It's Saturday....The He!! with politics, I found a couple of Bears! ;D
(http://photos.oldva.org/albums/userpics/bearjpegsmall.jpg)
Peter, how far away from them were you? My husband wants to know! How close is too close to those cute and cuddly things anyway? ;D
HT, I was about 50 yards when I took that picture and as close as 20 at one point. The camera sound didn't spook them for some reason and I filled an 8gig card with pictures.
How close???????A Black Bear can close 50 yards in the time it takes you to blink your eyes three times. Will they? Not often, mostly they run away. I was in a full Ghillie suit, smelled like Vanilla Extract (I'll get to that in a minute) and sat for two hours waiting. I also had a very large handgun that I am very good with.
As a rule, you are much more likely to be bitten by a feral dog in the woods than a bear. The big danger with bears is when people feed them and they get used to humans. The next biggest reason for bear attacks is you smell like food. If you cook, especially Bar B Q, take a shower and change before going to look at the bears. If they let you look at them, stay a very long way away.
Here's a picture I took before the second one showed up. BTW 2 bears are ten times more dangerous than 1.
(http://photos.oldva.org/albums/userpics/bear2smalljpeg_copy.jpg)
Nice bears peter. So much more exciting than a game camera! ;D
Black's nearly always run. The ones I distrust most are the "campground" bears.
We baked sweet potatoes in our campfire one time and forgot and missed one when we dug them out of the coals to eat them. Later in the night I heard something messing around the tent. Big black bear came and had sweet potato for dessert. He was close enough to touch. Never overlooked any food that might attract them since then.
Just finished this one in Photoshop
(http://photos.oldva.org/albums/userpics/bear3_11x16_smalljpeg.jpg)
Don, I'm going to put the game cameras out again next week. I just got two new SG550's ;)
Hey Peter, you been drinking the vanilla extract again? hmm
Neat pics. We've got a seasonal ice cream shop about 15 minutes away that feeds the bears behind their little building... During the summer they often have many bears wandering to and fro while tourists take pictures and sometimes even try stupid things like setting a 2-year-old on the back of one. :o
When I first read this, I thought it said "Forget Obama, I found a couple of beers today."
Which is often my answer to solace in the face of this mess.
[cool]
Awesome pictures!
I'm intrigued by the vanilla extract - what's the story?
Quote from: Ernest T. Bass on March 21, 2009, 10:30:54 PM
Neat pics. We've got a seasonal ice cream shop about 15 minutes away that feeds the bears behind their little building... During the summer they often have many bears wandering to and fro while tourists take pictures and sometimes even try stupid things like setting a 2-year-old on the back of one. :o
I completely understand why in the Bible humans are often compared to sheep... not the smartest critters!
Quote from: Alasdair on March 23, 2009, 10:14:43 AM
Awesome pictures!
I'm intrigued by the vanilla extract - what's the story?
We have a very short Bear season (Archery) and can't bait. I came up with a completely legal and very questionable way to hunt them in such a short time. It's called "Be the Bait" ;D
I spray Vanilla Extract all over my Ghillie suit and a drag rag, then I walk around for a few hours, dragging that rag. Then I get in my stand, watching my back trail.
This is one following my trail last season.
(https://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa57/peternap/mikes%20bears/van1.jpg)
Wow! :o
I didn't know bears liked vanilla so much!
I'd have thought honey or bovril would be more appealing! :D
I also just googled Ghillie suit - it wasn't quite what I expected either - The ghilles back home wear tweeds!
Learnt two things! :)
Al
Great pictures & interesting story!