Thread: Grizzly bears in Ontario???

I went on a Caribou hunt in Quebec a number of years ago.. That some of you might remember when they had Caribou Hunting in Quebec... We were flying in a non turbo prop Otter so had ear protection on and most of us were zoned out from ear muffs on and flying for a few hrs.. The pilot starting pointing down and there were a number of Polars
. Think.we were in.Hudsons Bay.. Only time ive seen Polars and it pretty cool..

Originally Posted by TCMichigander

We Flew out of Nakina a number of times and two times guys were taking their dogs to you in Thunder Bay because they got chewed up pretty bad.. I imagine that dogs getting chumped by the bears is pretty frequent?

I don't know. I'd say anyone including dogs, that corner a black bear are likely to be attacked. Most black bears if left an escape route will leave the area when given a choice.

Then there are people who want to have photos or video of them feeding a black bear and this did happen. The bear got a little owly when the food was gone and attacked that person. People at times do really dumb things.

Bob

Originally Posted by TCMichigander

I went on a Caribou hunt in Quebec a number of years ago.. That some of you might remember when they had Caribou Hunting in Quebec... We were flying in a non turbo prop Otter so had ear protection on and most of us were zoned out from ear muffs on and flying for a few hrs.. The pilot starting pointing down and there were a number of Polars
. Think.we were in.Hudsons Bay.. Only time ive seen Polars and it pretty cool..

Yes, the northern border of Ontario is Hudson Bay and you will see Polar Bear there. I think there is a very limited Polar Bear hunt also. Churchill Manitoba used to be known as the Polar Bear capital. There is a whole tourist industry that gets people out to see the bears. Good possibility of seeing the Northern lights there too.

Bob

Originally Posted by BobH

No, bear spray is not illegal here as you can buy it in the stores as far as I know. What is illegal here is if you use it on humans not bears. That may then put it into the prohibited weapons class. It is Mace that you can't import or make in Canada and is considered a prohibited weapon regardless of whom you might use it on. All these sprays have the same basic ingredient but in varying percentages. It also depends on how the border people interpret things or had a bad night.

Never worried too much about black bears and attacks on humans are rare and fatalities extremely rare. Griz and Polar Bear are a whole other story.

Bob

People underestimate black bears. They can be very temperamental and some will attack a person sooner than a grizzly will. Even in these parts where our black bears are little fellas with the males being around 200 pounds they are just so powerful a human has no chance if attacked.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

People underestimate black bears. They can be very temperamental and some will attack a person sooner than a grizzly will. Even in these parts where our black bears are little fellas with the males being around 200 pounds they are just so powerful a human has no chance if attacked.

No, I don't underestimate black bears but respect them. I try not to startle them, leave them an escape route which is not over me, never to come between a sow and her cubs and never crowd their space when photographing them. They just don't seem to have nearly the same mentality as a griz or polar bear.

Yes, any aggravated black bear is more than a physical match for a human. Then again lots of things are in the bush especially if you don't use common sense or are just plain unlucky.

Bob

Just a little entertainment;

I have an electric bear fence set up around my bees.

I have found the wires loose a few times and damaged once pretty bad.

I have no camera so I don't know if it has been bears,raccoons or skunks,etc.

But I hope it keeps working!

Seems the most predictable thing about Bears is how unpredictable they are.. We havent had much more than Bear in garage/too close to populated areas/ trash cans, etc.... Unless you count a former Darwin Award winning gentleman logger who came into the ER with a nasty arm and hand from just below his elbow to his fingers.. How would he know that for the last couple weeks while eating lunch he was luring in a Black with his sandwich from lunch... The result of him finally.getting the Bear to eat from his hand was the Bear apparently said anything besides Bologna!! Gentleman stated the Bear was wrong because he swears the Bear said "Ill take bologna!'.. I told the guy I didnt feel comfortable siding with him wothout hearing what the Bear has to say.. True storyo

When hiking no in bear territory be sure to take slower people hiking with you, you don’t need to outrun the bear, just the other hikers.

We have the largest subspecies of black bear here. We have zero recorded instances of bears injuring people. I did however loose a deer to a large black bear. It was a rare long shot and by the time I drove around and got to the spot, so had the bear. I just let him have the deer. There are a lot here most years.

Bear should always be givin free reign in any instance of a shot animal that it has gotten to before you... Amazing how many hunters wont adhere
to that though