One avid Hiking Lady reader recently asked me for some advice to overcome her fear of encountering a bear on the trail.
In my years of hiking, I have only seen a bear once, and it was at least 100 feet away (with a crowd of people in between the bear in me)! I was in Yellowstone National Park, which has a very large bear population. One other time there was a bear at a popular campsite where I was staying – other people started yelling at it (that’s the best thing to do to scare them away), and it quickly left, so I didn’t see it.
Here are my tips and suggestions to help overcome a fear of bears.
Have you encountered bears while hiking? What did you do to scare it off?
I live in the Rocky Mountains in BC. We have a fairly large Grizzly population. I am terrified of them. I used to be fearless but one time i had a scare. The biggest grizzly i had ever seen was 15 feet away from me, walking towards me sniffing the air. I was paralized with fear. Luckily a car interrupted us and we both ran at the same moment. I ran into the house of a woman who screamed for me to “run!!”. I am SO terrified of bears now, i have nightmares. I used to love to hike and camp now i cant enjoy it. Sucks!
Thanks for the comment, Tracy! Most people are more likely to encounter mountain lions than bears, and I agree that mountain lions are far scarier than black bears.
I lived in Colorado for years and ran into bears several times on the trails. It was never really a close call since they are truly more afraid of you. It is the mountain lions that freaked me out. Several times camping in the SW corner I woke up with fresh prints around my tent.
Excellent and insightful tips, Andra! Thanks for sharing your experience and advice about using an air horn and bear spray rather than bear bells.
What your Hiking Lady Reader, Teresa is fearful of, is exactly what happened to us last Saturday. We rounded a corner only to hear two fellows in front of us tell us there was a bear to our right, only 25 feet away. I posted a write up on my blog. As it turns out, this was a grizzly sow about 4 years old who had been orphaned. It wasn’t tagged or collared and this was the first time it was ever sighted. I was with 7 others and we quickly got close together so we looked big, we talked loudly in deep voices, got the bear spray aimed and ready then blew the air horn. It was the sound of the air horn that finally scared her off. When the air horn goes off, it is also a signal to other hikers in the vicinity that a bear is close by and be on guard.
What we did is what we have been taught to do by conservation officers and rangers. They tell us not to use bear bells as the sound is not loud enough and also the sound gets muffled by trees and bushes. We actually call bear bells “dinner bells”.
We have been told there is safety in numbers, so during bear season tend not hike with less than four people. Although, I have been guilty of going many times with just two. Another thing we do to announce ourselves is to bang rocks together. A ranger explained it this way – when you go into the mountains you are going into the bears’ territory and home. When you go to someone’s home you never just walk right in but you announce yourself by ringing the bell or knocking on the door. So announce yourself when you go into the bears’ home. Makes sense to me!
Grizzly bears and black bears are in abundance in the Rocky Mountains of western Canada.
I have seen only one black bear in the Great Smoky Mountains and have come across maybe 3-4 grizzly bears in Yellowstone / Grand Tetons. And like you, there were dozens of people between me and the bear snapping photos and video. Running into a bear alone in the wilderness would probably be a scary situation but like most animals I think they’ll leave you alone for the most part and go along with their business.
Very interesting story, David! Thanks for sharing. Do you find that regular bells work fine, or do you use a specific “bear bell”?
I have had numerous encounters with bears. My most dramatic was in the Ventura backcountry where I was doing a very remote solo hike to Cobblestone Peak. It was late afternoon and a large black bear came out of the brush at the saddle below where I was heading. It was an odd moment since I saw him and he didn’t see me. He was a beauty and took some time to notice me as I stood frozen maybe 20 yards away. He finally turned realized I was there and ran off like a shot down the other side of the ridge. He was much more scared then I was, I felt no fear but admiration for the beast.
My experience is that the more dangerous bear is the one more habituated to people. They feel comfortable around people and potentially can turn dangerous. Most articles of maulings are at populated campsites or at cities such as Aspen where bears are a constant problem.
As far as hiking especially in grizzly country, bells are a common method to try and tell the bear you’re coming. Most attacks in grizz country appear to be sows with their young and a perceived threat from the human. Surprise is never good so let them know you’re coming so they can get out of the way.
Thanks for sharing your bear stories, Robin! It is very true that bears generally don’t bother people unless they are antagonized. The grizzlies tend to be more aggressive , but they are so few left in the continental U.S. Key is to always just hike smart and be prepared 🙂
Out here on the east coast (new jersey) we have literally thousands of black bears. Most of them seem to be on my suburban street! My 8 year old son wears an air horn on his belt when he goes out to ride his bike – it give him confidence but I’m not sure it works on bears. Last fall I was on a solo backpacking trip from the Del water gap (PA) to NY state on the AT through NJ bear country. I had close encounters with 2 large black bears, the 1st on was about 15 feet away to I tried the air horn – the bear seened be curious and actually came CLOSER, then shortly got board with me and walked away. The 2nd encounter the bear was 10 feet or so off the trail ahead of me, didn’t move when I was making noise to I slowly continued my walk. The bear walked along with me for a short distance the took off.
These bears didn’t scare me – not because i’m brave – but I just didn’t get any feeling of danger from them. It’s the same with the bears on my street. If you don’t bother them they don’t bother you.
Robin
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