Dealing With Black Bears in the Woods

I must be old school but I can't imagine wearing ear buds while hiking on the trail. The big reason I go into the wilderness is to get away from all the noise, pollution and chaos of civilization. Being surrounded only by nature's sounds was part of the experience. I once spent 2 weeks backpacking in the Sierra's of California. On my last day, as I approached the parking lot near the trailhead, I was genuinely startled by a car horn.

Hiked Baker and Rainer in the NW. Ran into bears occasionally, but the funniest incident was the huge elk I ran into. We scared each other to death. He then hid behind this skinny tree and peeked around it, imagining that I couldn't see him. lol

Usually I flash my pokemon card binder at the bear to show him who the real alpha is.

"i don't know a single hiker that carried a bear spray on the AT." me raising my hand. you don't know me, but i carried it, dammit, I CARRIED IT WITH PRIDE! and i always will

Thank you for admitting your mistakes and caring enough to share them so others may benefit!

Yup, I lived in Alaska for a while and the first thing they tell you is running just makes you look tastier.

For about a half a second ......I thought Hank was a bear creeping into the video.

I appreciate your honesty and glad that nothing happened!

I once ran into a medium sized black bear that propelled itself against a tree and started huffing and scratching the tree. I thought it was just being cute, so I used typical bear encounter protocol by yelling at it and waving my arms to look big, and proceeded to walk past it like a boss... About 30ft. later I heard the tree shaking behind me and wondered if the bear was going crazy. I turned around and there were 4 cubs in the tree, so I had just antagonized a mamma bear! Had I realized this beforehand, I probably would've backed away slowly and bushwhacked to get further up the trail instead. Since then I always make it a point to broaden my vision and look for cubs whenever I see bears on the ground.

Very good that you were with a group of people, which black bears usually avoid. Strength in numbers. You are very brave, for a lot of reasons, to hike alone. Stay safe and God bless.

My wife and I enjoy your videos! We are hikers, day hikers but we're about to embark on our first overnight and section hike Chestnut Ridge area of the AT. We watched this video and learned a few things. Today we looped hiked trails in the Great Smokey Mountains Nationals Park. At .8 miles, we surprised the biggest black bear we've ever seen when we came around a bend in the trail. A little screaming and making ourselves big it took off. About 4 miles later, the same situation. A bend in the trail and yet another, very large black bear. To me, this bear wasn't as afraid as the first and stood his ground for a second. Finally moving along at it's own pace we continue. The second encounter, to me, was more frightening. Moral of the story is one of the first things we thought of was your advice. Thank you! And happy trails! John & Jessica

There is some good advice in this video. It also helps to know more about black bears. As the video correctly advises, never ever run from a bear. However, what the video does not mention, and should, is that black bears can climb trees as quickly as any squirrel. So climbing a tree is no defense against a black bear. It is sound advice when encountering a grizzly, but you are not going to encounter a grizzly bear on the Appalachian Trail. Black bears, like all bears, have terrible eye-sight. They are very near-sighted, but there sense of smell is particularly acute. Which means that you should be paying attention to the direction the wind is blowing. If you walk with the wind, then you are very unlikely to surprise a bear. However, if you are walking against the wind then it is very easy to surprise a bear, particularly if you are not making noise. If you see bark freshly scraped away from trees, fresh tracks, or fresh scat, then there is probably a bear in the neighborhood. This is why it is important to pay close attention to your surroundings when hiking. Your camp should be set up in a triangle, with one area set aside for your sleeping area. One area set aside for your cooking and eating area, and one area set aside for hanging your food when not in use. Each of these areas should be at a minimum of 25 yards apart, and no food of any kind should ever be brought into the sleeping area. Clean all your dishes, pots, and pans after use and maintain a clean camp. Hang your food between two trees at least 20 feet apart and at least 10 feet off the ground when not being used.

You're pretty darn good at telling your stories and thanks for sharing even the embarrassing ones. I've never seen a bear out hiking yet but I do really want to. I still can't get over how close that deer came towards you.

"Hey Darlin'"....LOL, classic! Thanks for sharing....glad you're open enough to use your own goof to educate the rest of us!

I keep a .357 magnum with bufallo bore 180 grain hard cast as a last resort. Mostly for 2 legged creatures. From what I understand, black bears will high tail it rather than fight

I like your matter of fact, down to earth honesty. I've viewed many hiking videos in the past. Yours, hands down, are the best. Continued good luck.

"Hey Darlin" Ha! Enjoying your videos. Good luck on the PCT adventure. Can't wait to watch. Fyi. your hiking alone and staying in shelters alone gave me the courage to do a solo backpacking trip in the Smokies. Headed out in a week or so for 77 miles and 6 nights alone. Thank you for that. Excited and skeered. Hoping I don't get eaten by a bear or banjo people.

Look at your actions this way; "You made some serious errors in judgement, you lived to share your experience and mistakes with everyone." Lesson learned and duly noted. If you made the same mistake again then I would say...well you can fill in the rest. Great video and I have loved watching your continuing journey on this channel.

"Hey Darlin' " how many times did you say that aloud and laugh or roll your eyes? My wife heard this and laughed & said..."That is exactly what I would do!" ha!

Thanks for sharing, it's super helpful and we can all learn from other's mistakes. Its funny how the thing they tell you NOT to do, is the first thing we do. I was told on a snowmobile tour, if your machine rolls, DON'T put your arm or leg out to stop yourself. Well guess what. I rolled my snowmobile after going too fast and getting over in a bit of a ditch. Rolled to the right and you guessed it, out goes my right arm. It wrenched my shoulder pretty bad but no permanent damage. I was thrown off into a snowbank but the snowmobile literally did a complete 360 barrel roll and kept going!! I had to chase it to stop it. So we can't always control our first instincts. But now that it's happened, we will be better prepared next time!!