I have decided to write this article as my son Joshua and one of his friends have had close encounters with bears recently. I also have had encounters with bears but the bears have always been a fair distance away. My son who last weekend was hiking down a short trail that leads to a lake encountered the small black bear pictured in this article. My son paused and took these photos when the black bear was still some 
distance away. The bear then got down from the stump it was standing on and started towards Joshua. At first Joshua stood still to see what the bear’s intentions were. When the bear kept coming in his direction Joshua started jumping up and down waving his arms and yelling “GO BEAR GO BEAR” and the bear obliged and ran off into the woods. My son’s friend was charged by a large 300 pound black bear on the upper Chilliwack River, (Near Vancouver, BC) knocked down and his roe bag pulled from his fishing vest before the bear high tailed it into the woods.
According to the statistics that I found, from the year 2000 until now (2011) 14 people have been killed by brown bears (grizzlies, brown, Kodiak) and 17 people have been killed by black bears, including a 5 month old infant that was taken from her stroller in Fallsburg, New York. These are the statistics for fatalities, many more bear attacks happen every year but the people survive. Fishermen account for many of these attacks both fatal and non fatal. Fishermen are often in bear territory and need to know the basic rules on how to avoid confrontation with bears.
distance away. The bear then got down from the stump it was standing on and started towards Joshua. At first Joshua stood still to see what the bear’s intentions were. When the bear kept coming in his direction Joshua started jumping up and down waving his arms and yelling “GO BEAR GO BEAR” and the bear obliged and ran off into the woods. My son’s friend was charged by a large 300 pound black bear on the upper Chilliwack River, (Near Vancouver, BC) knocked down and his roe bag pulled from his fishing vest before the bear high tailed it into the woods.According to the statistics that I found, from the year 2000 until now (2011) 14 people have been killed by brown bears (grizzlies, brown, Kodiak) and 17 people have been killed by black bears, including a 5 month old infant that was taken from her stroller in Fallsburg, New York. These are the statistics for fatalities, many more bear attacks happen every year but the people survive. Fishermen account for many of these attacks both fatal and non fatal. Fishermen are often in bear territory and need to know the basic rules on how to avoid confrontation with bears.
To read the complete article on bear safety for fishermen with itemized points
click here http://www.justsportfishing.com/Bear-Safety.html
click here http://www.justsportfishing.com/Bear-Safety.html
Ralph Martens
