Up close and personal

[wvfarrier]

First day of archery season. This little fella (maybe weighed 50 pounds) decided my boot smelled good. They do not get much closer, he tried to bite through my boot!

[Tycer]

I love that.

[GunnyMack]

I had that happen in Maine years ago but it was a red squirrel!!
Here the bears have no fear of man, brazen in fact! It won't be long before somebody gets killed/mauled. It's very common to see a smallish sow with 3 cubs, no wonder the population is growing by leaps and bounds.

[Bill in Oregon]

Pretty fond of the toots -- but respectfully so.

[Pat C]

Those rascals I like to watch them but they cause me a lot of grief getting in my trash and bird feeder.

[GunnyMack]

Pat, put PINESOL in your trash can, just a little in each bag. Bears don't like pinesol. They might toss your can a couple more times but the will realize it stinks and doesn't taste good and leave it alone.
I have been doing that for years and my can has been tossed once since.

[Pat C]

I'll try it, tried about about everything else shy of a steel baracade box. They climb over the deck gate pull tge lids off galvanize cans and make a mess. Back in May had one 175-200 lbs I opened door and he ran and jumped off high end like a flying squirrel 12 ft up ,bever phased it.

[GunnyMack]

Or you could load some rock salt for your favorite fowling piece and team em a lesson they won't forget!

[gcs]

I've used the pinesol trick with raccoons, it worked until I got around to eliminating the little darlings...

[Paladin]

Excellent, I have seen a lot of bears while I was in WV. 5 feet was the closest I ever had one next to me.

[GunnyMack]

1986, my first trip to Quebec fishing. The cabin we were staying in had a 3 sided outhouse. On morning I'm there taking care of business when I heard something on the other side of the wall. I leaned out and was snout to nose with a young bear! Not a weapon in site so I swatted it on the nose with a National Geographic.
A few days later one of our guys was portageing a canoe, stepped over a dead fall and stepped on a bear- he went one way, bear another and the canoe in a third !