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Donziweasel
08-05-2007, 07:27 PM
Yesterday we decided to join some freinds for a night of camping on the upper Green River. We had our pop-up camper, another pop-up camper, a truck camper and two freinds slept in thier SUV's. After a fun afternoon of dirt biking, four wheeling (I like to ride my four wheeler, but not really into dirt biking) and a little fly fishing, we had dinner, cocktails, smores (yes, we still eat smores when we camp), it is off to bed.

Around 3:00 A.M. in the morning, I hear something outside my pop-up about a foot from my head. Then the whole pop-up started rocking. I am half a sleep, and let's face it, had had a few cocktails the night before and was not in the mood to get up and chase a black bear out of camp. I waited a few minutes and then it stopped. I remembered that although I had put up the food, I had left a package of marshmellows on the front deck of the pop-up under where our bed slides out. 15 minutes later, my freind yells "theres a bear in camp". Although he has a 4 year old and a 7 year old with him, I thought to myself, I know, now can we get some sleep!. All the sudden he hit his panic alarm on his car keys and the lights of his pickup, as well as the horn, start going off. I look out the window, and there is the biggest grizzly I have ever seen, around 800 pounds, and I have seen near a hundred in the wild. He is only 30 feet away.

My freind in the other pop up and one of the guys in a SUV hit him with spot lights, and I grabbed my Mag Light and hit him. Being shined in the face by truck headlights, three strong flashlights, the horn going off and us yelling was too much for him and he dropped over the edge of the river and swam to the other side. My wife is saying stuff like "it's huge!" We didn't see him again.

I got a laugh out of it though. One friend in the truck camper stuck his head out of the door and saying stuff like "we don't need no stinking bear" and "get my BB gun, I'll take care of it"

The next morning there was the usuall excitement of having a grizzly in camp. My freind who had set off the truck alarm admitted it was his wifes idea. The bear had been under thier pop-up rooting around for about 15 minutes, but they were too scared to say anything (he is afraid of bears, but for some reason they don't bother me). She was so scared after the whole deal, she cleaned her pop-up till dawn.

In the end, out of the 9 people camping, 6 had never seen a Grizzly, including my wife. She has lived here for 7 years. I always though her first sighting would be from a truck or at least a few hundred yards away, not 2 feet! Most people will never get that close and live to tell the tale. We seem to be on a bear streak as I have seen 5 in month, and two of them Grizzlies.

In the end, for me, it was a cool experience, as I have never had one in camp before. I have been close to them, within 70ft, but never that close. Our drought has been pushing them into lower elevations this year, so sightings are at an all time high. In the end, the only loss was our pooper we take. Damn, bear battet it around like a toy. It was my buddies, so I let him clean that one up!

We did talk to our neighbors about 1/2 mile up the road. They said he came through their camp at around 1:00 a.m. Family of four, with two kids under 6 sleeping in a tent. He said the bear grabbed his float tube (for fishing) and played with it like a dog with a squeaky toy. It was shredded. The lady said she cried the rest of the night, which I found amusing. They were from Utah and had never seen a bear in thier lives. Said they were supposed to stay two more nights, but were leaving.

The bear was not aggressive and looked very healthy. He was as fat and as happy a bear as I have ever seen. People just have to remember not to freak out, and realize you are not on the menu. He knew we were all there and wasn't looking for a fight or a meal of people. If anything, he was simply curious and playful. When confronted (which you can do if you have a bunch of people, but I would never do alone), he moved on with no fanfare. I am a little curious why he came in camp. Black bears do it alot, but not Grizzlies, they really don't like people and stay away from them. Sorry, no pics, but it was 3:00 A.M. and I was feeling no pain. :)

Funny thing, he never did get the marshmellows...........

Barry Eller
08-05-2007, 08:23 PM
Geezzzz,

You're just a real Daniel Boone or Grizzly Adams!

My mom tells a story of me chasing a Black Bear that had stuck its head into my tent that housed my father and two of my cousins. Mom was sleeping in the De Soto on this camping trip in Cherokee N.C. She sounded the horn and flashed the headlights on the bear as I came out of the tent and chased it with my Pop Gun, remember the ones that were double barrel, cork on a string and you broked them down to cock them.


That's me, the little guy on the left with the gun. Age 4.

Had no fear then!


Then I discovered girls...been scared ever since...

Carl C
08-05-2007, 09:21 PM
That's a good bear story. I go to Alaska every year and haven't sen a bear in the wild yet. My family had 2 encounters with blackbears there this year though. You're right that brown bears don't usually attack unless you startle them. We wear "bear bells" when hiking in Alaska. You shoulda got pics!:eek!:

Rootsy
08-06-2007, 06:26 AM
gee wiz John... he was lonely, why didn't you run over to the cuddly lil fella and give him a big montana sized hug and a peck on the nose :wink:

hey it worked for the whack-a-doo in Alaska... :boggled::bonk::tongue:

Carl C
08-06-2007, 08:51 AM
hey it worked for the whack-a-doo in Alaska... :boggled::bonk::tongue: Ah, yes, the bear whisperer. I wonder how tasty he was.:eek!:

Donziweasel
08-06-2007, 09:20 AM
Jamie, I think you are talking about the bear man program on Discovery last year. While I am sorry that guy got killed by a grizzly bear, man, he was asking for it. I saw one where he was in the water 5 ft from a male grizz. Then he reached over and touched it behind the ears! Bear was pissed and turned on him before moving away. That guy was certifiably insane. Didn't even have bear spray (a huge can of pepper spray with a 25 ft range).

Although there are a lot of Grizzlies out here, seeing one is rare. Case in point my wife and freind. She has been here 7 years, been in grizz country a lot and never seen a grizzly till the other night. My freind has been here 6 years and same deal, never seen one. Three years ago I took my wife into the backcountry of Yellowstone for four days trying to find one, never did. I am Yellowstone tour guide for my company and have seen most that way, but about 1/4 of them I have seen while fishing or screwing around in the backcountry.

I personally think anytime you get to see something unique out here, wolves, mountain lions, bears, etc.... it is pretty damn cool and should be apporeciated, not feared.

I know I post some strange stories on here, but sometimes truth is better than fiction. I am not some kind of Grizzly Adams, but just someone from Atlanta who loves Wyoming. I have had some great experiences out here, and some I would like to forget.

Now, Jamie, as for petting the nice grizzly and giving him one on the nose, you can do that while Patti, Margi and I stand 200 ft away with an ambulance at hand!:):bonk:

Donziweasel
08-06-2007, 09:29 AM
To give you an idea of how close he was, here is a pic of our pop-up set up. We sleep on the bed above the deck with the railing. The bear was trying to get the marshmellows sitting under us on the front deck by the bulkhead. Must have hooked his paw in the railing and was rocking it. That puts him a foot from my head!:eek!: