CANADIAN BLACK BEARS

The Second Bear Attacks

EDITOR'S NOTE: Ryan Hack of Stony Mountain, Manitoba, Canada, guides for white-tailed deer and black bear for both archers and gun hunters each season. Yesterday we learned about Hack's guiding adventure with two fathers and their sons for black bear. Here's what happened next.

QUESTION: What did the second bear do to attempt to move you off the downed bear?
ANSWER: One side of the site was wide open where a forest fire had burned through, and the other side had a fairly good-sized group of trees. This bear had followed the blood trail through these trees and broke through the edge of the large set of pines. When he suddenly burst out of the bush, he was probably about 8 yards from us.

QUESTION: You didn't know the second bear was there?
ANSWER: No. We had no idea he was there. We didn't hear any growling or any noises at all; the bear just suddenly appeared. Panic set in almost immediately and, of course, the fathers wanted to keep track of their sons. Matthew, tired from the night before, had fallen asleep about 15 yards from the downed bear where I was working. When the second bear came out of the bush, the bear stood directly between Matthew and us. Ken rushed past the bear and got to Matthew and tried to protect him from the bear.

QUESTION: What did the bear do when Ken ran to his son?
ANSWER: When Ken made the quick motion toward Matthew, the bear moved toward them and away from me and the dead bear. It was swinging its head from side to side, pawing the ground, snapping its teeth and growling. The scene was like something out of an adventure movie.

QUESTION: What did the father do when he went to the boy?
ANSWER: He woke him up, picked him up and held him in the air away from the bear. The bear was probably only 2 to 3 yards from him. The bear continued pawing the ground and the air, growling the whole time. I was armed with a knife for skinning, and I also had a can of pepper spray. I grabbed the pepper spray and moved between the bear and Ken and his son.

QUESTION: How far were you from the bear then?
ANSWER: The bear's nose was only 3 feet from the end of the nozzle of the pepper spray. I immediately shot him in the face with the spray, and that stopped his aggression. The bear turned around and ran about 40 yards and stopped. He peered back over his shoulder and sat down, as if he were thinking about the whole situation. He was pawing his face and growling, but he never came any closer than 40 yards after the spraying. After I sprayed the bear, the hunters, their sons and I formed a group beside the other bear. I asked one of the guys to get some pictures with his camera so the story would have a little more merit. People probably wouldn't believe that something like this actually happened unless there was physical proof. The guys took a couple of pictures as I went back to try to scare the bear farther away. The mere 40 yards between us and the bear was not enough of a buffer zone for me to be satisfied. I walked out to try to persuade the bear to leave. I moved within 20 yards of the bear, but he wouldn't budge. He wanted that bear carcass very badly. I tried for probably 20 minutes to get him to leave.

For more information about hunting deer or bear in Manitoba, call Ryan Hack at (204)-467-2164.

TOMORROW: THE PERSISTENT BEAR