A Bear Of A Sighting!
By singout
@singout (980)
United States
October 10, 2008 9:30pm CST
I was out bow hunting for deer yesterday and saw my first Black Bear in the woods with me. It was only 35 yards away and truly was an exciting experience and got my blood really moving. Have any of you hunters out there ever seen one in the woods in your proximity? I wouldn't have shot it even if it had been in season(unless it was climbing up my tree stand, that is). You rarely ever see them in my area. IT WAS COOL!!! 
2 responses
@Arkie69 (2156)
• United States
11 Oct 08
We have a lot of black bear here in Arkansas. Mostly in the Northern Half of the state. The last time I tried to camp in a tent in deer season while we were hunting the bears were destroying our camp. Several years ago I bought some land in the Nothern part and built a new house. Our first night in the house my wife and I were sitting in front of the fire place with the lights off. The dogs went crazy and I looked at the picture window. It was full of bare. It wasn't a black bear though. It was about 10' tall standing on it's back legs and at least 4' wide. The track of it's front foot was about 12" wide. Here I set with a 410 gauge shotgun and not a single shell in the house. The next day I went to town and bought a BIG rifle that would bring the sucker down if he came back. He stayed around all winter but I never saw him again.
1 person likes this
@singout (980)
• United States
11 Oct 08
Thanks for the response, Arkie69. Wow! how exciting! Mine only weighed about 3 or 4 hundred pounds. I can see where you would want to be protected if there ever were a next time. Talk about a helpless feeling with a shell-less 410 shotgun..... I'll bet you were really scared.
@Arkie69 (2156)
• United States
11 Oct 08
We had a real thick cedar thicket of about 3 acres That this one came into. The dogs had a ball with him. I never did know exactly what kind of bear it was but it was way too big for a black bear. It just looked big and dark in what little light we had. I reported it to the local game warden. He thought I was joking with him. Some of the neighbors started loosing pigs and calves and they got the warden up there but he made sure he didn't find it. We have a lot of the 300 to 400 lb black bear up in the mountains and you can see them pretty often.
1 person likes this
@greenglitterturtle (2750)
• United States
11 Oct 08
hi singout...that would be exhilarating to witness in person. glad you were safe to live unharmed and tell about it.
1 person likes this
@singout (980)
• United States
11 Oct 08
Thanks for the response greenglitterturtle. It's funny the things that run through your mind in a situation like that. You don't know whether to panic or be awe-stricken. I guess I was little of both. Anyway, he stuck his nose in the air and waved it around a bit because he apparantly got a whiff of me and decided he didn't want to stick around. I didn't argue with him. 
@greenglitterturtle (2750)
• United States
11 Oct 08
wow, yay. that is a memory of a lifetime.
1 person likes this
