John's Journal...
Entry
127, Day 2
CANADIAN BLACK BEARS
The Second Bear Attacks
EDITOR'S
NOTE: Ryan Hack of Stony Mountain, Manitoba,
Canada, guides for white-tailed deer and black bear for both archers and
gun hunters each season. Yesterday we learned about Hack's guiding adventure
with two fathers and their sons for black bear. Here's what happened next.
QUESTION: What did the second bear do to attempt to move
you off the downed bear?
ANSWER: One side of the site was wide open where a forest fire had burned
through, and the other side had a fairly good-sized group of trees. This
bear had followed the blood trail through these trees and broke through
the edge of the large set of pines. When he suddenly burst out of the
bush, he was probably about 8 yards from us.
QUESTION: You didn't know the second bear was there?
ANSWER: No. We had no idea he was there. We didn't hear any growling or
any noises at all; the bear just suddenly appeared. Panic set in almost
immediately and, of course, the fathers wanted to keep track of their
sons. Matthew, tired from the night before, had fallen asleep about 15
yards from the downed bear where I was working. When the second bear came
out of the bush, the bear stood directly between Matthew and us. Ken rushed
past the bear and got to Matthew and tried to protect him from the bear.
QUESTION: What did the bear do when Ken ran to his son?
ANSWER: When Ken made the quick motion toward Matthew, the bear moved
toward them and away from me and the dead bear. It was swinging its head
from side to side, pawing the ground, snapping its teeth and growling.
The scene was like something out of an adventure movie.
QUESTION:
What did the father do when he went to the boy?
ANSWER: He woke him up, picked him up and held him in the air away from
the bear. The bear was probably only 2 to 3 yards from him. The bear continued
pawing the ground and the air, growling the whole time. I was armed with
a knife for skinning, and I also had a can of pepper spray. I grabbed
the pepper spray and moved between the bear and Ken and his son.
QUESTION: How far were you from the bear then?
ANSWER: The bear's nose was only 3 feet from the end of the nozzle of
the pepper spray. I immediately shot him in the face with the spray, and
that stopped his aggression. The bear turned around and ran about 40 yards
and stopped. He peered back over his shoulder and sat down, as if he were
thinking about the whole situation. He was pawing his face and growling,
but he never came any closer than 40 yards after the spraying. After I
sprayed the bear, the hunters, their sons and I formed a group beside
the other bear. I asked one of the guys to get some pictures with his
camera so the story would have a little more merit. People probably wouldn't
believe that something like this actually happened unless there was physical
proof. The guys took a couple of pictures as I went back to try to scare
the bear farther away. The mere 40 yards between us and the bear was not
enough of a buffer zone for me to be satisfied. I walked out to try to
persuade the bear to leave. I moved within 20 yards of the bear, but he
wouldn't budge. He wanted that bear carcass very badly. I tried for probably
20 minutes to get him to leave.
For
more information about hunting deer or bear in Manitoba, call Ryan Hack
at (204)-467-2164.
TOMORROW: THE PERSISTENT BEAR
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