Smith's Bear Story

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Author: Jane Baker

Smith's Bear Story
Copyright © 2007-2008 Jane Baker

This happened to a friend of mine about five or six years ago northwest of Prince George in British Columbia. Smith has been a woodsman, guide and outfitter all his life. He and his wife live in one of the most bear infested regions in western Canada so they're both accustomed to both black bears and grizzlies. His guiding area is a few hundred miles from his home so he goes into the area in summer to cut new trails, scout new areas and check on the movement of wildlife. In fall he takes his pack horses and assistant guides into the area and stays for several months with clients coming in to hunt for goat, caribou, deer, moose and bear. Smith is a great big bear of a man, tough and fearless but I still remember how his voice shook when he told me this story.

He had gone out to check on an area one day and took his rifle with him. He had been walking for some time when the hair started to go up on the back of his neck and he began to feel as though something was watching him. He continued on, cautiously, quietly, and listening carefully. Every once in a while he would hear the faint snap of a twig behind him and a feeling of dread just got worse as he walked through the deep woods. He didn't dare start circling toward home because chances were very good that he would meet whatever was behind him trying to circle to get ahead of him. He finally came to a large clearing of natural meadow grass and walked into the middle of it where he stood listening. Again he heard the odd twig snap. That indicated that it was still behind him and hadn't circled around him yet. He sprinted to the other side of the meadow, put a large tree to his back, and waited.

Finally, a huge brown bear stepped into view at the edge of the clearing, nose down on Smith's trail, then followed his tracks out into the meadow. There it stopped and looked up, straight at him. Smith hoped there was a possibility that this bear was just curious and had never seen or smelled a human before. So he yelled at it, making himself as large as possible waving his arms and smacking the tree behind him, all actions that would normally cause a bear to run like heck the other way. The bear just kept coming.

My realistic, down to earth friend said those two small pig eyes just stared at him the whole time it moved toward him and the whole animal just reeked of malevolence. He brought up the rifle and fired in front of the bear, spraying dirt into its face, hoping the boom of the rifle would surely scare the bear. It stopped, looked at him, then charged. He had no choice but to fire as many shots as he could into the animal before it reached him. It nearly did before it died.

He butchered the bear because he wanted to know what would have caused an animal in such fine condition to act like this. He's had lots of experience with opening up animals over the years and said he could not find a single thing to indicate the animal was diseased or injured and that its stomach was full. But the stomach contents indicated the bear was a meat eater. It looked like it considered my friend to be lunch.

Everything about the bear indicated a classic predator bear. It was stalking its meal and had no fear of humans. It was unknown whether the animal was familiar with people or not and Smith was never able to reach a conclusion on that point.

The next article tells of one of my own experiences with a bear. Although not nearly as frightening as Smith's experience, it does give you an idea as to why you should be following your instincts when entering bear country.

About The Author:
Jane Baker writes daily articles about the remote Chilcotin area in west central British Columbia, Canada. Surrounded by numerous glacial mountain ranges, alpine lakes teeming with wild Rainbow Trout, and full of wildlife, living here goes from no running water or electricity to spacious log homes with all the conveniences and without the smog! To learn more about vacationing here check out http://www.resortsbc.com/index.html.

All five bear attack articles with images can be found at http://www.resortsbc.com/Wilderness-AdventuresSep3.html

Read More Articles from Jane Baker:
Jane Baker's Articles on Resorts BC
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