Shot 3 Bears Today....

[brandon]

Today I made the trip to Mt. Seymour again and I always hope to see some wildlife but it seemed the bears were everywhere today. About 10 minutes up the trail I hear some bushes move about 20ft to my right and I happen to turn and meet eyes with about a 200lb black bear. It took off into the bush headed toward a clearing so I ran back down the trail and positioned myself where I thought it might come into the clearing. Here are a few pics of that bear....

 

 

I get another 10 minutes or so up the trail and people tell me theres another bear up aways on the right. I hustled over to that bear and man was this one in a bad mood. He did 2 mini bluff charges at me....never actually charged but made the motion that he was going to......with some stomping of its front feet and some huffing and puffing. I only really got one picture of it because I just wanted to get the hell outta there lol......This bear was quite larger than the other one...here he is...

 

 

After that experience I headed up the the Second Pump peak at 1435m elevation....Here is a self photo I took

 

 

On the way back to the parking lot I saw a group of people gathered and looking up on this hill.....this is what they were looking at

 

 

Hope you enjoy the pics...

[fatherof3]

great shots.would be a little nervous taking those I bet

[motv8tr]

Great photo's Brandon, but I'm not sure if you're brave or crayzy at this point

 

Maureen

[pameladallaire]

Great bear pictures Brandon!

 

I'll add a photo from yesterday just off my deck. He was looking in my sliding screen door and ,thank goodness, jumped down when I told him to get. There are a lot of bears hungry this year. I don't need to go anywhere. Unfortunately, my camera was set on low quality, and I was shooting through the door glass and screen.

 

Pam

Edited September 8, 2007 by Pamela Dallaire

[Handlebarz]

Nice Brandon looks like you are taking full advantage of BC good on ya.

[Photoz]

GREAT pics . . . . . but I hope you realize these are HUNGRY, WILD animals, who could quite easily picture you as 100+ pounds of easy food? I used to marvel at the fools who'd stop their cars out on Hwy. #60, jump out, and attempt to hand feed a wild 200+ pound bear along the road (SOME WITH THEIR KIDS!) . . . . . although I never saw an actual attack, I DID see a guy get charged . . . the snarling bear stopped about 3' short of him, and took a slap at him, and BARELY missed. The guy was wise enough not to turn his back on the bear, and slowly backed off, and got back in his car (presumably to unload his shorts) and peeled out of there! This is quite different than having a heavy wire fence, or bars seperating you from them in a zoo . . . I'm just amazed there have been no bear attacks reported this year! You're photos are very good, nice to look at, and I'm VERY happy that it's you, the bear & the camera, not ME!!

[Rich]

Looks like some nice hamburger meat there!

[Photoz]

That's likely what the bears are thinkin' as they give these humans the once over!

[Rich]

The wild ones are more afraid of you than you are of them.

 

Now the people that go feed them or harass them at the dumps or in towns have a death wish.

[brandon]

Photoz,

 

Personally I don't think of myself as a "fool". I was in very close contact with black bears last summer when I was a hunting guide and I also studied them for 2 years in college. I know what signs to look for if a bear is getting aggressive and know when to back off.......I believe I actually mentioned that in my post. People actually were thanking me for letting them know there was a bear and loved giving their kids the opportunity to see one. I'm sure most of the other people who have viewed this topic also think i'm a "fool" but I know what I was doing and overall I was not in any danger......keep in mind all those photos were taken with a 300mm zoom lens maxed out......thanks for reading everybody,

 

Brandon

[Photoz]

Just for the record, if you read my post CAREFULLY, I called those who would take a loaf of bread out of their vehicle, and walk up to feed it to a WILD bear, along a highway, sometimes with kids in tow, FOOLS, which they are!! But, no matter how much you study bears, there are likely a few that do not stay within your study guidelines . . . if one of 'em suddenly sees you as food, as you likely already know, the distance between you and your 300mm lens can be covered before you can get your camera down. I've seen bears run . . . they can cover a short distance amazingly quickly, as you likely know! When the bear charged that guy in Algonquin, as I watched, I was sure he was dead meat . . . . . . why that bear stopped 4' - 5' in front of him, I'll never know! (Possibly what the guy did as the bear came at him smelled pretty bad!) I was on my way out of my 4X4 to get the axe outta the back, which thankfully wasn't needed. I'll do MY bear-watching at the zoo, thank you!

[brandon]

No worries Photoz. I know what to look for and I never put myself in a dangerous situation. Those bears were all more occupied with eating blueberries than to take on me. It's situations where food is scarce that bears become aggressive and desperate, however in a provincial park situation you have to be more careful than with a bear thats in the true bush becuase with so many people hiking, you never know how many people have already ticked it off before you show up. I will however refer to the people who were out picking blueberries today as fools.....its amazing how an all black animal can completely dissapear in a tiny green bush....I sure wouldn't like to surprise one in IT'S berry patch.

[007]

Great photos as usual Brandon. It really brightens up my day to see some B.C wilderness and wildlife instead of looking out of my Condo at all the concrete and glass in T.O!

 

Stay safe out there. Bears are beautiful creatures but any wild animal can be unpredictable. It is worth remembering that one of the best wilderness photographers in the world - Michio Hoshino - who had spent decades in the Alaskan wilderness photographing bears in the wild unfortunately lost his life in a bear attack (albeit a brown/grizzly bear) - so you can never know exactly what they will do.

 

Having said that, it sounds like you are respectful of the bears and know much of their behaviour and I'm sure you keep a safe distance so you should reduce the odds of dangerous encounter considerably.

 

I would take an encounter with a bear in the wild (from a safe distance) any day over one in a zoo. I know from experience it's a totally awesome feeling to be sharing a moment with such an incredible wild animal.

 

Out of interest are there any Grizzlies in the Mt Seymour area or coastal mountains or are they pretty much restricted to the Rocky Mountain ranges and Parks like Banff, Jasper, Yoho etc??

 

Keep those shots coming!

 

Thanks

007

[brandon]

great post 007....it is pretty amazing sharing a moment with such an incredible creature. and just for the record next paycheque i'll be investing in some bear spray or bear bangers......just in case.....and there are NO grizzlies in the area. They are further north and deep in the interior but none this far south. I'm pretty sure Canada's only Grizzly sanctuary is in Prince Rupert which is on the coast but about 30kms south of the Alaska border. I'd love to get up there one day and take a look at them.

[007]

Brandon,

 

You should head over to Banff National Park in the springtime - quite a few Grizzlies. Though unfortunately their numbers are falling due to too many of them getting killed on the roads and railways and by illegal and legal hunters in the Alberta foothills. I read that there are actually many more grizzly bears in the Rocky Mountain national parks than black bears but the grizzlies tend to stay in the mountains while the black bears tend to stay nearer the valleys - where the roads and trails are, which is why people are most likely to encounter black bears. I hope the Grizzly can hold out in Canada for many years to come.

 

Otherwise, best place to see those big brown bears has got to be Katmai and Kenai areas in Alaska - may be one day I'll get up that way.

 

Can't wait for more of your wildlife and scenery shots.

 

Cheers

007

[brandon]

I was actually going to book a flight to Katmai to photograph some grizzlies but my equipment isn't the greatest. I need bigger zoom lenses that are faster and made for professional use. My 70-300mm sigma lens is a good lens but its too slow for wildlife photography. I took 275 photos today and those were the only ones sharp enough to actually post.....I'm kind of forced to take that many photos because the more I take the better the odds that I'll have more turn out nice and clear. In a perfect world I'll have a portfolio made up and possibly get a job and some gear will be provided but we'll see where that dream goes lol. But maybe in the spring I'll get on a bus or a plane and head to Banff. I've heard its gorgeous there and I'd love to check it out.

Edited September 9, 2007 by brandon

[danc]

Bears are a dime a dozen up here. I once saw 7 bears within half a mile. I've ran into bears that were 3 feet away from me. It looked more afraid of me than I was of it. Personally I'd be more afraid of a lightning strike or a vehicle accident.

 

[Crazyhook]

awesome shots man!

[Tarzan's Jane]

Beautiful shots...I wonder how good a bear's memory is. That one giving you a clear indication to back off especially would cause me to be a little more than nervous to encounter him again. Be safe.

[scuro]

If you haven't rented the documentary, Grizzly Man, it's worth a view. It's an quirky morbid flick about Timothy Treadwell. He was infatuated with Grizzlies and in the end stopped using common sense. He documents on video that the bears are diving deep in the cold pools looking for dead salmon and soon after gets eaten.

 

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_Treadwell#Death

[Deano]

Great shots, love seeing bears in the wild. Didn't get to see any while I was in B.C., saw lots of Bald Eagles though. With a zoom lens, pictures can be quite deceiving. I have some pics that people think I'm crazy, but they are all at a safe distance.

here's an example of one

 

And here he is with me in the shot

 

 

Here's a couple more pics from this summer

 

 

 

 

 

I've seen more and have a few more pics, and there's been quite a few I've had to hold on to my dogs, so pics were out of the question.

[brandon]

Great shots Deano! And Scuro I actually own Grizzly Man and I respect some or most of what Treadwell did.....only his research and videography....but there was something wrong with the guy. He captured some great footage but you just dont do some of the things he did. Clearly he was asking to get eaten in the end. I really hope you guys aren't comparing me to him. I just go for hikes with my camera and hope to see bears. I haven't nor will never move to live with the bears and try to pet them and tell them I love them lol....but ya for those of you who haven't seen it, either rent it or buy it. It's worth it just to see the scenery and the amazing footage of the bears he got......theres also quite a few nutjobs in the video too that are good for a laugh.

[pameladallaire]

Hey Brandon:

 

I understand how you wouldn't be scared of bears in their natural habitat, except this year (up here) there is a complete crash of the berry source. None, nada. The bears are cruising for FOOD and the police make sure the people know it. A blueberry picker has gone missing and they haven't found him in a month. No clues to follow.

 

The bears, on my deck, are coming to the smell of food cooking at lunch and suppertime. Two days ago, I couldn't put my lab on his leash because a bear would start walking towards the dog every time. The poor dog had a long time between pees.

 

Thank goodness the weather has turned cold and all the windows in town are closed, so the bears haven't been seen in two days.

 

Pam

[brandon]

yeah I heard bears are a real problem this year in parts of NE Ont. I have a few buddies in Kirkland Lake and they see bears in downtown all the time, even at the mcdonalds. Another buddy of mine took my job as a bear hunting guide in Elk Lake and they're biggest bear so far is maybe 250lbs because theres no food. Thats a shame about that blueberry picker. Picking blueberrys at any time is askin for trouble but when theres a veryr large berry shortage is even worse. That's like walking down the absolute worst part of any downtown metropolis with a wad of 100$ bills in your hand and thinking your NOT going to get mugged. I really hope they find that person though so the family has some closure. It's a shame it takes a tragedy like that to get people to understand what bears can be capable of.

[007]

Great pictures Deano and Dan C.