If You Live in Bear Country, Bears Must Fear Us

“Scram!” I sternly told the black bear, which took another step towards me.

I picked up a dead alder stick and threw it at the bear. He didn’t move, just looked at me over his scar-checked nose. I stomped and huffed in bear fashion, trying to intimidate him. He kept coming closer.

I was running out of options. This isn’t how I wanted to shoot this bear—I didn’t really want to shoot him at all.

A large spruce tree with a fallen log lay between us, and the bear steadily moved closer. He pulled himself onto the log with both front paws and I raised my rifle. He was calling my bluff. I aimed for his chest.

My bullet hit him in the chest, sending him backwards into the brush by the creek. He had come too close and was becoming aggressive. I had no other alternative but to shoot and hang him on the meat pole. When bears become unafraid, there is no other choice.

The author stands where he’d been, and friend Tom Clum stands behind the log that the bear braced his front feet upon and swatted. Tyler Freel

One Bold Bear

The bear’s lack of fear was instantly apparent when we arrived at the bait site. My friend Tom Clum had made the trip to Alaska for our remote black bear hunt. As we hauled in tree stands, Clum spotted the bear circling behind us.

This bear had likely never seen a person, was exceptionally relaxed, and un-intimidated by our presence. He was a big-bodied boar, but the proportions of his head made him look young. We decided to wait for something bigger.

The bear watched us intently as we hung our stands. He laid on his belly next to the bait, even taking a nap. Bears can be fun to watch, but they are still predatory animals.

“He’s not worried about a bigger bear stopping by,” Clum noted. It was true. Often, a big or dominant boar will visit a bait site without a care. But other bears will act cagey if they think another bear might be approaching. Bears like this one are turnoffs to hunters.

The boar had probably never seen a person and wasn’t going to leave his food. Tyler Freel

The bear walked away from the bait and straight to my boat. Tyler Freel

Without a firm pecking order established and a pattern of negative experience with humans, bears don’t have any reason to fear people. They’re more likely to be bold. Encounters might be benign 99 percent of the time but get between a fearless bear and what they want, and you better be ready for trouble.

Bears Need to Be Hunted

Bear hunting continues to be highly contested. Regulated hunting is not only good for a sustainable bear population, but it also gives bears a healthy fear of humans. Selective hunting of boars—even trophy hunting—has been shown to have no detrimental effect on populations, and even allows more cubs to survive. Bears need to fear people.

I’ve hunted bears for years and can tell you there is a dramatic difference in the boldness of bears in low-pressure or un-hunted areas versus areas with steady hunting pressure. Bears need to be hunted. Even a seemingly docile and mild-mannered black bear is still a bear—unpredictable and capable of tearing you to pieces. It’s fine for a bear to be a bear, but when they don’t fear you, they become problematic.