Telemark Talk / Telemark Tips Forum

I just saw that there were some earlier questions on another, unrelated thread on bears, so I thought I'd respond to them here, on a new thread....

STG wrote:I am interested in wildlife biology. What's the grizzly population in the Yukon? I live in Montana (Yellowstone ecosystem)--estimated grizz population around 700. Recently the USFW proposed delisting them.

Bears are hard to count, especially over large areas like states, provinces or territories. An old grizzly bear estimate for the Yukon is 6000-7000; however, there is much uncertainty with those numbers. Suffice to say, both black bears and grizzly bears are quite common, with some areas having higher densities and not so many in others. Polar bears only found occasionally in the extreme north.

STG wrote:Do you ever carry bear spray? I had my canister with me the last time I skied YNP (Big Horn area)--prime grizzly habitat. I didn't see any tracks but the ones I saw last year were massive! Scared the hell of me! Lowangle al's experience with a grizz was similar to one I had with a mountain lion.

Personally, I rarely carry bear spray while skiing (or mountain biking), but I probably should. I certainly carry it while hiking or fishing on salmon streams.... Like you it depends in part if I'm in a "prime" spot for grizzly bears. If so, they are on my radar and I bring bear spray - if not, I likely don't think too much about it. I never carry a gun for bear protection - I'm Canadian

STG wrote:The bc skiing in your area must be a true wilderness experience? That's my image of the Yukon, but I might wrong?

It can be, for sure. But, honestly, almost all of my skiing is within 15 km or so from human infrastructure (i.e., human residences, a highway, etc.), like anywhere else. So, it depends on your definition of true wilderness. But true wilderness is never far away in the Yukon and, with a little effort, you can get truly lost and lonely if you want to.

lowangle al wrote:Tom, that close encounter I had with the griz was while paddling. After the experience I got some bear spray and also carried a shot gun. I never took the spray skiing but if I felt I may encounter a bear I would take it. Most of my spring skiing is above treeline where it would be unlikely to surprise a bear.

An encounter like that would be life-altering, Al...

I've had many close encounters with grizzly/brown bears, mostly while fishing, and none have been what I would call "concerning"; however, I fully acknowledge the possibility of something going sideways anytime and am fully on guard. I'm a believer of the thought that learning, observing, and appropriately responding to bear behaviour will keep you safe 99% of the time, so I've put in my time reading about bears and watching them go about their business, as well as being prepared with bear spray...

The best book on learning more about bear encounters is by retired University of Calgary professor, Stephan Herrero - http://www.amazon.com/Bear-Attacks-Caus ... 158574557X. Some of the other books out there are sensational junk and the authors don't know much about bears - Herrero is the real deal on bear behaviour and attacks.

I carry bear spray when I think there is a good chance of bumping into a bear - which is most of the time outside of winter. As per the above thread, I never carry a gun for bear protection - I'm too lazy to be bothered...

Al, you probably don't want to know this, but there is a real chance of encountering a grizzly bear above treeline in spring. They may be emerging from their den, which is often above treeline, or checking out avalanche slopes for spring food (early plants or dead animals caught in the avalanche). Bear spray in the spring above treeline is a good precaution. On the positive, they are not - generally - as aggressive in the spring as they can be in the fall.

Thanx for the reminder. I need to re-supply.
Found some on sale.
http://www.defensedevices.com/frontiers ... medium=ppc

Probably shouldn't have to say this, but be careful with that shit.
Funny story...

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While camping at Diamond Peak, there was an incident.

I was attempting to show how to get the trigger lock off the bear spray.

When suddenly, the thing went off. RIGHT IN MY EYE!!!
Took a direct hit in my right eye. I stood there for a second, thinking to myself, “Well, this is going to suck…”.
And it did.
My left eye was ok -at first, but within 5-7 seconds, the pepper started to work it’s magic.
My right eye was rendered useless almost instantly. I looked around with my left eye, but then, within a few seconds, it too started stinging. REALLY BAD!

I couldn’t see anything. The burning was unbearable.
While my buddy, snowblasta read the back of the canister, I struggled to find my way back to the Jeep.
“WHERE’S THE WATER?!!!”
“HURRY UP!”
We had one of these –


in the Jeep. The directions on the can of pepper spray says to flush the eyes with running water for 20-30 minutes.
So snowblasta holds the jug of water up while I stand there waiting for the pain to go away. The pain only increased.
I was afraid snowblasta would get tired and leave me for even a second without water.
I couldn’t see shit.
So I had him set the jug of water on the back bumper while I lay on the snow and let the water run over my eyes. I’m starting to get frantic. I knew that being almost an hour drive from Oakridge – that a 911 call would be useless. And we both knew that the pepper spray was non-lethal and would dissipate soon.
But the pain was incredible! I demanded that snowblasta call 911 to see if there was anything we were forgetting – as far as a remedy was concerned.
Both 911 and Poison Control sounded apologetic and condescending. At that point, we knew that it was only a matter of time before the pain would subside.
While on the phone with them,

-I should point out, that a 911 call worked on the cell phone without any reception-

they mentioned the possibility of hypothermia. Snowblasta had mentioned to them that we were out in the middle of nowhere, camping. They didn’t understand that we had a heat source available. But sure enough, within 10 minutes of lying on the snow with water running all over my face, hands, down jacket, base layers, etc., I started to shiver.
I had snowblasta get my sleeping pad from my tent. Then a blanket from the Jeep. We had a ton of hand warmers. I stuffed them down my shirt. But the shivers and the hypothermia got worse. I couldn’t control the shaking.
Time to get in the Jeep.
I could only leave the running water for about 10 seconds before the pain became unbearable. I ran to the driver side and hopped in. Started the engine and turned the heater on full blast.
Snowblasta held the jug of water above me. We had turned the spigot to only a drizzle to conserve water. I was having panic attacks of how I would survive without the running water.
But I knew that my buddy would not be able to hold the water still enough. My whole face was numb, so when the stream of water would leave my eye, I couldn’t tell where it went.
So I told him to bungee the damn thing to the roof rack.
This worked perfect!

With the heater cranking and the jug of water successfully tied above me, I still had trouble. My neck began to hurt. I couldn’t maintain keeping my eye under the stream of water.
I figured out real quick, that my right eye – the one that got the direct hit – needed the most water. The left eye was not too bad, so I was directing the stream of water into my right eye and letting it flow over the rim of my nose and into my left eye. This was beginning to become difficult. Especially with my whole face being numb and all. My neck was starting to cramp up from having to hold my head out the door in that certain position. Snowblasta came out and was able to help me maintain that certain position of my head to allow the water to flow over my eyes at the exact angle I needed to get relief.

After a while, I started to get warm. The Jeep’s heater was working well. Then a bit later, after a few attempts, I was able remove myself from the stream of water and the pain was gone.

I scrubbed my face with tons of handi-wipes. The stinging was still there, on my face. About an hour after the incident, we were laughing our asses off about it.

Good story. It happens. That stuff is not something you want to get hit with. Think about it - if it can stop a 300-900 lb brown bear dead in its tracks, it can sure mess you up too....

Don't know that bear spray brand, but I see that it has 2% active ingredient (capsaicin), which is what I look for. Some brands - particularly in Canada - top out at 1%. I buy my bear spray in Alaska, where 2% is the norm. I figure more is better to stop an angry bear....

Watch for the expiry date - they have a short shelf life, apparently... I usually carry an expired one that I've had for a while as a backup at the bottom of my pack (when I am around alot of bears fishing) and one that has not expired, which I keep accessible. When both are expired, I shoot the oldest one off in a mock scenario, just to keep current on using it, and relegate the recently expired one as the new backup.

I couldn't imagine that Jmaster thats some powerfull stuff. I test sprayed one while standing in my garage aiming it out the door and every time I walked past the spot I started to choke for the next two weeks

I was carrying this

at the time. Not sure of the strength.
Strong enough to stop me for 45 minutes!
I see LOTS of bear tracks when skiing the Mendocino National Forest every week.
And have seen a lot of bears while mt. biking the backcountry around here (Napa Valley).
Lots of wild boar around as well.

Another story:
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Last summer, I was exploring a forgotten, overgrown and unnamed road out in the middle of nowhere.
Broad daylight.
20 minutes on the bike from my house.

The road had turned into a wildlife highway. Great descent on a steep ridge.
I often hear leaves rustling. Typical squirrel or bird foraging, right?
This time, I stopped my descent down the ridge.
That's a lot of squirrels...

The rustling of leaves was traveling... from left to right.
What the Hull?

As I stood there, I saw several large animals. About the size of a large dog.
My heart jumped. Are those dogs? Hunters?
Wrong season.
Am I trespassing?

Then more of them. It was hard to see through the manzanita.
They were definitely on a mission. Heading across the trail to the right.
Then one of them crossed the trail a little closer.

HOLY SH!T! It's a wild boar! Male. Huge tusks.
He stopped and looked at me.
My heart froze. I was prepared to place the bike in front of me to block his charge.
I looked around for the nearest tree to climb.
I got nothing!
But the sounder of pigs were still traveling from left to right. More of them still crossing the trail.
The big male turned and continued on.
Must have been 15 - 20 of them.
Then one more male came of the the Toyon, Madrone and manzanita, closer to me.
He also stopped to stare me down...

Lucky for me, he carried on as well. Whatever mission they were on was more important than me.
I breathed a sigh of relief as the rustling of leaves quieted.
I stood there for a few more seconds waiting and listening.
Are there more of them?


Yup - sounds like someone else is coming.


But the rustling leaves stopped just short of the trail.
I stared into the brush to try and locate what I assumed was the trailing pig.
Then I saw it. I could see the ears.
Wait - those aren't pigs ears. Too round. Way too large.
That...that...that's a

BEAR!
The large, furry beast was standing there on all fours, just staring at me.
I didn't know what to do.
Should I make some noise and scare it away? Keep still and wait?
I realized my helmet cam was not on.
Damn!
The pigs would have been cool to capture on video.
The bear was still there.
Probably about 30 seconds - it felt like 10 minutes - still staring each other down.
I finally decided to move. My first choice was to turn on the helmet cam.
He wasn't leaving.
I decided to keep quiet. Then I got bored of staring at him, so I continued on down the ridge.
The bear followed me down the ridge, about 20 feet to my left for several minutes.
Then veered off and I was alone again.

This was my first time riding this trail. I named the steep, overgrown ridge road - which was more of a trail

Bearpig Ridge.

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Pic of a black bear in Long Canyon, north of Lake Berryessa.

Saw a huge bear out there another time. He also tracked me along for about 10 minutes.
Freaky!