There are few animals you don't want to tangle with more than a bear. Every year, there are encounters and attacks across the country as backpackers, hunters, and hikers come into contact with wildlife. While some encounters lead to deaths, some people are much more fortunate. Here are 10 times people got up close and personal with a bear and lived to tell the tale.
10. Fearing For Your Life In A Tent
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One couple was horrified to wake up and find two grizzlies outside their tent while camping at Yellowstone. They wrote on Reddit, "My boyfriend and I were backcountry camping in Yellowstone this past week, and we woke up in the middle of the night to two grizzly bears huffing and very low growling right outside our tent. They were about 6-12 inches from our tent and circling. This lasted about 30 minutes." Fortunately, they lived to tell the tale, writing, "We both laid as still as possible clutching bear spray and fearing for our lives."
9. Almost Crashing Into Mama Bear And Her Cubs
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Wiping out while biking is rough enough, but imagine crashing into three hungry bears. One cyclist had a close call when encountering a mama bear and her two cubs. They explained, "Was riding through the Canmore Nordic Center and came out of the trees into the meadow. mama and two cubs five feet off the trail and twenty ft in front. No time to stop. Yells as loud as I could and they ram in three directions. One of the cubs just missed me. Rode as fast as possible to the trailhead on adrenaline. Called the wardens and they shut down the Nordic trails for a few days."
8. Survived Being Mauled By A Grizzly Twice
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Todd Orr explained this terrifying tale of survival to Backpacker. He had some bad luck while out in the wild, but he managed to survive getting mauled not once, but twice in a short time period. Surviving his initial mauling, Orr tried to go get help. But the grizzly wasn't done with him yet. He explained, "Eight or so minutes later, I was moving down the trail by a stream. The rushing water was loud—but not loud enough to block out the ominous sound of a large creature crashing through brush. I turned again to see the same grizzly charging toward me. She was already just 20 feet away, leaving me no time to grab my bear spray or my pistol." Fortunately, he survived by playing dead.
7. Chose To Jump Off A Cliff Rather Than Face A Bear
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This Redditor explained they jumped off a cliff to save themselves from a bear. They explained, "Almost three years ago, I survived a grizzly bear while mountain climbing. I was climbing alone on a mountain in Northern Montana. On my descent, a grizzly bear tried to attack m,e and I threw myself down the cliff side. Climbed down the mountain and survived the Montana wilderness for around 8 hours before getting out. Got a TBI, tore a few things, broke a few things, and got some deep cuts."
6. Train Vs Grizzly
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A train conductor got the fright of their life when encountering a full-grown grizzly. The bear literally booked it for locomotive when it was stopped along the tracks. They explained, "Literally the first trip I took as a train conductor. We got stopped in a siding just shy of Lake Louise and I was walking our train with the guy training me...a grizzly trundled its way out of the trees and straight towards us. We scarpered back into the engine (thankfully it was only about five cars away!), but truthfully, the bear had big honey badger energy. It did not give a fuck. It just kept wandering along the cutting not giving a shit. I bought bear spray as soon as I got home from the trip!"
5. From Friendly To Deadly
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Bears are wild animals as one Redditor would find out the hard way. While the animal looked friendly enough to take photos of, it soon ended charging them and causing them to run for their cars. They explained, "It was shocking how fast that clumsy-seeming animal could MOVE. We panicked and did the absolutely wrong thing: we started screaming and running for our cars. There is no way we could have outrun it; it was so so fast. We barely covered any distance and it crossed the whole lake. When the bear got about 10 meters away from us and was at the lakeshore on our side, it just stopped and turned away. Bluff charge. We got in our vehicles and as we drove away, we saw him again right next to the cars in the ditch by the exit to the parking lot."
4. Goldilocks Bear
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Sometimes the wildlife comes to you. One person was chilling at a cabin when a bear suddenly tried to break in. They had to take deadly measures to defend themselves. They explained, "Was at a remote cabin in Northern AB when a bear pushed the window in and climbed through it. It was deemed a predatory attack as I had been trying to hold the window with my hands while it was pushing on it, so it certainly knew we were there and was trying to attack us. Once inside the cabin, my buddy shot it."
3. Hunter Vs Bear
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Two hunters got more than they bargained for while hunting a couple of bucks. As they searched for their prey, they ended up being stalked themselves. The hunter wrote, "Thankfully, I had a round chambered in my rifle, and was prepared to take a shot at the deer within seconds. As we got into the trees, an adult black bear boar, we found to later he was 270lbs, stuck his head up about 40 ft away in the willow tangle, popped his jaws twice, and then charged at us. I was and still am astounded how fast he came through that tangled brush. Afterward, we tried to walk though it, and couldn't. He came through it like it was open ground."
2. Surviving A Polar Bear Attack
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You don't want to tangle with a polar bear. Few probably survive that encounter. One fortunate person did, however. Matt Dyer told Backpacker, "I could feel the bones cracking where the bear was biting my neck and skull. Then, I heard a swoosh and saw a flash—Rich had shot off a flare. The bear dropped me and sprinted about 50 yards away. I tried to get up, but I was too broken to move. And the danger wasn't gone: I heard the sound of beach rocks shifting as the bear walked closer and closer, and my trip-mates screaming somewhere nearby. Don't come back, bear, I pleaded internally. Don't come back, don't come back. "
1. Dog Vs Grizzly
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A pet owner was walking their dog when they encountered a bear in the wild. They explained, "I was hiking with my dog and my ex years ago and we stumbled upon a bear and quickly turned around. The bear stood up and started following us and my dog was going nuts. I was more panicked than my ex and lost control of the leash and the bear chased the dog off. We waited a few minutes to continue down the trail to get back to our car when the same bear had turned around was following us again. My ex pulled out a device called a bear banger. All it does is shoot off a loud sound to scare an animal into thinking it's a gun sound. We did have bear spray, but this worked 100 times better."
