BEWARE of the BLACK BEAR

Triple-B

Member
Anyone who rides the Campgaw hike trails beware, I was chased by a black bear this morning up there, near the rear garage/shop where the trail starts.
I had borrowed a friends bike for a nice lil morning ride and on my way out of the trail, I caught a glimpse of a big black furry bastard as I was coming onto the pavement about 50ft to my right. The fugger must have thought I looked good to eat or didn't like the fact that I was riding a full suspension bike and not keeping it old school with a hardtail.:p I was moving pretty good right when I saw him/her but it took about 6-7 bounding steps towards me and I pedaled my ass off, only looking back to see that it was walking near the woods where I had just been. I only ride up there cause not to many people know about those trails or else they all know about the bears and I'm the only idiot riding in there !!! Anyway beware !!!
 

Bob W

JORBA: Allamuchy
JORBA.ORG
Attack of the killer...

here we go again. Next thing folks will be chased by the ever elusive NJ mountian lions.
 

SpartaBard

Well-Known Member
Your main mistake was to keep riding. I always stop riding the second I see a bear. If he thinks you are turning your back and running away they will chase. I would imagine a mountain lion to do the same, but I have never seen one. Ask Anrothar and DanSpank(???) :D
 

Triple-B

Member
Sparta Brad,You can stop all you want, F that I got the hell outta there. I'm not about to stop and see if he's gonna pull out a bottle of tabasco and start pouring some on my leg.
 

SpartaBard

Well-Known Member
Well, that is why he chased you.

I have bears walk through my backyard on a regular basis, and we kind of of just look at each other and go about our merry way.

I am only truly concerned when cubs are present.

You actually need to be more concerned about deer during rutting season.
 

bonefishjake

Strong like bull, smart like tractor
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Well, that is why he chased you.

I have bears walk through my backyard on a regular basis, and we kind of of just look at each other and go about our merry way.

I am only truly concerned when cubs are present.

You actually need to be more concerned about deer during rutting season.

three things:

1. you are now the fawking jacques cousteau of black bears in sparta.
2. judging by the description of the way the bear acted i would guess there may have been little ones close by.
3. mountian lions are real, do play chess and live behind my house with killer black bears. they have tea with big foot on sundays at 1:00.
 

SpartaBard

Well-Known Member
three things:

1. you are now the fawking jacques cousteau of black bears in sparta.
2. judging by the description of the way the bear acted i would guess there may have been little ones close by.
3. mountian lions are real, do play chess and live behind my house with killer black bears. they have tea with big foot on sundays at 1:00.

big foot? You mean Anrothar?
 

anrothar

entirely thrilled
i bring the beer. to the bear.


it definitely did not want to eat you. black bears in new jersey have not historically learned to associate humans with food, especially humans on bikes. you probably came between it and it's young, or just too close to it. most of the time, when a black bear charges, it is just a bluff. that's a fact, that any bear expert or person who has experienced a charge from a black bear will tell you. you were right to keep riding, as her young were probably really close, so she could have gotten very physical, but would not have chased you very far. just untill you were far enough away. but i assure you, it did not want to eat you.


and mountain lions do exist in new jersey. and while i haven't BEEN chased by one, i have actually chased one myself.....
 

ArmyOfNone

Well-Known Member
was it these guys????

murphy.gif
 

bruce.b

Dickwad
>>and mountain lions do exist in new jersey. and while i haven't BEEN chased by one, i have actually chased one myself.....<<

Yup, I saw one in Denville a year or so ago. Very, very cool.

BTW, even a momma bear with cubs isn't dangerous. They might bluff but aren't more likely to attack because they have cubs, though I'm not sure you want to try to pick a cub up or something.
My 18 pound Jack Russell Terrier treed a bear a few years ago. The bear was about 6 feet up in a tree and our dog was standing up on the trunk staring at it. Too bad I didn't have a camera. I was a bit nervous walking under the bear to retrieve the dog, but she wasn't leaving by herself. She's chased bears several times and they always run.....so far.
The only close call I've had with a bear was at Splitrock. I came around a corner just as a bear was crossing the trail. We both stopped less than ten feet from each other, which I knew was a problem as I was way too close. It was a big male. When I attempted to back up the bear came forward. I stopped and in a loud voice said, "don't even think about it." The bear stopped, we looked at each other, and clearly neither of us knew what to do. This was pretty scary. I talked to it in a calm voice and very slowly backed off. This time the bear just watched and when I was 15 or 20 feet away it walked off the trail. Whew! I started riding again and the bear followed me for a couple hundred feet, about 50 feet off the trail along a small ridge maybe 20 feet higher than I was. While I was scared, this was also one of the coolest things that's ever happened to me. I could clearly hear it's every breath and even smell it. It's amazing how intelligent it seemed. The whole encounter was a mind game between the bear and I.
I actually feel even safer and less nervous around bears after this. Accidently getting that close to a big male was a bad situation and I still wasn't attacked or charged, just one little bluff.
bruce
 

xc62701

Well-Known Member
Yup the bear are definitely out and stirring. I was in wawayanda two days ago and ran into two bears coming towards the trail. I stopped they starred at me. I yelled and made noise to see what they would do and they just looked a little more and continued on their merry way. They cleared the trail so I kept going and they just kept an eye on me from afar. I'm kinda getting used to seeing them there. I almost hit a big guy last year in some tight overgrown singletrack. I had to hit the brakes to stop from hitting him. This was a big dude and he was interested in checking me out so I backed away and pedaled off in the direction I came. I think they are just more curious about us than anything.
 

Allamuchy Joe

Not White House Approved
JORBA.ORG
Sparta Brad,You can stop all you want, F that I got the hell outta there. I'm not about to stop and see if he's gonna pull out a bottle of tabasco and start pouring some on my leg.

If the bear was really chasing you, it would have caught you whether or not you ran. They can run up to 35 mph. Kind of humbling, isn't it?

I was very close to a bear with cubs in Mahlon last year -- I was repairing DD's bike chain once and one mama with cubs was wandering around. Suddenly, she got spooked by a sound behind her and she started running away from the noise which was, unfortunately, in our direction. She couldn't see us because there was a berm in the way.
She was just as surprised by us as we were by her. Anyway, I made lots of noise, raised the bike in my arms (to make myself look bigger). She veered off with the cubs and headed into a different direction for about 50 yards and then stopped. I finished the repair just as she appeared, so we slowly got on our bikes and rode away slowly. (I had read that running away fast triggers their chase instinct).

After that, every dark tree stump in the woods became a "bear" to me and every rustle in the brush was a "bear". Man those things are big up close!
 
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elzoller

El Guac-Oh
After that, every dark tree stump in the woods became a "bear" to me and every rustle in the brush was a "bear". Man those things are big up close!

:D I hear ya....I've ran into bears at Waywayanda, Skyline Drive and Mountain Creek...and only one time the bear ran away from me, the other two I was the one peddaling away :p
 

ytc100

New Member
Saw a bear at Lewis Morris today. Medium size about 50-75 feet away. I made some noise, it looked at me and then turned and trotted away.
 
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