Bear attack during Turkey Hunting

[Mateo]

Steelehead. Now to seriously answer your question. Although there maybe some options regarding hunting there are some things to consider. Being spring most animals will be in reproductive mode so becomes the ethical decision do you want to leave orphan critters behind. Ground hogs, pigeons, is some areas even rabbits would be legal game but all will have families so not my idea of a good time.

This is a great point. I wouldn't want to leave orphans by killing the grown game at all. I would only try to hunt game that doesn't have babies to take care of. I'm not entire sure on what that would be at this point in time but I'm trying to learn.

Thanks for bringing that up as it's a very good point.

[ihunt]

Thanks Trimmer,

My dad will be taking these courses as soon as he learns to speak the language in the nearest future. I can't wait for that time to happen. It looks like for now I might need to join other hunters who would be willing to take a new hunter out to learn the ropes.

Thank you

Mateo,
I know someone that took the turkey hunting course and could not read or wright but spoke OK English. They took him aside and tested him one on one. He passed. I'm not sure if your dad could do this with yourself as translator. Something to look in to. Would be nice to share with your father.

[ihunt]

I was walking out of the field edge I was turkey hunting and had a bear snooping around the drainage ditch near the truck. I was only about 70yrds from the truck and had already unloaded. After making sure it was a bear I was looking at I reloaded quickly and walked into the field and waited for 20 mins. After I gained the nerve to finish my walk out I got into the truck as quickly as I could and glad I didn't see that bear again. This was just north of the Shelburne area.

A friend of mine hunts in that area as well. This past season he and his hunting buddy saw a black bear while deer hunting. There was one spotted a couple of years ago just north of Shelburne. They ended up shooting it near a school in Burlington.

[Mateo]

Mateo,
I know someone that took the turkey hunting course and could not read or wright but spoke OK English. They took him aside and tested him one on one. He passed. I'm not sure if your dad could do this with yourself as translator. Something to look in to. Would be nice to share with your father.

Thank you iHunt,

I will definitely look into it as my dad can not wait to come out and participate as much as I do.

Thank you

[Mateo]

A friend of mine hunts in that area as well. This past season he and his hunting buddy saw a black bear while deer hunting. There was one spotted a couple of years ago just north of Shelburne. They ended up shooting it near a school in Burlington.

wow it's amazing that it was so close to a such a highly populated area. Canadian nature doesnt stop amazing me for one second

[dutchhunter]

You should get a buddy or two a tent some sleeping bags and spend a night or two in the woods. It us a ton of fun to listen to the woods come alive at night .so many amazing sounds and shadows ir can really get ones imagination going .better yet bring your littel honey out with you .girls really like to cuddly tight in the dark when the woods start to come alive ...once you get used to the sounds it is much easier to enjoy the outdoors .Dutch

[ihunt]

Mateo,
This is a great story. still amazes me. A friend of mine hunted bear this past year for the first time. All his friends that hunt were using the tree stands so they opted to set him up in a ground blind in a spot they thought would have bears walk en route to the stands. Well he was super pumped and did everything to the T. He was in camo, black, scent protector, washed his clothes in odorless detergent, stored them in scent free bags, brought his lunch in plastic air tight bags, did everything that could be possible to maximize his chances. Well, he was set up in his blind and sitting all morning. he had his gun down by his side, pockets full of knives, and suddenly in front of his blind, 2 cubs walk out into view. Before he could react, he says he had a side window that is meshed out, and it suddenly goes black. He realizes that mother bear was standing by his tent, so close that he could not see out of the side window! He was afraid to move. The tent moved and shook as it walked slowly to the front of his blind. He was terrified! Suddenly he thought, why the hell am I sitting in a ground blind on my first ever bear hunt? It happened so fast,he says and his heart was pounding out of his chest. Before he knew it the bear was directly in front of him, black fur was now poking in his blind front window as she snort and sniffed the air. He knew she could sense him but could not see him as he sat quiet. Afraid to move, and frightened the bear would attack with the gun still sitting on the ground by his side, knives in all of his pockets, he sat there defenseless and wondered if he had made a big mistake. Fur suddenly turned into a wet nose and a snout that shot into his front window, with in feet of his face. He said his only choice was to sit it out and not suddenly move and take a chance to expose his presence and suffer the unknown consequences. The bear sniffed and snorted with its head in the blind and it finally turned and walked out of site. He said it was the most amazing, fantastic and scary experience of his life. He told this story on a Monday morning to a group of tired eyed guys. We all sat there with our mouth wide opened in disbelief. My friend is an ex-military man and nerves of steel. He can't wait to go again this year, this time in a tree stand.

I think we all start off with fear of the unknown, it is exciting and rewarding. We all have stories of scary moments and you will to. Your basic survival instincts will always be there but your thoughts will turn from killer bears hunting you down in the woods to less drastic thoughts. You will enjoy some of the surprising and unexpected events that happen. Prepare for the worst, do what you must to feel comfortable-following the laws of course, don't panic and over react, and do something dangerous out of fear. Get out as much as you can before and during the hunt. Start off during the day and not walk in an hour before sunrise unless you are with an experienced person. Lots of turkeys are shot during the day and afternoon. Your biggest threats are other hunters, injuries, ticks and the odd coyote that will scare the crap out of you when you least expect it and pops up in front of you.

[mbhunter]

I've had three encounters over the years and only one could have gone south and that was because of my actions.

Encounter 1 - sow with three cubs popped out of the bush 150 yards from my set-up. I stood up and walked towards my decoys and they all bolted for the woods.

Encounter 2 - very personal. I was set-up in a fence line and could here something coming. It was a very dry spring and at first I thought it was someone on horseback. Imagine my surprise when a sow with twin cubs stops directly in front of me inside of 10 yards. They were upwind of me thankfully but that sow knew something was there. She stood up and looked around. I was actually reaching for my camera but thought better of that as I didn't want to betray my position and risk the encounter getting nasty. After a few seconds they headed off to a nearby bush. That sow ended up being a nuisance bear and was shot by a farmer a month or so later.

Third encounter. I was travelling between spots and spotted some black blobs in the back of a corn field I had permission to hunt. I parked the truck and made a big circle around popping out right at the field edge. Imagine my surprise when the black blobs I thought may be strutting toms were actually two cubs and mom wasn't in sight. That was unnerving. I backed out and vowed to always use my binoculars before I pulled a stunt like that again.

Mom wasn't in sight because she was hanging up in the farmer's barn! See Encounter #2!

[Mateo]

You should get a buddy or two a tent some sleeping bags and spend a night or two in the woods. It us a ton of fun to listen to the woods come alive at night .so many amazing sounds and shadows ir can really get ones imagination going .better yet bring your littel honey out with you .girls really like to cuddly tight in the dark when the woods start to come alive ...once you get used to the sounds it is much easier to enjoy the outdoors .Dutch

Spending a night in the woods like that is definitely on the to do list. Having a girlfriend there will definitely be a lot better lol

[Mateo]

Mateo,
This is a great story. still amazes me. A friend of mine hunted bear this past year for the first time. All his friends that hunt were using the tree stands so they opted to set him up in a ground blind in a spot they thought would have bears walk en route to the stands. Well he was super pumped and did everything to the T. He was in camo, black, scent protector, washed his clothes in odorless detergent, stored them in scent free bags, brought his lunch in plastic air tight bags, did everything that could be possible to maximize his chances. Well, he was set up in his blind and sitting all morning. he had his gun down by his side, pockets full of knives, and suddenly in front of his blind, 2 cubs walk out into view. Before he could react, he says he had a side window that is meshed out, and it suddenly goes black. He realizes that mother bear was standing by his tent, so close that he could not see out of the side window! He was afraid to move. The tent moved and shook as it walked slowly to the front of his blind. He was terrified! Suddenly he thought, why the hell am I sitting in a ground blind on my first ever bear hunt? It happened so fast,he says and his heart was pounding out of his chest. Before he knew it the bear was directly in front of him, black fur was now poking in his blind front window as she snort and sniffed the air. He knew she could sense him but could not see him as he sat quiet. Afraid to move, and frightened the bear would attack with the gun still sitting on the ground by his side, knives in all of his pockets, he sat there defenseless and wondered if he had made a big mistake. Fur suddenly turned into a wet nose and a snout that shot into his front window, with in feet of his face. He said his only choice was to sit it out and not suddenly move and take a chance to expose his presence and suffer the unknown consequences. The bear sniffed and snorted with its head in the blind and it finally turned and walked out of site. He said it was the most amazing, fantastic and scary experience of his life. He told this story on a Monday morning to a group of tired eyed guys. We all sat there with our mouth wide opened in disbelief. My friend is an ex-military man and nerves of steel. He can't wait to go again this year, this time in a tree stand.

I think we all start off with fear of the unknown, it is exciting and rewarding. We all have stories of scary moments and you will to. Your basic survival instincts will always be there but your thoughts will turn from killer bears hunting you down in the woods to less drastic thoughts. You will enjoy some of the surprising and unexpected events that happen. Prepare for the worst, do what you must to feel comfortable-following the laws of course, don't panic and over react, and do something dangerous out of fear. Get out as much as you can before and during the hunt. Start off during the day and not walk in an hour before sunrise unless you are with an experienced person. Lots of turkeys are shot during the day and afternoon. Your biggest threats are other hunters, injuries, ticks and the odd coyote that will scare the crap out of you when you least expect it and pops up in front of you.

Wow that really is an amazing story. Such experiences definitely put things into perspective. It's amazing how he was able to just sit there quietly and not move in order to avoid "surprising" the bear. Next time you see him please send him my regards lol

I completely agree that this will be extremely exciting and rewarding if I prepare and put my self there. I've undertaken some other things before that I was extremely scared of but was able to beat my fears and the results were amazing. I will definitely be ready for any situation should it arise and really try to keep my composure and not panic to the best of my abilities. Just like you said, for my first hunts, I will be going to the blinds probably when it's sunny outside already. I will use an outfitter or hopefully join an experienced hunter for my first Turkey hunts but after I will probably go to my spots after sunrise.

Ticks is definitely something I'm learning about now. I will definitely make sure to have proper apparel to prevent their bites. I've seen some people who really had their life affected by them simply because they wouldn't think it was a problem. I will make sure to not have any exposed skin and use odorless bug repellent at all times.

Thank you for the numerous advices iHunter.

I really appreciate the insight

Mateo