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View Full Version : Close encounter in Sequoia National Park.


kgoings
06-16-2010, 04:12 PM
My wife and two daughters and I were hiking near Morro Rock and had this close encounter in Sequoia National Park last week. 15 ft away :lv

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d108/kirkgoings/bear1.jpg

markem
06-16-2010, 04:13 PM
eep! Hope no one was wearing honey scented perfume.

that's too close in my book.

68TriShield
06-16-2010, 04:16 PM
Too close!

Commander Quan
06-16-2010, 04:18 PM
I bet he wouldn't have eaten you, he's smiling.

Lear31MX
06-16-2010, 04:20 PM
hey bo bo, wheres the picnic basket

kgoings
06-16-2010, 04:21 PM
We were just walking and he came out of nowhere. We were not trying to get close to him. We had bear bells on and we had some bear spray, my wife was holding the spray cause it made her feel better. He stared us down for about 10 to 15 seconds and then moved on. I had positioned the girls behind me and had them put their hands up in the air and make noises. We had practiced so they knew just what to do.

Yes TOO close! I only snapped the pic when I felt he was going to leave. He had been on the other side of the tree.

dyieldin
06-16-2010, 04:38 PM
Could have lit an Acid and he would have left faster......

Nice you had the presence of mind to snap a pic.

Close one dude!

CEC_Tech
06-16-2010, 04:50 PM
Holy crap! Nice pic, glad you educated yourself and family about bears. Have the people I have seen in the forest would have run, and then shortly thereafter been mauled.

kgoings
06-16-2010, 04:51 PM
Holy crap! Nice pic, glad you educated yourself and family about bears. Have the people I have seen in the forest would have run, and then shortly thereafter been mauled.

Yup you run then the predatory instinct and 'the hunt' kicks in. And your lunch!

kgoings
06-16-2010, 04:53 PM
Could have lit an Acid and he would have left faster......

All I had were Cuban churchills ;s

DPD6030
06-16-2010, 04:54 PM
That bear looks hungry. Glad everything went your way Kirk.

captain53
06-16-2010, 04:55 PM
Been there and seen the bears but found the frik'n rattle snakes and poison ivey far more scary! I livedt in Three Rivers right outside the entrance while working on rebuilding the first few miles of the entrance road. Beautiful Place!!!:tu

Great Picture!:tu

kgoings
06-16-2010, 04:55 PM
That bear looks hungry. Glad everything went your way Kirk.

My wife said he needed a mani-pedi, his nails are far too long! :rolleyes:

TheTraveler
06-16-2010, 04:56 PM
eep! Hope no one was wearing honey scented perfume.

That close? I'd have been lucky to not be wearing poo scented underwear! :r



That's a really nice pic and definitely a good story to tell in the years to come. :)

Blindjimme
06-16-2010, 05:13 PM
All I had were Cuban churchills ;s

Then you're even luckier! They loves a good churchill :=:

Mugen910
06-16-2010, 05:43 PM
That close? I'd have been lucky to not be wearing poo scented underwear! :r



That's a really nice pic and definitely a good story to tell in the years to come. :)

:r:r:r You get a point from me for that one!

kelmac07
06-16-2010, 05:46 PM
Way to close for comfort!!

thebayratt
06-16-2010, 06:43 PM
I think if a bear was 15ft infront of me, the last thing I would be worrying about doing is gettin a pic of it...
Not knocking ya but, I think I'd be looking for a tree limb or rock or something besides my camera. Then after he left I'd go change my pants.

E.J.
06-16-2010, 07:05 PM
Great pic.....great story....

Just looking at the pic gives me a bit of anxiety. I have seen bears from afar in the wild, always with a river/lake between me and them....and even then I was a bit uncomfortable.... I could not even imagine how I would feel with one 15' away....

Starscream
06-16-2010, 07:26 PM
Awesome! Glad everyone's ok!:tu

CigarNut
06-16-2010, 07:28 PM
He was just looking for you to hook up a BOTL with a smoke... (Bear instead of Brother).

shilala
06-16-2010, 07:31 PM
Nice pic, Kirk. Thank You!!! I'm happy you guys are all safe and sound!!! :tu

Big news here yesterday. About a mile up the road, a bear was chasing a pig around.
The whole world was after the bear trying to dart him or shoot him. Must have been one special pig.
I can't make this chit up.

kgoings
06-16-2010, 11:56 PM
I think if a bear was 15ft infront of me, the last thing I would be worrying about doing is gettin a pic of it...
Not knocking ya but, I think I'd be looking for a tree limb or rock or something besides my camera. Then after he left I'd go change my pants.

I had my camera around my neck, I was just lucky to get a good pic

Cyclone
06-17-2010, 12:49 AM
Holy crap! Nice pic, glad you educated yourself and family about bears. Have the people I have seen in the forest would have run, and then shortly thereafter been mauled.

Exactly! Glad to hear you and the family are OK and have a wicked story to tell.


I grew up in Kitimat, British Columbia... Bears sightings were common in town.

A guy I went to high school with was mauled when he was 8 years old... Him and his friends were throwing rocks at a sick female... He just happened to be the slowest kid...

He's paying for the rest of his life as the bear chewed half his a%% off and most of his scalp.

I googled "Kitimat Bear" and found this Bear eating at Subway (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjrI5ELkj3Y&NR=1&feature=fvwp) :D

Gophernut
06-17-2010, 12:10 PM
Great pic! Glad you're all ok!

yourchoice
06-17-2010, 12:23 PM
I'm glad to hear everyone is safe! Wow!

I googled "Kitimat Bear" and found this Bear eating at Subway (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjrI5ELkj3Y&NR=1&feature=fvwp) :D

This is a first for me: "This video contains content from Canadian Broadcasting Corp., who has blocked it in your country on copyright grounds."

shilala
06-17-2010, 12:25 PM
This is a first for me: "This video contains content from Canadian Broadcasting Corp., who has blocked it in your country on copyright grounds."
That was a first for me, too.

BlackDog
06-17-2010, 12:31 PM
Cool pic! It's Smokey Bear, he won't hurt anyone, he was just following you around to make sure you weren't flicking hot ashes on dry leaves. ;)

Skywalker
06-17-2010, 02:51 PM
You should have slapped it's a$$ just to feel alive!!!:D

Sweet photo!!!:tu:tu

1badhog07
06-17-2010, 03:25 PM
He just wanted his picture taken,seriously that is too close for comfort...

3SmokesaRound
06-17-2010, 03:49 PM
Wow, Wow, and Wow. Great story, glad I wasn't there though. Glad everyone is okay.

Ahbroody
06-17-2010, 03:50 PM
Glad everyone was okay.
Need to show this thread to my wife. She gives me crap for bringing atleast a. 45 everytime we go camping. I don't bring the carbine anymore.

Pistol
06-17-2010, 03:52 PM
Super cool! Black bears will leave you alone unless you really piss them off, glad you had the bear spray but didn't have to use it! Now, if you see a brown bear that close, you might want to be a little more cautious!

hotreds
06-17-2010, 03:53 PM
Great picture! Glad that wasn't mama with cubs around!

http://www.brokenparadigmlabs.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/randomgrizzly-bear-warning-sign.jpg

TheTraveler
06-17-2010, 04:30 PM
Great picture! Glad that wasn't mama with cubs around!

http://www.brokenparadigmlabs.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/randomgrizzly-bear-warning-sign.jpg

:r :r :r

Love that pic. :D

3SmokesaRound
06-17-2010, 09:32 PM
Great picture! Glad that wasn't mama with cubs around!

http://www.brokenparadigmlabs.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/randomgrizzly-bear-warning-sign.jpg

That sign is freaking awesome! :tu

Steve
06-17-2010, 10:03 PM
Cool, you found a real Teddy Bear!

Seriously, I'm glad things turned out good for you and your family! Bears are awesome to see, but scary when you see them up that close and personal!

G G
06-17-2010, 10:15 PM
Just hope he wasn't a Christian Bear. Jerry Clower joke.

Cyclone
06-18-2010, 01:03 AM
That was a first for me, too.

I've had the same thing happen the other way around a couple of times in the past as well...

Basically, the video showed a smaller black bear entering a Subway in Kitimat at night... Security video caught the bear entering through the front door, up on the counter, and then leaving again through the front door... The woman that was working at the time took off like a lightning bolt. :D

Cyclone
06-18-2010, 01:06 AM
That sign is freaking awesome! :tu

Hah! My parents live about 10 miles away from Fort Steele and that sign... Tons of bears in that part of the country...

mmblz
06-18-2010, 05:12 AM
wow that must have been scary!

we had one wander across our lawn a couple weeks ago - probably 50 feet from our door - but we were inside at the time. makes me worry about letting my 2 year old daughter play outside alone though even if I am watching through the window!

gvarsity
06-20-2010, 11:07 PM
Great pics and good story. Generally no cubs no problem. I definitely wouldn't want to get much closer. I have had numerous close in encounters with Black Bears in northern Minnesota over the years. As long as you don't have food on your person they really have no interest in people. Not to minimize the fact they are dangerous animals it is just that generally their only interest is food and otherwise they are typically only aggressive if they have cubs.

massphatness
06-21-2010, 04:30 AM
wow kirk -- I missed this when you first posted, I can't even imagine what it must have felt like to be that close. Glad all turned out well.

RevSmoke
06-21-2010, 08:22 AM
Close call, that is a scary thing.

Blueface
06-21-2010, 08:24 AM
Yikes!