Bear By My Chair

Grizzly Adam · Post by **Grizzly Adam** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 9:12 am

As many of you know, I do a lot of hunting on the ground ... and lots of times, during rifle season, I just sit on an old fold-up metal chair along a field edge. I keep one along the western edge of my eastern woods-block and just rearrange it's position as I like.

The other morning I had put it in a place where I doubted any bear would appear right beside me ... well, look ... the joke was on me. Here's what I saw coming out of the woods right beside that chair later that afternoon!

This pic is of the bear coming up out of the v-ditch after crossing the path. It's a bit blurry because I took it through the spam window screen:

Here are two more of the bear lounging around in the field right in front of my chair. He's a nice young boar pushing 300 pounds, and he'll be a buster by the time he's five. I thought he was the same young male as I posted in a thread the other day, but he was still out in the field when I went out last night, and I saw the other one cross the path I was watching, so this is definitely another one. A little clearer ... I went out on the front porch:

Note how he just stretches out there in the field like a big dog (or a big hog!

):

Believe me when I say that hunting on the ground around here can be very exciting at times. Good for your heart rate.

mikej · Post by **mikej** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 9:17 am

great pics grizz that's amazing that would be a good shot range for a bow

scratcherky · Post by **scratcherky** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 9:29 am

Grizz,
How is black bear as table fare? Never had the chance to try it.
Don

VixChix · Post by **VixChix** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 9:31 am

Yer feedin' my nightmares, Griz!

M&M · Post by **M&M** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 9:31 am

I'm thinking that I'd be a little nervous if I were in that chair! M&M

mikej · Post by **mikej** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 9:35 am

grizz how far would that be from your house?

Grizzly Adam · Post by **Grizzly Adam** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 10:07 am

mikej wrote:grizz how far would that be from your house?

About 200 yards.

Grizzly Adam · Post by **Grizzly Adam** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 10:09 am

scratcherky wrote:Grizz,
How is black bear as table fare? Never had the chance to try it.
Don

Excellent. Far better than deer, in my opinion. Much more like beef. As long as the bear isn't too old and big, and is killed cleanly, cooled quickly and butchered properly, bear is really, really good.

At least I think so.

mikej · Post by **mikej** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 10:10 am

thats great from a hunting stand point i would love that but being a father of 2 young girls i wouldn't like that situation one bit and think it would need to be delt with. do you have and small kids in the area that this has been a problem with

wabi · Post by **wabi** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 10:32 am

Maybe he thought he chair was for him to relax in after he fills his belly.

Grizzly Adam · Post by **Grizzly Adam** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 11:14 am

mikej wrote:thats great from a hunting stand point i would love that but being a father of 2 young girls i wouldn't like that situation one bit and think it would need to be delt with. do you have and small kids in the area that this has been a problem with

I agree it's not for everybody, Mike.

No kids right here, but there is one house a mile away ... the tenant caretaker for Cherry Farms lives out by the highway. Their kids grew up here. In the Gum Neck community about 4 miles away, there are kids too ... have been for three hundred years. Kids and bears in East Carolina is just life.

No "dealing" with it, other than killing what we can during season and running off bears that get too close or too bold. This area has one of the highest (if not the highest) concentrations of black bear in the eastern United States. There's just too much habitat, and too much food. This is a wild area, though, and these are wild bears ... not the sort of suburban bears that cause people so much grief. These bears are hunted, and are generally respectful and afraid of close contact with people.

Make no mistake; I don't tolerate bears within my "zone" ... the two acres that make up our yard is off limits, and I consider 100 yards all around the house the "run 'em off" area. Of course, that doesn't stop them from coming in the yard ... but I do what I can to "teach" them not to come up here. I was out in my underwear with the shotgun before dawn this morning running one off!

We live in a sort of dynamic tension with the bear. They're here to stay; but we are too. We just have to get along. We don't encourage trouble by slovenly habits and unwise practices, either. We keep no smelly garbage outside; we dump no tasty scraps near the house. You have to use your head when living in bear country. Most people who have trouble with them create the problem by stupid actions, and get the bears in trouble.

In general, it's a give-and-take sort of thing. They belong here ... they've always been here. On the other hand, April's people have been here for three hundred years ... and God gave us dominion!

I just hope the bears don't decide they want to eat me, since I've been eating them! Do bears know revenge?

mikej · Post by **mikej** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 11:31 am

[quote="Grizzly Adam"]

I was out in my underwear with the shotgun before dawn this morning running one off!

quote]

that kind of riminded me of granny from the beverly hillbillies

i'm sure that bear was gone because of the sight not the shotgun

i agree grizz that people do create alot of the bear problems that they are complaining of. as for the revenge you might want to keep that shot gun handy

beretta96D · Post by **beretta96D** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 1:53 pm

I really like bear meat as well. My first experience wasn't pleasant, it was shot near a dump. Disgusting taste! Since then I've had a few steaks from bear shot in the middle of nowhere and baited with apples. They were terrific. I think I liked it better then deer as well, but it's close.

Grizz, I can't believe the bears you have there, everytime you post pics there's always a couple! Definitely don't want to stroll too far around your place without protection! Can you tell if they're chasing the deer as well?

Grizzly Adam · Post by **Grizzly Adam** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 2:08 pm

beretta96D wrote: Can you tell if they're chasing the deer as well?

Around here, bear don't bother deer much. I've seen bear and deer feeding in fields within twenty yards of each other ... and if I had a way to get pictures from VHS tapes I could post some really good ones!

Bear will eagerly take a hurt deer down, and they will take fawns if they happen upon one. They will eat deer lost by hunters, and carcasses too.

They aren't much of a threat to grown healthy deer.

The thing to remember about bear is that they will readily exploit the most available and accessible food source until it is exhausted. Their laziness and their belly dictate their movements, until their breeding season when all bets are off for the boars.

GaryL · Post by **GaryL** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 4:40 pm

Grizzly Adams get your self a dvd/vhs recorder in one, their fairly cheap now!! then you could copy your vhs to the cd, then copy the shots from from the computer dvd and post.

Could be a little more then what ya want to mess with, however would sure like to see some of your pics from vhs.. would be neat/cool..

GaryL