mtwarden,

Thank you.

mtwarden (or anyone), do you carry bear specific pepper spray or just normal pepper spray?  I've recently moved to N. California (east of Sacramento) and there have been a few bear sightings on/near the trails lately, so I'm considering getting some spray just in case.

Here we go again, more bear hysteria.  Have Grizzlies moved into California?  Didn't think so.  You'll run in urban areas with effin' psycho's all over but the wild animals give you the frights..... 750,000 black bears in North America are responsible for on average less than 1 death per year.  On the other hand 1 person in 16,000 will commit murder in a year. Doesn't take a genius to do the math there. Another myth--a mother black bear with cubs is the most dangerous-wrong, not one recorded death from that encounter.

And I know I have brought this up before but why does anyone have to have a sighting or see a track to know you are in bear habitat?

I realize the thread started as a grizz attack but like all others in the past it eventually includes all bears. Yes, all wild animals need to be given space and respected but jeesh.

Also not trying to minimize a Grizzly situation at all but I have run in Grizzly country both with and without carrying spray. My one Grizz encounter while running was in Yellowstone by myself without spray. I'm certainly no expert in the ways of the Grizz and I have a huge amount of respect for their power, speed, and nasty potential but I still view an encounter as a special moment and it will not stop me from venturing into their habitat. Just need to be a little more vigilant and have a plan of some sort in your mind.

But back to my favorite--I've had an active black bear den on my property in the past, I have been 3' from a wild bear, I have walked smack dab into a mother with cubs, I have crawled thru the bush tracking a wounded one shot by a friend and I have shot a couple myself.  I've also got a ton of bear encounter stories too, including some while running. Still somehow alive.        

But don't get me started on wolves. 

typically it's three years (should be printed somewhere on the cap)- I've carried cans longer- not saying you should, but I have

I've had dozens of grizzlies encounters w/ no bad ones; my worst bear encounter was w/ a male black bear- he didn't "attack", but instead very casually (sizing me up) followed me for several miles with me doing everything I could to deter from doing that (I didn't have a firearm or spray- and it was grizzly country- Bob Marshal- not overly smart).  Eventually at dusk it appeared he gave up.  That was a very long night in the tent I can tell you.  It was ~ 15 years later that I was watching a nature show that documented (albeit infrequent) predatory male black bear behavior and the light bulb went off, that's exactly what happened to me in the Bob.  Rare to be sure, but not overly fun I can assure you

Warden, I have read a number of accounts similar to your black bear. Still very rare especially considering how many people spend so much recreational time in good bear range. Had to be a little unnerving, somewhat surreal. At least in the tent you were protected by rip stop nylon.  I've also read that it is the bears deeper in the wilderness, the ones that have had very little or no exposure to humans that are the ones more likely to do a fatal attack as opposed to the ones that tend to get conditioned around campsites and the like. Just the opposite of what I would think.  Here I am now fueling the hysteria. 

Back to your friend the bad boy that followed you. I have had that exact behavior with wolves in northern Wi. They stay out about 40-50 yds and sort of quarter you as you move along. I think they are doing a risk/reward analysis on me. I have turned and walked straight towards them trying to make them believe that I am the alpha in these woods. They do not run away and show no fear whatsoever. Just kind of move a little further back and then eventually lose interest. Thankfully.  Always wish I had that Ruger LC-9 that's back at the cabin with me.  Even more hysteria, LOL!

nm

NH,

Thanks.  Looks like only black bears in CA from what I've read.  I would consider it a cool/lucky occurrence to get to view a bear (or mountain lion or rattlesnake) in the wild, preferably from a safe distance!... I just thought of the pepper spray in the unlikely case I surprise one deep in the woods or otherwise somehow piss one off and have no  chance to safely escape.  It appears the drought in this area over the last few years is causing bears to come down out of the hills "earlier than usual" in search of food, leading to an increase in sightings.  I doubt I'll buy the pepper spray, seems it's probably overkill for this area.

Hi I am a recent addition to this group and couldn't help myself in chiming in. I have spent the majority of my life in Alaska, most of my childhood on Kodiak, but also Dillingham; and as an adult have lived in Juneau and Anchorage as well as traveled throughout the state. I have seen Kodiak bears many times, on trails and not, and more recently black bears in Juneau and Anchorage.

We were taught bear safety every year in school in Kodiak, and for good reason. Those are the biggest bears, and the island is considered one of the densest populations. (1 per square mile I believe). It is just a part of life that they are around. That being said, I haven't carried bear spray in probably 10 years. (If it the spray has greatly changed in that time, then don't listen to me) There are several reasons, one of which I have heard too many horror stories of folks attempting to use this spray, accidently spraying themselves, spraying the wrong direction, or heaven forbid spending too much time trying to get the spray to work when they actually encounter a bear other than backing away or otherwise protecting themselves. Many folks have this spray in their backpacks which does not make for a fast retrieval if you actually needed it. If you need to use the spray, the bear is too close. However, if you are comfortable with the spray and feel better carrying it, then I don't mean to suggest that you shouldn't do so.

The best deterrent is to make enough noise in the woods so that you don't actually run into a bear. I know it may seem "cool" to see one, but they can be dangerous, and I'd rather not see one while I am exposed on a trail or a campsite. I make a point to yell or clap my hands every so often when trail running. When I bring my dog, I try to remember to put a large bell on her for noise, but those are lost pretty frequently.  I trail run alone often without the dog, as she gets older and cannot run as far as she once could. I do know people who use small speakers to play music on their bikes or belts to add noise. If you are hiking/running/walking with other people, then the likelihood is much less as you are talking amongst yourselves. The closest bears I have seen was while I was trail biking, and that makes sense because you are quiet and fast, and the bears do not have time to react. (But when that bear did see me (this was a female black with cubs) she quickly shooed her cubs up a tree and followed them.) There was a girl in Anchorage a few years back who was mauled by a brown bear while in a mtn bike race for that very reason and another guy was attacked biking on a trail south of Anchorage a few years back as well. But every time I have ever gotten close to a bear on a trail (and by close I mean as close at fifteen feet), I have been able to scare them off.

Bear maulings are actually pretty rare, although they may be more likely in areas closer to high populations. To put this in prospective, Anchorage has known brown bear and black bear populations inside the heart of the city that are tracked by the Fish and Game as well as on the military bases in town.There are 300,000+ people who live in the City, not counting the surrounding areas, and a very healthy trail biking, running, and hiking group, with large wooded areas and trails right in town. I can think of two bear attacks in Anchorage in the past 10 years-the biking race I talked about above, and then the recent running one on base. Both of those occurred when the person was alone and quiet. This is true even though people often see black bears on a daily occurrence in some parts of town and there are numerous bears with dens inside the city. In Kodiak attacks are also are very rare, and the only ones I can remember involved camping or hunting, where food/kill was kept improperly next to the camp. (When I was a teenager in Kodiak I had a job at a remote site where a mother bear and four cubs were a frequent occurance. We gave them space and they didn't bother us all summer. Later that fall the same mother bear killed a deer hunter-he was camping with a group next to the kill site). Alaska has many trail runners/hikers/bikers, and attacks are pretty infrequent. Bears are usually scared of you, and most attacks occur because they are startled and threatened.

A crazy person is a lot scarier to run into when running, IMHO.

Her story

http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/20140529/jber-mauling-victim-speaks-about-bear-attack