i was hunting doe (PA had a 3 day doe season after 2 weeks of buck season). i had gotten a buck and a doe (my ex wife has gotten 2 doe also) but i still have tag in my pocket. it was the third day of doe and i was not killing another doe, but i was going out to scout the area i would hunt in next year. it was about noonish when i came to the three hollows (reference point). i stood there for about 1/2 hour. then i said i've had enuff and started to grab my gear and rifle. then the hair on back of my neck stood up and i stopped grabbing and started looking. about 40 yards away, i found what i was looking for, a black bear sitting like a dog. i would guess it weighed 300lbs and then i said howdy. the bear cocked his/her head and looked at me. i wasn't scared of the bear, i seen a bunch them every three or four years. besides, when i move, he will run away. well 15 or so minutes later, i tell him goodbye and i started moving away from him (the car was parked about 2 miles away). then instead of seeing him run away from me, he started to walk straight at me. i stopped, he stopped. i said bear go away, i'm going home. he cocked his head at me. alright, you can come with me, but don't get closer than that. i'd walk, he'd walk. i stopped, he stopped. this goes on for about a mile, when he came to 30 yards from me. i told him not to do that and he cocked his head. i started moving and started jogging towards me. well, i've had enuff so i stopped and put the rifle (REM M760 IN 308) on my shoulder. he stopped about 25 yards away from me. i did say BEAR, GO HOME and i waved an arm. he looked at me. BEAR, I'LL SHOOT, I SWEAR TO GOD, and i waved my arm. he started to come to me. well i disengage the safety and i aimed right between his front feet. BEAR, I'LL SHOOT. he kept coming, then when he was 15-20 yards away from me, i shot. the dust cloud was amazing to see, but the bear decided he would run in any direction that wasn't me. if he did charge at me, i have four 150gr Hornady RN/IMR3031 just waiting to send to him. he might have got me, but i was going down swinging. i found my out and i decided to stop at my friend's house. he was the one that gave a permit and he was head biologist at Carnegie-Mellon. i told him my story and he said that i should have shot the bear. why shoot the bear? i asked. the bear wasn't afraid of me, he was stalking me. fortunately, you have a gun and you decided to use it. because if you fire the gun, you would be in the bear's belly. i was told that some bears (and by i mean very few bears) are not afraid of man. it could be that some guy feeds them, game commission takes a problem bear with a tranquillizer and then take the bear for several hundred miles and let him go. the game commission has tracked a bear 4 or 5 times. they tranquilize the bear, haul it for several hundred miles, let it go and the bear finds its way back. i have killed one black bear and it has been tracked three different times and places. look on the inside of the bear's lip and you will see a GC number tattoo to tell what time and where the bear goes.
heck, i've seen a mother bear with four cubs fall over themselves to run away. i've came out of thicket and while i'm standing there, a bear shows up. howdy and i wave at him and then he is running away from me.
my brother came to me to help him track a buck late one evening. by the time we get there, it is dark. i get on the trail and my brother is 15 yards to the right of me. once in awhile, i'll shine the flashlight 5 or 10 yards in front of me to the left and right to find the deer. it was at that time that i've seen the deer, well i seen the eyes and nothing else. it looked like the "deer" was laying down and i said i've got it, but its still...........the eyes went from waist high to 6 or 6 1/2' and then i seen the shape of the bears head and ears. it was at this point that my brother came in.....i said to back away slowly and in a calm voice tell the bear to go away. well, i did but my brother began to run away. "stop, walk slowly away, don't run. walk." i told him. i kept the flashlight on the bear till i could no longer see him and then we walked back to the house. the next day, we went to look for the deer. we found where he died and then we seen drag marks. we followed them and about 100 yards from the house (about 450 yards from where he died) we found what's left of the deer. the hindquarters were eaten along with the liver. the buck ended up being 5 pt, but we let it there. fishers, foxes, coyotes along with some other stuff had the deer cleaned up for 3 or 4 days.
my first year of hunting it was doe season. Dad, Pappy and Uncle Tim (RIP for all) were also there at camp. Dad, Pappy and i went out one afternoon. we sat in L formation and i was in middle, my dad was 40 or 50 yards to left, while Pappy was 100+/- yards to my right. it was getting dark when i first heard it. i looked directly behind me and i seen nothing. a couple minutes later, i hear twigs snapping. i look directly behind me and nothing. a couple of minutes later, twigs snapping, look directly behind me and........a huge black bear is about 15ish yards away from me. now, i am a 12yo kid. its doe season, i wasn't told about no black bear. what do i do, i ask myself. get Dad, he will know what to do. so i whisper "Dad....Dad.......Dad). well this ain't going to work, what do i do now? in the meantime, the bear decides to sit down like a dog. oh s!@#!!! what do i do? what do i do? well stand up slowly...slowly GD it!!! i stood up, so did the bear. now, quietly walk, don't run, but quietly walk to the left to find Dad. well quietly went out the window, i powerwalked until i heard branches cracklings. then it was a full out run!!! all i could hear was bear coming for me!!! then i seen Dad as my orange hat flew off me. i don't stutter, but i hard time saying bear. be...be...bea...bea....bear!!!! i told my dad. "nah," he said, "you didn't see no bear." i took him back to my spot and i showed him where the bear was. it was snowing in the morning. we walked up and "dang, you seen a big bear" my dad said. he put his hand in the bear's paw print and it was twice as big as his. that was the only time i was scared of a bear. i've seen the next one when i was 15yo. every 2 - 4 years i've seen bears. usually in deer season, but i seen them out fishing. i only actually gone out for bear for 2 years. the first year i got a boar at 398lbs and the second year i got nothing. i buy a bear tag every once in a while, but i never go. i should be coming up for a bear either this year or the next.
