Let the bear know you’re there, biologist says
Just because youâve never encountered a bear in the woods before while out on a hunt, that doesnât mean it wonât ever happen.
In fact, according to Maria Davidson, the large carnivore program manager for the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, the odds are that more hunters will eventually cross paths with black bears as their population increases.
âWhat weâre seeing now is range expansion occurring in a fair number of parishes in the state,â Davidson said. âPeople are hunting around bears for the first time âpossibly in their lives. And whenever that occurs, generally the feeling that I hear form the hunters is that theyâre afraid. Theyâre genuinely afraid for their lives, for the lives of their children or whoever is out on their hunting lease.
âBut just like everything else, situational awareness and taking some time to learn a little bit about bears goes a long way in making their experience less fearful.â
The problem for most hunters â especially those who have never hunted around bears before â is lack of familiarity with the animalsâ behavior.
âWe all know that if a dog approaches me on the street with his hackles up while heâs growling, then he doesnât like me,â she said. âBut if he walks up with his tail wagging and heâs panting, then he likes me. We intuitively know that.
âBut we donât read bear behavior the same way because we havenât learned it.â
Davidson has spoken with countless hunters who have experienced bear encounters, and watched videos captured by hunters as bears approach their deer stands. One key to remember is just how amazing a bearâs sense of smell really is, she said.
âItâs important for people to understand that first and foremost, bears are opportunistic. And what makes them successful is curiosity driven by an incredible sense of smell,â Davidson said. âSo a bear is going to investigate any and everything in its surroundings with its nose. Itâs just what they do.
âSo when a hunter in a stand watches a bear approach, their assumption is the bear is tracking them to attack them, when in reality the bear is just tracking this foreign smell in his environment. Donât confuse curiosity with aggression.â
To stay safe in the woods this season, Davidson shared three key tips for hunters:
â˘Let the bear know youâre there.
Hunters who let bears get a little too close for comfort often silently watch as the bear steadily approaches.
âWhat I think happens is the hunter is so afraid they donât say anything, and one minute rolls into two and then into five, and theyâve allowed the bear to get halfway up their ladder stand without saying anything,â she said. âEven though bears have a great sense of smell, if youâre downwind of them, they may not know youâre there. Remember, they donât see very well, so if youâre in a leaning camo stand in full camouflage, youâre probably camouflaged to the bear.
âSo you have to allow him to see you. Typically, you need to stand up, wave your arms and let him know youâre there. Use a strong, firm voice and say, âHey bear, get out of here.â If you give the bear the opportunity to know youâre there, that curiosity can be solved.â
⢠Carry bear spray if youâre really concerned about a potential bear encounter.
âIf people know theyâre in an area with bears and theyâre anxious about it and they havenât been around them enough to interpret their behavior, or if theyâre with kids, bear spray is pretty cheap insurance,â she said. âYou can buy it over the Internet and many stores carry it now. It allows these people that have these fears and nervousness to breathe a sigh of relief.
âBecause you know that no matter what else happens, you can stop that bear from getting any closer to you.â
The spray is effective because of the high amount of pepper spray it contains, she said.
âItâs not like wasp spray â thatâs a direct stream. This is a fog, and itâs got so much capsaicin in it that it can absolutely dissuade a charging grizzly bear,â she said. âItâs just a good thing for people that are nervous. What weâre hoping to prevent is people shooting bears because they didnât know what else to do because they were afraid.â
⢠Sit back and enjoy the experience.
âThe most important thing to understand is seeing a bear while youâre hunting does not automatically mean the bear is going to cause you harm â 99.9 percent of bear encounters are just completely benign,â Davidson said. âIf the bear is just ambling through the woods and you have the great experience of watching a bear, just sit there and enjoy it.â
And if youâre watching from your deer stand, remember that a bear heading for you while tracking your scent doesnât necessarily mean you harm.
âBlack bears would generally prefer to run away from a situation â thatâs their first line of defense. They would rather run away than attack something,â Davidson said. âBut I think thatâs why people donât say anything. Theyâre afraid if they let the bear know theyâre there, then the bear is going to come up and attack them.
âBut the opposite is more likely to be true â the bear will either ignore them, or just go the other way. But at least then everybody in that situation knows whatâs going on.â