Any you guys have worry about Bears or big cats while fishing?
are you ready for em as you fish?
I don’t. They will avoid you if they can 99.9% of the time. If one wants your fish, I do recommend letting him have it.
Darn bears are too quick. By the time I get the camera out they are gone. As for cougars there is only one verified cougar in the state and it’s in the U.P. There are a lot of unconfirmed sightings around Le Roy but it’s all glimpses of “something” that “must be the cougar.”
i think he is more refering to taking care of the beasts if they bother you, in which case i suggest a conceiled carry permit and a judge taurus 3" revolver. u can load it with .45 colt, or .410 shotgun shells. either would be a wonderful detterent if the occasion arose.
if i mistook ur intent of the thread i appologize jeffro
my two cents
jordan
No Sir dryfly2010…thats what I was wondering about…I had an encounter with a Black Panter at Texoma spillway one time at 3:00am in a heavy fog and he rattled my cage believe me…the only person crazy enough to be out there was me but I was stickin Striper every cast till he walked up on me.
He couldn’t see me cuz I was standin up ontop of of a large rock about five foot tall and was on the oklahoma side of red river and as I climbed down to land a striper there he was, 7 feet long and about 125 pounds of Black kitty cat was slithering away.
I had no clue on what ta do…so the gentleman I was,
I stood my ground and kept on fishin for another 4 or five fish and got to thinkin how I was gonna ge tto my tackle box without gettin malled…but he took his self on home without incident…shook me up perty much.
My reason for this post was to make everyone aware of these kind of encounters …cuz its sompthin we need to take under consideration at all times…
i am a nighttime fisherman and have many times been alone out in the middle of nowhere-with no phone and now that i have aged,I feel perty lucky…
My total encounters with big cats is 3 …i was lucky each time and very un-prepared all 3 times…No bears yet…knock on wood
A can of wasp spray, that is quite accurate out to at least 20 feet, should work better than the the ‘Bear’ spray with it’s limited range. I have heard that many guides in grizzly country are now recommending it ove bear spray, for this very reason. Remember, this is ‘hearsay’. Having used wasp spray for wasps for 40 years, I can attest to it’s range and efficacy on wasps and definitely irritate a bear’s eyes beyond belief.
aged sage
Marlin 45-70 with modern loads. It handles fast, points good and with 300fps less than a 458 magnum Mr. bear aint gonna know what the difference between them. Thank god I don’t fish in Big Bear Country it would be just one more thing that I’d have to carry with me. Slung over my back muzzle down. Cougar Country S&W 686 357 mag. Can you say Hello kitty good bye? Sure I knew you could.
In CA, don’t need the concealed carry when fishing. Can carry in the open.
I am much more concerned about 2 legged predators than anything. I was only ever concerned about four-legged critters when I lived in interior Alaska. I carried a big-*** stainless 44 Mag revolver. After a while, 2 things got me to wondering what the use was of carrying that big anchor around with me.
- every time I actually SAW a bear, I was able to stay far enough away from it so there was no issue. Typical streams are very brushy right up to the water and by the time you knew about an attack, it would be pretty much too late to draw and do anything about it. Probably.
- went grayling fishing with a buddy, and all he carried was a light little 22 pistol. I asked what good that was for bears, and he said “A lot. If a bear charges, I shoot you in the leg, and I’m safe!”
I live in So. Oregon… fish mostly here and in N. CA. Lots of bear all around, mostly smaller blacks. Plenty Cougar as well, but they’re seldom seen. I get out to pretty remote country several times a year. Have had bear encounters, and cougar sightings, a couple of them close - up. I carry a .357 most of the time, but I believe diligence, and paying attention are your best defense for both. However, face to face, either of them look big, and usually make a fella nervous, if not actually scared. Trouble from other predators, of the two - legged variety, are more of a concern, especially when out in the true remote areas. Again, pay attention and be diligent. Don’t act or make yourself look, like a victim. Whether two or four legged, predators aren’t looking for a fight, they prefer easy pickins…ModocDan
That sounds like it would really pi** a bear off. Having done that (made a bear really mad at me) and being very lucky to have survived, I generally try to avoid pi**ing bears off these days. I have fished with bears less than a hundred yards away. We watched each other very closely. It was usually the bear that got nervous and left. I have also walked into a spot and on the way back out seen big cat tracks over my tracks coming in, but never saw the cat. THAT was spooky.
I still do not carry a weapon. Instead, I try very hard to be aware of my surroundings. I watch for marked trees and scat and let discretion be the better part of valor.
Now that I have my CCW permit I always carry when doing anything outdoors. I’d rather be prepared for the worst than wishing I’d brought it with me. There have been a few black bear sightings around Ohio lately, but not enough to concern me much while out fishing. Like other’s I’m much more concerned about human threats than animals but it doesn’t hurt to be prepared either way. If I lived in bear/cat country I’d opt for something with a little more stopping power but for my current location there isn’t much I’ll encounter that 11 rounds of .40 S&W won’t deter. Avoiding confrontation with animals or people is always the best approach but sometimes it can’t be helped and I’d rather be safe than sorry. There was a short story in the latest Field and Stream about a 15 y/o who was hunting elk with his father, they split up, and a mountain lion approached him. He shot it when it got within 15 yards and the wildlife officials deemed it a justified shooting since big cats don’t generally show themselves unless they are hungry. The possibility is always there that a predatory animal will come after you, so always be aware of your surroundings.
I read that F&S artical too. That is one brave young man, I’m a city boy, hunting rabbits with my Dad on great uncle’s farm was my sole experience with widlife. No comfirmed big cats or bears or wolves in Ks for at least 100 yrs. Well, just one, a radio tagged cat went through North to south and is in the Dakotas now. The only thing we have to watch is snakes.
We have alot of black bear around here, so much so that it is not uncommon to here of a vehicle hitting one on the road, I have incountered a few in the years I’v been here, and always do the same, Leave Them Alone! True, the ones around here are used to seeing and hereing some people because of Skyline Drive and the tourist it atrracks. But they are still very wild animals. They have grown in population because of the safety of the Drive, but not all of them live just in that area. I don’t go messing with them the same as I don’t mess with the rattlers when I see them iether…
It’s not the four legged ones that I worry about , it’s the 2 legged knuckle dragging ones that shouldn’t be back in the middle of n o where as they only doing illicit activity. That’s my point of view.