Stories Of Close Encounters With Dangerous Game?

[michigander fisherman]

What are some of the close encounters you've had with dangerous game such as bear or wolves? Would love to hear some of your stories. I personally have had many close encounters with bears and wolves and its always interesting to hear about others experiences , whether it be while hunting, fishing, or just hiking through the woods.

[bobowski]

I once had a close encounter with a Cougar. It was really wild.

[Christopheraaron]

Well, this summer me and my mom were up in algonquin. Usually our family does the interior sites but this time we thought that we'd try a drive up and do day portages. We got there, set up, ate, properly got rid of any food scraps, cleaned all the eating surfaces and called it a day. While we did this on either side of us there were about 12 people, obviously they were new to camping, but we didn't think much of it. Well it turns out that after eating neither of those sites had been cleaned at all, there was food and drinks all over the place and they just left it! At about 2 in the morning we were awakened by something outside nosing around, we quickly realized that it was a bear, and instead of going to the campsites around us it came to us. We heard the family next to us wake up, we could hear them talking, then they decided that their tent would protect them somehow and went back to sleep. Meanwhile we were on the phone to the warden for about 20 minutes with no answer. We decided that because this was a garbage bear that there was no way anyone was going to scare it off and so we waited for it to wander off, it didn't. Instead eventually a car came down the road and we heard it run off. Needless to say we weren't waiting for it to came back so we made a b-line to the car and slept in the car at one of the parking lots on hwy #60. Had a few moose run ins but we always kept our distance with them and there was never a threat from them.

[Muskieman]

I was scratched and bitten by a black bear in Revelstoke BC back in 1995 .. I have scratches and puncture wounds to remind me .

[Muskieman]

I was also knocked out cold by a Donkey at African Lion Safari ..

[Guest]

Came upon a 1500 pound grizzle when fishing for salmon in BC. He got in a couple of lucky punches, but I think I won the fight. Just kidding no real stories yet and I want to keep it that way.

[myot]

Had 3 wolves circle a friend of mine and I while gutting and quartering a moose after the first 2 got a reminder to stay away by means of a 300 winchester mag the 3rd decieded to leave the sceen

 

Dan

 

by the way a 300 wincester mag disolves a 140lbs timber wolf no problem almost split one in two

[Lip-ripper]

Opening day of gun season for deer this year, I was sitting on the ground, watching over a scrape when something brown caught my eye.

It was a loner wolf that was foraging through the bush. He turned and came straight at me. I stood up and raised the 12 gauge and he thought better of it, turning away at about 15 yards.

I was about to feed him a couple slugs for dinner, followed by a buckshot for dessert, but thankfully never had to...

[JimC]

Came upon a 1500 pound grizzle when fishing for salmon in BC. He got in a couple of lucky punches, but I think I won the fight. Just kidding no real stories yet and I want to keep it that way.

 

man, that would be a scary encounter for sure; but the most amazing thing is that he didn't take a big swat at you, when you were weighing him.

[Christopheraaron]

man, that would be a scary encounter for sure; but the most amazing thing is that he didn't take a big swat at you, when you were weighing him.

 

LMAO!

[DRIFTER_016]

Too many encounters to list em all.

 

Been woofed at several times by both black and grizzly bears.

Been bluff charged by a ma grizz protecting her younguns.

 

Closest of all was a run in with a 9 1/2- 10 sow grizz while heading back from the river.

Had one foot on the bank when I saw her coming towards us. She came out into an opening 10-15 feet from me and completely ignored us. If she wanted she could have been on us in one bound.

I thought about taking a picture of her when she was right there but couldn't remember if I had the flash set to automatically go off and didn't feel like ticking off a 1000# bear, so I waited until she turned around.

Oh, that and I had my fishing rod in one hand and my other hand was on my bear spray just in case.

 

 

On a couple of occasions I've had grizzlies sniffing at my tent in the middle of the night ans one time while sitting around the fire I heard a faint woof over the sound of the creek and crackling fire. I asked my buddy if he heard it and he said "heard what". I told him that there was a bear on the other side of the creek and he said "yeah, ok"

About 10 minutes later it had come over to our side and circled around us on the camp grounds road.

It caught our scent and ran full boar past us. You could barely hear it's gallop but you could feel the ground vibrate as the bear passed by about 30 or 40 feet away. I asked my buddy "well did you hear that?" I thought he was going to soil himself!!! :rofl2:

 

Another good one was when a bunch of us were sitting around camp and one of the lads was deep frying chicken wings for 20!!! We were all having a drink and waiting for the feast to be ready when a grizz walked up the hill from the Russian River and stuck it's head between the fence boards (the fence is about 4 1/2' high with 3 horizontal 2X8's). As you can imagine this caused quite a stir in camp!!

As soon as someone said bear!!! there was about 8 friends all standing there brandishing firearms!!!

One of my buddies walked over to the firepit and grabbed a very healthy log, walked over to the fence and whopped the bear on the head with it!!!!

The bear left, the guns went back into hiding, chicken wings were eaten, drinks consumed and a great story was born!!!

[Rod Caster]

When I was in Alert Nunavut for 4 months in winter, the arctic wolves would hide under the stilted buildings and sneak a nip or two at my (everyones) boots. They would sometimes group up and circle us, but it never felt like they were trying to get us. Mostly they would follow people in hopes that a lemming or hare would be flushed out and provide them an easy meal. Boy those wolves were big. One guy in the community used to take long walks with a single wolf in toe... They were buddies it seemed

[BillM]

Polar bear scared the crap out of Mike and I on the Sutton River this year. About 30-40ft upstream (It crossed towards us).. It was interesting to say the least.

[kickingfrog]

Summer of 1998, Horton River N.W.T.

 

 

 

 

The muskox was more aggressive then the grizzly.

[bare foot wader]

this should be a good thread, always enjoy hearing others stories, I've been fortunate enough to see some amazing things, living in ON and BC

 

was relieving myself sitting over a log, looked over and there was a black wolf looking at me...finished up and paddled out from shore, he raced in an enjoyed a special "treat"...not so scary but damn funny

 

this past fall my pup was right on my heels hiking and whining, figured coyote as they are around the house and knows they are trouble...kept back checking and eventually it was a wolf, he was keeping his distance so didn't fire immediatley but put my pup on the leash....a few km's later pup freaked and i looked as the wolf was coming in head to the ground, dropped the leash and soon as I raised my rifle he bolted, I hit him pretty far back, stumbled and kept going, put the dog in the truck and tried to find the wolf...followed the trail into some thick stuff and gave up on it at dark, the drive out they were howling like crazy...my 14 wk old lab was inseparable for weeks after that, always at my feet, shook him up for a while

 

I started playing around with doe urine while hunting, on my boots, seems to work very well for predators LOL...many wolves but most notable was fresh cougar tracks on the way out, followed them less than 500 yds and saw her in a tree, quick pic and left her alone, didn't push my luck, she was clearly not so happy

 

walking home along a dirt road 11 km, locked my keys in the truck in late april and bears were very active, 3 grizzlies crossed the road, 2 didn't care much/notice, the largest winded me and then ran in the woods...in my waders and vest, trout slime on me, it was a very uneasy walk up the road with my fillet knife in hand....30 mins later I see a tiny black sow, didn't think much except it was odd she wasn't leaving as I approached, I'm making noise trying to scare her off, about 50-60 yds away, hear a noise and look up, cubs in a tree, must have been her first litter as she was very small....looking at her cubs set her off, I watched her forearms bulge and toes dig in the dirt...i turned and ran regardless of her size, but she only bluffed, no way i was out running or climbing a tree in waders very fast

 

mountain biking along trails you cover ground fast and move fairly silently, see a ton more game than on a quad or sled...even with bells on the bikes we have spooked many bears on the trail, grizz's and blackies...have seen some crazy territorial behaviours, huffing, lip curls and snorting, beating the crap out of the ground or a bush, up turning stumps, bluffed charged too many times to remember but only 1 that truly scared the crap out of us, a very large black boar charged and ran out a bluff closer than I've ever experienced and hope I never again

 

a lot of people talk about grizzly attacks, but in my experience, I am far more scared of a black bear, they are documented to display predatory behaviour to humans, where as grizzly encounters are 99% defensive (usually with cubs) or territorial, not predatory (still the 1% like timothy treadwell)...working at a wilderness lodge we always explained to guests how to react in a bear encounter, nothing like seeing a tourists face go white as we go through a very detailed training session and play the "slide show" and then give them a waiver to sign

 

in the canoe coming down around some small channels in a set of islands, small lake around ptbo, pop in a bay and find ourselves between a calf and a cow moose, about 10 yds split form each...we paddled fast and she was snorting and swimming after us!!! only lasted about 10 seconds and she turned back to her calf, pretty cool to see

 

in the canoe on chemong lake, pan fishing around a set of islands, geese were nesting there and the male started dive bombing us, we couldn't paddle fast enough, he was honking and hovering around us, couldn't get away...a gander from the next nest down came to help out..."nudged" one with the paddle in mid air and they backed off but still escorted us away

 

aside from a bear or cougar, i think an angry goose in your face is the last thing i'd wanna deal with

[bare foot wader]

I was also knocked out cold by a Donkey at African Lion Safari ..

 

LOL my friends father got some 1 yr old bulls on his ranch, we were planning on a rodeo show down and figured we'd warm up on one his donkey's....nobody rode a bull after the donkey, if i wasn't wearing a full cage hockey helmet, my face wouldn't look so damn handosme anymore LOL they are mean, miserable creatures...cute when you are feeding them but do not enjoy being ridden apparently

[michigander fisherman]

A lot of you guys have had way more encounters than me, Probably the worst one i had was when I was out Rifle hunting for deer in a small, homemade ground blind. A wolf casually trotted by and didnt really pose a threat. All of a sudden it stopped, turned, and just started staring at me. Then it started to howl. Before I knew it there was 3 more wolves circling near the blind. I hunkered down and just waited. If they were to try anything Id give them a taste of the 45 Springfield XD on my hip and the 30-06 Remington in my hands haha. I decided to end the hunt earlier and just got out and started walking to the truck which was nearby. The wolves just slowly trailed me so with some quick thinking I pulled my truck keys out of my pocket and set the alarm off, wolves were gone in no time and had a nice, short, peaceful walk the rest of the way.

Edited January 2, 2013 by michigander fishermen

[michigander fisherman]

Ive seen many bears while out hunting, but luckily they haven't even noticed me

Edited January 2, 2013 by michigander fishermen

[NAW]

here is my list. Not all big game. But still go the blood pumping all the same!!

 

I was bluff charged by a pissed of fisher last fall. He was angry! Did it twice, but aborted mission when we got about 5 yards away both times.

 

Been stocked by a black bear while turkey hunting a few years ago. He ran off when I removed my camo vale and hat and started yelling at him/her.

 

Had a mother ruffled grouse dive bomb me several time one year walking in to the cottage. I swear it was a kamakaze bird trying to take my head off with no regards for it's own life! Tried like 5 times!

 

Stepped about 2 feet away from a rattle snake a while back. Heard him at the last minute, and jumped out of the way. I was wearing shorts and flip flops. Might have turned out bad.

[fishindevil]

many years ago when i was about 13yrs old,i hopped a fence while sucker fishing in emily creek,and walked about a mile around the swamp and didnt realize i was in the middle of a farmers field with a 1,000lb prized bull charging at me full blast....i ran for my life i can still feel the ground shaking as he was running me down,anyways im here an alive but barely !!!! i just made it to the edge of the fence and dove up and over and through the barbed wire !!! yes and about 7 stiches later !!!!! later upon my grandpa knowing of this he said that bull did lots of damage to even the barn,and also charged and dented the farmers truck !!!! so imagine what he would have done to me>>>>>>>

[Burtess]

I don't know if you would call this dangerous game or not but...

 

When I was a kid up in Lions Head with my Opa and father we went a friends farm. Roger took me out in the field and I was having fun hand pumping water from the well into buckets. He started calling his Belgian stallion, Rowdy. You could hear this thing coming up and over the hill. Its mane and tail full of burrs and stuff and from what I remember it was freaking huge and had a lot of hair on it. He stopped right in front of me and Roger threw a pail of water on him.

Reared up on his hind legs and scared the bejesus out of me.

To this day I will go nowhere near a horse and the wife teases the crap out of me for it....

 

 

Burt

[lew]

Lotsa bears around here and I've had them in both the back yard & front yard and it's fairly common for them to wander down the road, but so far nobody has had any physical encounters with one.

 

A couple months back though, we drove into town about 4:00 in the afternoon and got home 90 minutes later to find that a bear had come up the driveway and tore the downspout off the side of the house and actually ripped it in half.

 

I've seen chipmonks go into the trough, supposedly to get the water, and I'm guessing perhaps the bear saw him go in there and was trying to get him.

 

Nobody was home when it happened, but it coulda been nasty if someone came walking around the corner of the house just as it was going on.

 

Here's a couple pics I took.

 

 

 

Edited January 2, 2013 by lew

[Bondar]

a few years back i went turkey hunting in Kansas and Oklahoma with my dad , on a sunny afternoon hunt i sat down against a tree and made a couple calls . all of a sudden i hear something moving through the leaves and grass coming from behind me so i sit still as i can and waiting hoping for a gobbler to poke out past me . no the case though about 12" from my legged a 5' or so Black snake with bright yellow on it slithers right along side my leg , not being from snake country i had no idea what this thing was and soon as he made it past far enough to where i felt safe i jumped up and did a brisk jog all the way back to the truck jumping over every stick on the path in fear it was another one of these guys , later that day i ran into the game warden and explained the snake to him which he told me was a rat snake and pretty well harmless he said if he had diamond shaped eyes they are poisinous , like i wanted to be close enougt to look into his eyes !

 

 

 

this past May while in cuba , wading a flat fly fishing for bonefish , i see a big shadow if the water moving toward me , figuring it was a tarpon i stood my ground and nope not a tarpon just a shark LOL about 10 ft away , later joining up with 2 of his buddies and circling the flat all afternoon , i have pictures with my buddy about 15ft away looks like hes patting it on the head , Being fairly new to saltwater i had no idea what kind of sharks they were , from explaining to a local guide he says nurse sharks and not much of a problem also . again i didnt want to find out

[Moosebunk]

Summer of 1998, Horton River N.W.T.

 

 

The muskox was more aggressive then the grizzly.

 

Very cool. Heard of the Horton too... supposedly some amazing grayling fishing.

[Cookslav]

Algonquin Park in the fall...on the Thunderbox....LARGE bull Moose came out of the brush behind me snorting and grunting and smashing his antlers in the trees.

Best Laxitive EVER....done in seconds LOL!!!