Grizzly vs. Electrified Deer

[NightTrain]

Researchers in Montana wanted to see if hooking up a roadkill deer carcass to an electric fence setup would deter a bear.

Pretty interesting video.

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[Jeff]

That was a cool video, thanks for posting. I was surprised that the bear remembered and was so cautious, I would of bet he would of just got pissed after the first shock and ripped it down, they are much smarter than I thought.

[darin]

I'd like to see if they did a better job at protecting the power-source - neat vid!

[NightTrain]

Bears are a lot smarter than most people think. This one knew it didn't want the zap on his sensitive nose again, and was afraid to get zapped on his paws.

The area was loaded with human scent from when the scene was prepared, so the bear was being extra cautious. If he had gotten zapped a 3rd time, I think he would have abandoned the effort... he was definitely gunshy the 3rd time around!

[LongTermGuy]

I'd like to see if they did a better job at protecting the power-source - neat vid!

`Yup....thats what I was feeling....`


`Great video...lots of information to be found there...

[red state]

It isn't a cure all but when hunting is taken out of the equation, the usual losers are both the animals and humans. California had a terrible time with mountain lion when they banned the hunting of this beautiful large cat. Same with the bear. Such large animals (even deer) learn that they have nothing to fear and everything to gain by eating up a farmer's crops or breaking down doors when a contingency plan or a natural element (such as man the hunter) has been eliminated. The Smoky Mountains are fairly decent at preventing bad contact with bear and hogs but this sometimes comes at a high cost. For instance; WE tax payers pay 100's of thousands of dollars to keep the hog population in check when the gov. could actually make money by opening up problem areas to tax paying hunters. I like bear too much to hunt them BUT I'd break the law if need be if some of these majestic animals were to appear on my land. The were introduced in my area a few years ago and unless they allow them to be hunted, I'd prefer to NOT have them.

Still, Animals do need to be treated with respect and garbage/food should be well protected to discourage bear and such from roaming into camp, cabin or resident. The tourists and wardens do a GREAT job at this in the Smokies and my hat is off to them for that. It is simply smart to take precautions as it is both smart and beneficial to the animal (and hunter) to keep the heritage of hunting alive. It keeps disease down, traffic accidents down and WILL teach such animals to have a mutual respect.

[red state]

Researchers in Montana wanted to see if hooking up a roadkill deer carcass to an electric fence setup would deter a bear.

Pretty interesting video.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/pdM9YOYrcbs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>

GREAT video and research.....like a few other posters, I am hopeful that a more secure cable a other equipment be used for a thorough study.

[NightTrain]

It isn't a cure all but when hunting is taken out of the equation, the usual losers are both the animals and humans. California had a terrible time with mountain lion when they banned the hunting of this beautiful large cat. Same with the bear. Such large animals (even deer) learn that they have nothing to fear and everything to gain by eating up a farmer's crops or breaking down doors when a contingency plan or a natural element (such as man the hunter) has been eliminated. The Smoky Mountains are fairly decent at preventing bad contact with bear and hogs but this sometimes comes at a high cost. For instance; WE tax payers pay 100's of thousands of dollars to keep the hog population in check when the gov. could actually make money by opening up problem areas to tax paying hunters. I like bear too much to hunt them BUT I'd break the law if need be if some of these majestic animals were to appear on my land. The were introduced in my area a few years ago and unless they allow them to be hunted, I'd prefer to NOT have them.

Still, Animals do need to be treated with respect and garbage/food should be well protected to discourage bear and such from roaming into camp, cabin or resident. The tourists and wardens do a GREAT job at this in the Smokies and my hat is off to them for that. It is simply smart to take precautions as it is both smart and beneficial to the animal (and hunter) to keep the heritage of hunting alive. It keeps disease down, traffic accidents down and WILL teach such animals to have a mutual respect.

It's a different world here.

If we see a bear while we're at the cabin, then that means the bear has no respect for humans and therefore is dangerous. The vast majority are never seen, because they slip away into the trees long before you arrive. There is never any garbage or food left around inside or out, so they have absolutely no reason to be there other than curiosity or just plain not caring.

We once had a black bear sow with a tiny cub corner us in the shed at the cabin. All our weapons were in the cabin because we generally don't walk around the yard armed, and we'd gotten some tools to fix a starter on one of the boats. The bear began Bluff Charging us, which is a scary thing indeed because you don't know if it's the real deal or not until they stop.

She bluff charged us about 6 times or so, and we stood silently and motionless together on the deck. Finally the cub retreated to a tree about 50' away and the bear turned to follow it to the base and we hot-footed it into the cabin while her back was turned.

The only reason no one got mauled is because there were 3 of us - if there had been 2 or 1 person, there would have been a brutal mauling and probably death - of that I have no doubt.

Armed, (and now pissed!) we discussed what to do. Clearly the bear had no respect for humans by walking right into the yard and needed to be eliminated. However, no one wanted to shoot a sow with a cub... so the next best thing is what we used to do when I was a kid growing up out there : barking her. (For those of you that don't know, that's where you shoot a bullet into a tree right next to the animal and spraying it with high-speed bark shrapnel.)

The sow kept bluff-charging the cabin, but that was okay at this point - she had my .375, a 12-gauge with alternating 3" Mag slugs & double-ought and a .41 ready to open up.

We waited for a while, and finally the cub came back down the tree and they began heading out. I told my buddy to bark her, and he did when she was about 50' away.

The cub did the unexpected - he turned around and came hauling ass straight back to the cabin and went up the same big Cottonwood, this time to the top and the bear resumed her guard position at the base and was very pissed now & bluff charging complete with roars. Now she understood that she and her cub were in a great deal of danger, and that humans are a very real threat.

After a couple hours, the cub came down and we quietly watched them go. They haven't been back since.

Most people think that Grizzlies are more dangerous - they're not. Grizzlies generally have a LOT more respect for humans than Blackies do. Every single dangerous unexpected encounter that I've ever had were with Black Bears, and these were all in the boondocks way out from civilization so there were no "garbage bears" - they were all doing normal bear stuff.

Bears are individuals, of course, so there's no predicting what one will do. But anyone that's roamed out in the boonies has noticed you're far more likely to get into a bad situation with a black bear than a grizzly.

[red state]

Yes, Black Bears are generally more dangerous due to their diet (which probably consists of meat more so than a Grizz). As for 'Barking', our game wardens do that to 'problem' animals such as deer (and I'm sure blackies) but they usually hit the animal with bird shot (or a bit stronger) depending on the size of the animal and their tenacity or thickness of fur. Often times, this saves the animal more than it hurts and prevents poachers from spot-lighting cuz it eventually causes the animals to flee as soon as a human was smelled or even hears a vehicle. All good and I hate that some areas are different cuz hunting and more pronounced judgement on problem animals certainly works here.

I realize that one can't arm themselves 100% of the time but I always arm myself where bears are known to be or when I'm in liberal areas where crime is higher. I have had encounters with bear in the Smokies and was always prepared for when worse came to worse. I'd probably get a citation or some jail time but that's better than seeing me or my family mauled..................or robbed.

Extremely good thread! THANKS!

PS: I was a kid and saw some flyin' squirrel for the very first time and decided to "bark" them to see how they glide and my 22 must have scared it to death cuz it simply fell to the ground. I carefully inspected it and there was not a one sign that it had been hit. The taxidermist was also surprised and came to the conclusion that some form of shock literally scared the thing to death. Incidentally, I was a GREAT shot (even at a young age and KNEW how to shoot all sorts of bows, guns and rifles) and purposefully shot at least a foot away from the squirrel. Again, no sign at all was on the squirrel....not even sign of a parasite; just a healthy, beautiful lil' squirrel with an obvious hear problem.