We have noticed evidence of bear activity on our property, bear scat, logs overturned, stumps dug out. We got a cheap trail camera ($50) and put it at an intersection of three trails, about two hundred yards behind the house. We captured deer, coyote, and last night, this big guy:

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We, meaning wife and I, are excited about seeing bear. Wouldn't dream of harming one, but we do take precautions when hiking on the property. The wife has been "Ho Hum" about carrying a handgun, for her a compact 9MM pistol stashed somewhere has been adequate. Now she has upgraded to carrying a .357 revolver on her hip:

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A 4" Ruger Security Six for her, a 4"Ruger Redhawk in .44 Mag for me. Just a little insurance if we surprise a bear....

Love the photos! And that bear looks like he has a definite destination in mind...looks to be hoofin' on down the trail at a good pace.

Show us some more trail cam photos when you get time. That's a good shot for a $50 camera.

Not sure that li'l fella is going to notice the difference between .357 and 9mm, but if it helps you sleep...

Which one of you can run the 40 faster?

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Because of the metric system?

Seems like a wise precaution.

Couple of years back, when it appeared there might be "domestic unrest" my daughter told me that she was taking the grandgirls camping. And since it was actually in the woods, instead of a state park, she could taction ke her pistol.

I requested that she carry, also, her rifle (Rossi 92, 357, loaded with hot 38s), thinking that if she returned to a riot, that was an improvement over a 5-shot J.

When she got back she told of the bear in their camp, batting the "bear vault" around, looking for supper.

I asked her if she had had the rifle in her hands at the time. While it would not be my prime choice for bear HUNTING, eleven heavy 38s out of a 20" barrel would have made me feel better.

She said it was in the van. In the parking area a mile or so away. Along with her pistol.

She said she sat there, with her two little kids, with a knife and a can of bear spray, hoping it would decide to leave soon.

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I always take precautions

I bet the bear would notice the difference between a 357 on her hip and a compact 9 tucked somewhere in her backpack.

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I always take precautions

Is that near the sweet cabin you built some time back?
SW Virginia if I recall? You're gal looks like good back up in the woods.

That's a decent sized bear, thanks for sharing the pic.

I went to the firing range yesterday (between Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, Tn).....found the large trash can next to the shooting bench overturned and a "fresh" pile of bear scat beside it. Luckily there was not anything but used targets and empty ammo boxes in the can (nothing edible) so the trash was not scattered too badly.

From this same spot (200 yd range) in the past I've had a bobcat, couple of coons and several turkeys walk across the range while I was there. I guess they are acclimated to the noise and as long as I don't move while they are there they don't spook-off.


Don

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Laus Deo! <><

I've been reevaluating what I carry in the woods also.
Seems the bears are getting bigger up here.

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Paul
S&WCA #2726

Oh Goody a BEAR THREAD, CALIBER DEBATE with PICTURES!!

All we need is FOOD and it will be complete!

Great trail cam picture, what kind is it? was that price new??

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Still Running Against the Wind

I'll settle for 17 9s over 6 357s.

Sent from my SM-T817V using Tapatalk

After I read the post, the first thing I do is look at the location.
Really disappointed when none listed.

It never fails.

Every time someone posts a photo of a bear under just about any circumstances, or just starts talking about bears, it seems people can't wait to talk about shooting it and what kind of gun/ammo combination they'd use.

Camping out, 357 on your hip and a can of pork and beans on the campfire. What more could you want?

Will it fit in a Nissan Frontier??????

Now it's complete!!!!!! LOL

Probably be a tight fit, but the bear would probably figure it out.

But do they like Broccoli??

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Still Running Against the Wind

We live in a small town in Southside Virginia. A few years ago, a bear bent our metal bird feeder in half. I set up a camera to catch him in the act but by that time, he was long gone. The only thing we got was a naked man walking through our yard.

When in doubt, kill it. Your ancestors did and that is why you are alive today. There is a reason sabre tooth tigers are gone. Literally so simple a caveman figured it out.

Got a chuckle out of that, 2ffat. Hope it wasn't too high def.

My buddy in Florida put a game cam facing his backyard, to try and determine what was trampling his wife's garden.

Most pics ended being of a gentleman caller, sneaking into the female neighbor's house when hubby was out of town.

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- Post No Bills -

No kidding. I want to see bear recipes accompany those photos of bears and gun/ammo choices.

Anyway, like I was sayin', bear is the fruit of the forest. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. Dey's uh, bear-kabobs, bear creole, bear gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There's pineapple bear, lemon bear, coconut bear, pepper bear, bear soup, bear stew, bear salad, bear and potatoes, bear burger, bear sandwich. That- that's about it.

The trail camera is a Stealth Cam STC-312 bought from Amazon.com. Has a lot of features for the money, color shots in the day time, infrared at night, availability to do video, etc.

Location is far Southwest Virginia, near Marion, Va. Property borders the Jefferson National Forest and Mount Rogers National Recreation Area.

I had been carrying 9mm, .38 Special or .22 handguns, now it's Magnum Power, .357 and .44 Magnum.

If it doesn't threaten you, of course, don't shoot it, if it does, of course, do shoot it
I have no need of a dead bear, but I have no need if a dead me either.
If its a problem bear, deal with it,
If its just passing through, let it pass.

357's OK but I'd be more comfortable with my 45 Colt Mountain Gun. I'd pefer a handload with the 270 gr Keith type SWC, cast hard, probably straight lino, and a healthy dose of 2400.

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Good choice on the .357 over the nine.
A 9mm wouldn't rate swatting at by that Bruin.


Chuck

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They hold no Quarter

DON'T want to shoot a bear...more trouble than you can imagine. We do have black bears here as I have seen a couple..nowhere near as big as those pictured...but we also have grizzlies. Every time I go to the mountains I see a grizz. Hopefully at a fair distance. My compact 9 holds 7. My M-12 holds 7 also..12 ga slugs. Otherwise I carry a M-57 4 inch with handloaded 255 gr WFN GC at 1100 or so FPS. A 9 is not grizz medicine even loaded with 17 rounds. I had a native American friend in Alaska who dealt with a lot of bears. He told me that when a Black bear really charges he is going to kill you and probably eat ya. He said that the average grizz will make a false charge. That was Alaska grizzlies...they had a fear of humans as they were hunted..The grizzlies here are not afraid of humans for the most part and during hunting season seem to consider a rifle shot as a dinner bell. Many grizzlies here were road dwellers around the park that presented a certain danger to the touristas. So they were captured and moved 70-80 miles from Yellowstone...right into my hunting area! First year in a while that there hasn't been a grizz attack by now.

I bet she never again leaves her guns in the car when she goes camping. That's like leaving your parachute in the plane when you go sky diving.

Beano.

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Buy American!

^^^ yep perhaps makes you less noticeable to bears.

Nope. Cheap camera and using night vision, too, luckily.

I asked her about that. She said NOPE, weren't gonna leave it next time. Said that had been a Really Bad Plan.

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I always take precautions

A little something I came up with when our game camera captured this guy.

Hers is for shooting me in the knee!

Maybe that's the plan!

That made me laugh.

Years ago I had a dive partner ask me why I carried a dive knife when diving. I told my partner it was for sharks. My partner said I could never kill a shark with my knife. I said I wasn't going to to stab the shark, I was going to stab him and swim away fast.

I do get a kick out of bear threads. I like bears and don't really worry about them much. We're all much more likely to be killed by a mosquito, tick or bee. Bears tend to avoid us when they know we're around. Feel lucky if you see one in the woods or forest.

My last bear encounter was just a couple of weeks ago while I was hunting turkeys. I had found a nice pine to sit up against and do some calling. I had been there maybe half and hour when I heard a twig snap behind me. I slowly turned to look around the tree and there was a nice brown color phase bore Black bear looking over his shoulder back at me. Now he was only 10 feet away but I did have a 12 gauge double pointed at his nose. He just turned and walked away up the hill. I guess my turkey calling sounded like an easy meal.

Most of the bears we see around here, even if they are hundreds of yards way, high tail it out of the area. They tend to prefer giving people a wide berth.

I've also seen a bear charge another bear. Guess what if a bear charges you, and it is within 100 yards, you'll be lucky to clear leather. So carry a gun if it will make you feel safe. It maybe better than nothing, not much better, but better. For sure remember the DEET or some little bug is gonna get you.

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Bill Bates

I don't blame them one bit.

Only problem we ever have from bears are the "problem bears" the Smoky Park relocates. A friend shot one last year in his yard when the bear first spotted him and charged him.. he fired two shots with his .44 Mag.
Most of the time a bear will move the other way unless you surprise them.. they have bad eye sight.. but you got to watch mom and the cubs!

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Nationality: Confederate

And i thought i had problems with Kangaroo's hopping across range & Dingo's stealing my lunch!

Bear threads!!! My favorite topic here. No end to the opinions and the humor is pretty good too. The picture Bill Bates posted reminded me of an incident my wife and I had a long time ago. We were heading to the family cabin in the mountains for the weekend. Two black bear cubs crossed the road in front of our vehicle. We stopped and watched them scamper up a tree. We were rolling down the windows to take a few pics of the cute little buggers peeking around the tree when momma bear came onto the road behind us and started for the car. I was not interested in seeing what she had in mind for the car so we drove off. She chased us for almost 200 yards. I don't worry much about bears in the woods around here, but that incident keeps the need for respect fresh in my mind.

I often encounter black bear when riding backcountry roads on my bike. In all cases, as soon as the bear identified my presence, it made a rapid retreat. I carry bear spray on a shoulder strap of my Camelback. Haven't had to use it...yet. A .357 magnum with 180 gr. Castcore is my backup. As long as the bear respects me, I will respect it. Ain't it funny: life would be less interesting if we didn't have critters capable of ripping us limb from limb.

Tie those Kangaroo's down sport!

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Possum—The other white meat!

The only weapon that's going to work is your Bear Pepper Spray. Most animals with their much better sense of smell cannot handle the burning pain to the nostrils, mouth and eyes caused by pepper spray. They will go absolutely nuts and temporarily blind trying to get that stuff off of them. I saw a film on youtube where a grizz is killing the handler; the assistants are beating the bear with sticks and bats but it would not release that guys neck. Then one handler sprays the angry bear with bear spray. The bear dropped its victim faster than you can say 'let go', and went absolutely bat sh_t trying to get that spray off its nose and eyes. It was blind, in a panic, couldn't breathe and forgot all about its meal or attacking anybody. That stuff works! I know from hard experience when the little lady pressed the wrong button once in our backyard...I thought I was gonna' die!

She going to shoot you in the knee??????

Did you shoot him?



Perhaps we need a Naked Man Gun thread.

Well, yes! It was with a trail-cam, though.

On a side note, we have a lot of bears in the county but now the local paper has posted a picture of someone's trail-cam with a picture of a cougar. The Fish and Game people don't believe it since "there are no cougars in Virginia" unless they have scat, paw prints, DNA, etc. but they won't investigate because "there are no cougars in Virginia."

The paper also mentioned that a while ago at a near-by horse farm the sheriff's department investigated an attack on a horse. It looked like the horse had been attacked by a large cat. The investigation didn't go very far since "there are no cougars in Virginia."

The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources says the same thing about wolves here in Utah.

Of course one got killed smack dab in the middle of the state last year but there are no wolves in Utah.

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Bill Bates

The truth is out there...

Yeah, right. I have seen a cougar in Frederick County and one in Bland County and my wife saw one in Grayson County, all in Virginia.

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

It was actually a lack of natural prey, but your way sure sounds more exciting.