I hunt in South Carolina near the NC line. I checked my trail cameras yesterday and come to find out there is a black bear on my land. This particular stand has a corn pile that is kept up weekly and the bear just lays on the corn pile and eats it's fill. It's on the back half of my property. The front half is mixed with planted pines and crop fields. The back is thick and Nasty woods. We don't have a bear season and I had no clue bears were even in this area. Most people probably wouldn't believe me until I show them the picture. My problem is the big bucks are back there with the bear but I've never had to worry about legitimate predators while hunting before. Do I need to always have something capable of killing a bear when in the woods? Do they "hunt" people or will they most likely shy away from humans? Not afraid to admit I'm a little nervous about the whole deal, hehe. So to all of you guys with bears in the woods, what changes knowing there is at least 1 black bear around?
That bear is much more afraid of you than you are of him, so he's not much to worry about. I grew up hearing black bears jump out of the apple trees in my backyard in the middle of the night and not being unable to walk the 50 acres I grew up on without stepping in at least one pile of bear poop. Now that I'm older, I've moved and have about 200 apple trees on my property, but I don't usually have a bear sighting until October or November. Sure enough, the apples started to fall and I started getting images of a 300 lb-ish bear on my trail camera regularly and he's walking the same trails the deer do and I'm getting just as much activity from the deer as I was before it was around. About two weeks ago, I was walking home from my stand and the bear skylined against the horizon up in an apple tree that was about 15' from me and quickly bounded away. Made me jump of course, but I was right back out there the next morning and night in the dark. Black bears are nothing to worry about and if they're really rare in your area, just count yourself lucky to have got it on camera. Oh and to answer your questions: Do I need to always have something capable of killing a bear when in the woods? Nope. Even though your bow would do just fine. Do they "hunt" people or will they most likely shy away from humans? You'll be lucky to ever see it. So to all of you guys with bears in the woods, what changes knowing there is at least 1 black bear around? Now you're going to go through a stage where everything in the woods that's black is a bear, which can be a bit overwhelming when walking in or walking out in the dark. Just remember he's a lot more scared of you than you are of him, and if you ever do see him and want him to go away - just yell really loud and they run off. Here's a couple pics of mine - the second one he's inspecting the camera a bit more closely
I wouldn't worry to much. Like ruteger said they are pretty much scared of you more than you are of them. The only precautions you need to take is DO NOT GET BETWEEN A SOW AND HER CUBS. I had a sow 400 lbs (not exaggerating) come into my bait pile on Drummond Island. I waited for the mother to get far enough away from my stand and then I made some serious noise yelling. They ran off and decided to bug another guy from my camp. Also, if you shoot a deer and give it a bad shot (like in the liver) and have to give it some time to die I would suggest pushing her until she does. Bear will find her first, and you will find your kill under a pile of leaves. These are just my opinions based on my own experiences.
+1 What these guys said. However, there's nothing wrong with carrying some bear spray with you if it makes you feel better. You many never need to use it, but it's always better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.
Coincidentally just got this footage (has sound) from last night. This proves that unless you dress up like a trail camera before going into the woods, a bear will leave you alone. I think he was trying to figure out how to get the card out. Good thing he didn't because he probably would have walked off with one of my treestands. (The camera is fine)
We moved my stand once last year bout 50yds from where itd been at for better vantage, me and my buddy didnt get out till dark, and the next day i check my cam and i had a big sow on camera not an hour after we had finished setting the ratchet straps, and left, in my last house i would see bear every year during the summer and early fall to come eat my bait piles in the backyard but about two weeks till opening bow season theyd disappear. new bears each year, ill miss ¨yogi¨ a 550+lb black bear pictures just dont do him justice, last year i had a sow and 3 cubs which then became a sow and 2 cubs.
Well, it just so happens, I went out after posting this and killed my first deer with the bow! It was a small 8 point with a broken G2 on the right side. Sorry for the image quality. It's the only one I have saved to my phone.
Nice...congratulations on your first deer taken with your bow. Welcome to your addiction! I hunt and fish quite a bit on Vancouver Island, which has a large population of black bears. I have blackies downstream towards me, oblivious to me, as I'm fishing a river. At about 40 yards, I've spoken to the bears, in a normal voice, and just given a simple "hey!" They always stop and stare, and turn around the way the came. If It was a sow with cubs, or if I had a salmon on the beach, I wouldn't wait until 40 yards to let them now I'm there. Some big black bears on VI.
