Being Stalked

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BigBill

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We seen a black bear between 350/400lbs last week in my back yard. I was out with the dog and heard weird noises coming from the bushes on the side of my yard. The dog would just stare at the bushes. Today the wife and grandson were doing paper cutouts on the picnic table as the dog was looking at the bushes growling. I think we're being stalked. Tomorrow I'm going in the bushes with my 44mag. Enough is enough.
 
BigBill said:
We seen a black bear between 350/400lbs last week in my back yard. I was out with the dog and heard weird noises coming from the bushes on the side of my yard. The dog would just stare at the bushes. Today the wife and grandson were doing paper cutouts on the picnic table as the dog was looking at the bushes growling. I think we're being stalked. Tomorrow I'm going in the bushes with my 44mag. Enough is enough.
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No disrespect, but any man that goes INTO the bush looking for bear will usually find him. You're on the bears turf, He has the advantage.

If he's hanging around then he's not afraid and probably hungry. Black bear are notoriously unpredictable. Hungry and unafraid don't help matters much.

Wait him out. Bait him if legal. Is it bear season?

Wait for him to come out into the open.
 
Bill, if you do go looking for the bear, please be very careful. If you do pop him, maybe we'll finally have an answer to all those bear threads!
 
Go a little heavier armed, I also think the bait him out into the open is a very smart suggestion. You've heard of home field advantage, right?
 
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Just as with a human stalking situation, it would be a good idea to report and document it, to establish beforehand who's the "victim." Might want to call local Animal Control, Fish & Wildlife, etc. It would be good insurance if some tree-hugger accused you of "ruin of bruin" out of season...
 
chud333 said:
Good luck Bill. Be careful....
Have a friend back you up with a 12 gauge
loaded with slugs just in case.
Sounds like maybe he's waiting for a good
opportunity to attack something or someone.


Chuck
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^What he said Bill. Be careful.
 
Massad Ayoob said:
Just as with a human stalking situation, it would be a good idea to report and document it, to establish beforehand who's the "victim." Might want to call local Animal Control, Fish & Wildlife, etc. It would be good insurance if some tree-hugger accused you of "ruin of bruin" out of season...
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Not a bad suggestion; pleasure to see you on the forum Mas.
 
I'm worried about my 3yo grandson who runs off sometimes, check I can't catch him. I keep a 12ga pump with 00 buck incase it comes thru my back door.

Mas you maybe right I'll report it to the DEP ranger on Tuesday. For now I'll just drive the jeep near there and peek in there. Maybe thell trap it and move it. He's a big one. My dog has a weird bark when there is danger near. I have outside work on my tractors tomorrow. I'll put on my S&W M58 in 41mag. It will do the job. I don't want to hurt it unless it attacks me. This bear is about 6' long. When my cats are outside and the bear is near there heads and ears are going 350 degrees looking and listening. bigbill

Hey Mas I just purchased most of your books about handguns.
 
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Don't forget to do the Alaskan front sight mod to the handgun you go looking for the bear with.
 
I think that in similiar circumstances I'd carry my Remington 760 in 3-06 loaded with 180 gr Noslers or 220s, like I carried it in Alaska. It put in a lot of miles up there slung across my shoulder. Very comforting feeling.
 

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I would echo the cautionary comments made here. Black bears are generally very shy around folks, however, a black bear boar can become predatory. When that happens, they can be very dangerous. I'd call state wildlife guys and let them know.
 
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I had two black bears removed from my property this summer...at 150 lbs, and 300 lbs. Just when I thought all was well, I caught a third black bear trying to climb in through my kitchen window at 3 am. It pulled off the screen and was trying to hoist itself in when I happened upon it. I whacked it in the face with a metal strainer that was handy in the sink. It took off running. The monsoon season started the next day and haven't seen it again as its natural food has since started growing.

Game and Fish took the first two with traps, and brought the trap back for #3. They said that, as a Peace Officer, if I could articulate a threat I was cleared in to shoot it. They recommended a 12 gauge or stout rifle...not any type of handgun. Be careful!
 
If its a black bear and it's being persistent, it's a problem bear. When they start moving in they are looking to eat something. More people are killed and eaten by black bears than any other.
Walk like you're being stalked, because you may be, and your dogs.
 
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BigBill said:
I think we're being stalked. Tomorrow I'm going in the bushes with my 44mag. Enough is enough.
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Rather than head on in there yourself, try THIS:

When the dog gets leery looking in there and gives a sign he is not happy with something, pull out the 44 and send a bullet or 2 in there, all by themselves. If you have a dog who likes people, and is protective, then the dog would A: go in and see a person hiding. Or, B: Be protective, and go in challenging a person hiding.

What I am saying is there is no person in there. And if you send a couple of 44's in, whatever is in there WILL leave.;) Or, it will just lay down, and take a nap for the next century or so.

A 300-400lb black bear is certainly no grizzly bear........ but it's no possum, by any stretch of the imagination. You go in and corner one that big in heavy brush....... you might find out just how fast they can plow down a small tree and curb-stomp you silly in about 3/10ths of a second.
If you are worried that you might actually hit a bear you do not want to shoot, or you feel it might be a human, then I suggest you pick a spot you can see into in there a little ways, and shoot the ground right there. I have never, EVER seen any animal feel comforted by the sound of a 44 going off in their general direction. Everything within 100 yards tends to make itself real scarce, real quick.:D
 
^^^^ I can't say that blindly firing rounds into a place full of unknown is a good idea. It is, among other things, a rule 4 violation. That bullet is now addressed "to whom it may concern", and an error would be unforgivable.

Also: I would consider a stout handgun (the .44 redhawk would qualify, loaded with heavy hard SWC, like 300 grain at a good velocity) if that's all I had, but a 12 gauge with SLUGS is a much better choice. Lose the buckshot - decent for soft weak targets like humans under most conditions, but I think it would not have nearly the penetration you need for a bear if the excrement hits the air circulation device. If you need to shoot the bear, the last thing you want to have happen is to piss it off instead of doing lethal damage. If it died a week later of infections, after your funeral, that would be a poor outcome.
 
No bears here, but I like a Marlin .45-70 for anything that can bite, or use tusks on you. That is my favorite rifle for everything from deer on up and has been used to take some fairly sizable hogs.
 
Bear of that size in my yard every other day...good Lord no reason to panic, try clapping your hands together.
 
Arik said:
Is that the one where you file down the sights so it dont hurt so much when the bear takes that gun and sticks it where the sun don't shine?

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk 2
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That would be the one.
 
Ok I’m going to go in a slightly different direction and ask you to consider reporting the bear and asking DoW or your forest service to trap the bear and move it before killing it. I’m not in any way suggesting you not defend yourself just that you at least give the bear one chance to learn to stay the hell away from humans.

With the current drought and the recent fires we’ve had here in Colorado the bears are having a hard time finding food and are coming into the city looking for it. We recently had a bear that was trapped and moved all the way to Trinidad from Colorado Springs but she came back and had to be put down
 
Doug M. said:
^^^^ I can't say that blindly firing rounds into a place full of unknown is a good idea. It is, among other things, a rule 4 violation. That bullet is now addressed "to whom it may concern", and an error would be unforgivable.
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Absolutely agree with this. You've got what might be a problem animal right now. Wound it and you've got a much bigger problem. And likely not just your problem. Just popping away into the brush is nuts.

Call DNR. They might come trap it but as others have said you've also created a record of complaint in case you are forced to act. That record is not truly necessary in case of a real issue, but it sure don't hurt.
 
Iggy,

Was that before or after you worked as point man on the Grizzly Bear Artificial Insemination Team?
 
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