pounds to protect an entire campsite. I've used it for years to cure my dogs from digging and keep various other animals like white tail deer out of my yard (in southern Ga.). Powderburn's thought about having a dog present is a good one also but it must be a dog that can be controlled. If the dog decides to attack the bear to defend you the only thing sure is the dog loses.
P.S. we've seen this question before and I think the conclusion was a large handgun but only if the bear was aggressive. As a word of advice to those with no gun experience, if you buy 1 be sure you can use it properly, safely and comfortably (take a course in safety as a bare minimium, no pun intended) or don't buy it, you'll be more dangerous than the bear.

[madjack]

...Bob, Ive used pepper for years just as you have...as to dogs...I don't think my 12lb mutant Chihuahua would last very long in a bear fight...and I know he would attack...he thinks he is 10ft tall and bulletproof
madjack

[Bobgorilla]

MadJack and PB, I agree with you both, just wanted everybody else to think the same way and realize you may lose the dog

[doug hodder]

Growing up in Alaska, in the 60's I heard....if you're carrying a 357 and a Grizzly gets to you....shoot it 5 times and save the last bullet for yourself....Don't know if anyone had anything like that. happen...and it's probably stupid that I posted it....but living there and spending a lot of time in the wilderness, wild stuff happens....be very aware of your circumstances and be vigilant....If you're clueless...you can be dinner...and it doesn't need to be a bear....I've also found moose to be way aggressive when with a calf...spent several hours in an old wrecked 36 Ford truck cab cuz as a stupid kid we razzed a moose on the way to school in 1964 and it got fed up with us....missed school....fortunately we had candles in the glove box...and our lunches....It was our fort....Doug

[madjack]

...and I have been put up a tree by a feral hog...and kept there for half a day. I've seen a 35#boar coon whup an eighty pound hound...wanna face a rut crazed buck or a rabid skunk or fox, ever seen the teeth on a full grown possum...There is a reason they are called wild animals...because they are WILD, they are not cute little zoo animals and they are not pets...if it is wild, LEAVE IT ALONE...and don't feed it either, it may want more than you have
madjack

[Boodro]

After reading all the bear stories hear , It seems that the only thing that the pepper sprinkeled around the camp site would be good for ,was for the bear to roll you around in after he has tenderized you a little , then chow down after a little seasoning ! Like they say in all the parks DON'T FEED THE BEARS & THAT MEANS YOU!!

[Bigwoods]

Last week the old bachelor that lives on the other side of the section called me. His bald head was redder than red and sweating profusly.. He opened the door to his house to let in what he thought was his black and white kitty, but it was a skunk. He grabbed his cell phone on the way out and called me. We could tell, just standing in the driveway, that the shunk was not getting along with his lab.

He has been cleaning this past week and hope to be able to move back in a week or so. I'm thinking the place will be smelly for a while.

[doug hodder]

I've been hit by a skunk before...barfed instantly...burned the clothes...and it's a great story with my friend Jim.....been telling it for 28 years....he and I stuffed one into Aunt Gertrudes mail box...it was dead....still another good story though, we played innocent....Doug

[Guest]

I've had some interesting encounters with different wild critters over the years... Some of the most memorable are the ones when I went outside in just my jockey shorts at all hours of the night to see why the heck the dog was so wound up about.
I launched a racoon from a tree in my backyard once that the dog had treed, with the end of a broom stick, luckily he landed in the neighbor's yard instead of my yard... But that was the direction I was aiming for, but I didn't connect on the first try... more like the 15th or so. Man they sure can growl pretty good.
I went in went back to bed, the dog quieted down and went to sleep.
I walked out in my yard the next morning and realized that the shot with the broomstick was a lucky shot... That coon would have tore me up good, had he landed in my yard... dog or no dog.

I was once convinced that there was a burglar hiding on the other side of the back fence on my property, (The neighbors behind me were away on vacation) buy the way my dog was acting... I walked up to the fence to confront the guy, but when I got to the fence, I smelled this real "gamey" smell... As I looked over the fence by the light of the stars, I could tell nobody was there, but that wifty smell... what the heck was it?
As I stood there in my skiveys, scratching my head... I made out this long tree branch that paralelled the fence. As I looked up, I realized I was face to face, nose to nose with a possum. His big eyes glistened in the moonlight. About ten seconds of time had ellapsed since I went from thinking burglar hiding, to those big eyes and nose to nose, whoa it's a possum.
Well, possums aren't the fastest animals to react to situations... and that ten seconds is about what it took him to open up his trap inches from my face!
Yeap Madjack... Them possums do have a set of teeth that's for sure...

[doug hodder]

Ok...here is my last post on this thread...and it's good....My friend Jim that I mentioned earlier...he and I caught a 3' bull snake...stuffed it into a purse...shook it up and left it along side the road....It was 1AM and a couple of cowboys partying up in Longmont Co..found it...we were sitting in the field watching....They snatched up the purse saying "grabit" and blowing down the road....about 300 yards the brake lights lit up and they were yelling and jumping out of the truck....I dunno if you have ever had to deal with a mad bull snake....but it can be alarming....hey we were in our 20's...it was a dirt road...and was typical farm humor at the time....and for those of you that don't know...bull snakes aren't poisonous...just a nasty bite....it's another story that Jim and I enjoy....and for those of you that might think this is way out of control....you didn't live in a rural community....this sort of stuff happens all the time...you get your laughs where you can....and I can tell you how to make a chicken fall asleep also....no one was hurt, people or snake....sorry I'm demented....Doug

[doug hodder]

Powderburn....I know our parents didn't know what we did...makes me wonder what they did....I'm sure it just carries on.....Doug

[Guest]

OK... Tell me how to make a chicken fall asleep.
BTW- I was heading over to Reddding one weekend, rounded a corner and there it was... A big fat wallet lieing on the shoulder of the road!
I screeched to a stop, jumped out of my truck, ran back to the wallet and bent down to pick it up. Just as I reached for it, it disapeared into the bush!!!
I heard two kids laughing their ass's off, hiding in the brush. They had hooked it up to a fishing rod... I think.
You know... As I got a few miles further down the road, I started laughing too... Just a couple of kids going road fishin'.

[doug hodder]

Dean....this is priority farm humor....pick up the chicken holding it's head away from you...fold it's head under it's wing, typically the right one facing away from you, use your right hand to hold the wing tight so it can't pull it's head out....move the chicken in circles in front of you at a medium speed...maybe 10 revolutions...36 in. dia. circle....then set the chicken on the ground....it flat won't move....after a couple of minutes...it'll wake up and go....sick..maybe...twisted...yeah....but like I said before...it's farm stuff....so what, I made a chicken fall asleep and dizzy....at least it isn't Mc Nuggets....It ain't nearly as gruesome as pulling a calf....Doug

PS love those kids with the wallet....they are creating their stories...hope they have fun with it 25 years from now...

and I know that I promised a couple of posts ago that it was my last one...but I was asked....

[asianflava]

We pretty much did the same thing, except would go one way for 10 turns then the other way for 10 turns. I think the trick was to not let it's head come out from under the wing when you set it on the ground. It makes you wonder how things like that were spread before the internet.

[bledsoe3]

It makes you wonder how things like that were spread

It's like the "loose" girl at school. Word gets around.
P.S. School was so long ago I can't remember who that was.