More Bears!

pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
Ok, today I saw another bear. This time at Ringwood. This is getting odd, as this makes 9 bears in less than 10 days, and I haven't even been to Wawayanda. So, if you are afraid of bears, don't ride with me, because I seem to bring them out. :hmmm: Or maybe I just like the same places that they do. Has anyone else been seeing alot of bears this week?
 

Glancing Aft

Active Member
I must smell bad or something, cause I've ridden ringwood 5 times in the past week and have not seen in a single bear!
 
A

Adrenaline Addict

Guest
Me too...Stokes, yes...Waway, certainly. But RW...never.

im considering gettting the "jingle bells" attached to my bike specifically for this very reason... i keep bumping into black bears and i never have their money.. then we fight and i go home wounded.

if i got the bells, it will give them a lil more time to scatter... its been in my experience that most animals including bears will run off when u get near... bells are also good when trying to avoid ramming into someone coming in the opposite direction on a singletrack..."ride around!!!" "track right!!!"
 

UtahJoe

Team Workhorse
Team MTBNJ Halter's
I dont think I have been to Mahlon yet this year without seeing a bear. Thankfully, my new multi-tool finally arrived yesterday. So if one gets to close, BAM! 6mm allen wrench to the chest fool!!! :D

Actually, all that have seen me have ran off faster than I could get my camera out for a picture.
 
A

Adrenaline Addict

Guest
I dont think I have been to Mahlon yet this year without seeing a bear. Thankfully, my new multi-tool finally arrived yesterday. So if one gets to close, BAM! 6mm allen wrench to the chest fool!!! :D

Actually, all that have seen me have ran off faster than I could get my camera out for a picture.

chain tool to the eye!
 

bozizle

Active Member
Wawa

Ride in Wawayanda from about 5 am -8 am especially off Cherry Ridge road and your very likley to find a Bear...same applies for dusk. WE had two in my back yard this 4th weekend on Sunday and one took a dump of what I swear is a giant mound of pure bird seed bigger than a softball.

Where we enter off banker to get to cherry ridge by my house there is lost of water and it's close to the neighborhood and they always seem to be around that area...usually waiting for Mondays garbage pickup.
 

Tommyklein

New Member
Definitely bears at mahlon this season. I've been averaging one bear sighting per ride. For the most part they run away when they see you, but the last encounter was strange. I was hauling ass down the rail trail and one jumped out right in front of me. I had to jam on the brakes since he was only like 20-30 feet away. He looked at me and then stepped off the trail and stood there staring at me passing by. Normally I would change directions, but this was the way back for me so I proceeded straight.
 

Allamuchy Joe

Not White House Approved
JORBA.ORG
Maybe we should extend an invitation to the bears for the JORBA bike fest. They could bring the cubs, too. :D
 

Fogerson

Former Resident Nerd
Definitely bears at mahlon this season. I've been averaging one bear sighting per ride. For the most part they run away when they see you, but the last encounter was strange. I was hauling ass down the rail trail and one jumped out right in front of me. I had to jam on the brakes since he was only like 20-30 feet away. He looked at me and then stepped off the trail and stood there staring at me passing by. Normally I would change directions, but this was the way back for me so I proceeded straight.

This has happened to me several times driving down Sparta Mtn Road. The bear just moves to the side, stands there letting me pass (looks me straight in the eye from 4-5 feet away as I pass), then resumes his walk down the road after I pass. They're pretty used to us...
 

bozizle

Active Member
hmmm

do you think the bear population is growing out of hand in jersey?

I agree there seems to still be a booming bear population but at the same time we live where they live....I don't want to see another hunt. My house is right near the tagging station and I am sick of redneck wanna be's that shoot cubs and leave them on the side of the road to get tagged and certified...furthermore most of these guys I will say are obnoxious to people in the neighborhoods and disrespectful from my past experiences. Since there is no hunt the past 2 years I have to say I'm happy about it and the bears are not a problem unless your dumb. People who leave trash out in bear areas deserve to have it dragged and scattered around their yard....also don't get between mom and the cubs or too close and even then they have never attacked a single person in NJ. Also they are pretty fun to watch wandering about and playing in the trees.
 
S

Stinky1

Guest
saw this guy at waway...they are adapting to the population. And he mentioned something about pic a nic baskets. :D
yogi1.jpg
 
C

Cthulhu

Guest
I went out yesterday for my first time in Ringwood. Started at Shepard's Lake and proceeded to get a flat within the first hour. After I fixed it I spent about two hours getting lost and unlost.... the map that they have for the park is junk. Anyways, I ended up finding my way back, and then got lost again (going left instead of right) and went about 5 - 10 minutes down the trail that leads to the gun range(?). There I met my first bear. I banged out a quick u-turn and barrelled down the trail, during which I dumped my bike eventually landing on my back. I must have launched up a rock because I went right up in the air. Landing back down wasn't any fun, all my weight was on my fully extended right arm and the sound from my AC joint was reminiscent of thick hemp rope being torn. :mad2:

That's my bear story.
 
R

reihl_deal

Guest
If you consider that the bear population has increased tremendously over the past 10 years, you would figure that the concentration of bears in our scattered state parks must be quite high considering the densely populated surroundings.With the number of riders these bears are bound to see, I think they've figured out that we don't represent a threat at all. I also believe that since most of us practice a carry-in/ carry-out philosophy, that the bears haven't attached any relationship with food to mountain bikers either. I'm sure any food we may be carrying in our packs is probably sealed, or the odor is masked by our own musky riding scent.

My face to face encounters with bears have taught me that most bears are equally willing to remove themselves from any interactions as we are. I've only come across one bear that made me think any different.

I was at a small lake off of Otterhole Rd. in West Milford when a large bear appeared across the water from me about 100-150 ft away. He let out a grunt and smacked the water with his paw in an aggressive way. That was enough of a hint for me that I should be on my way home. I'm not sure what would have happened if I met that bear face to face. He could have just been having a case of the mondays....probably just needed some coffee.
 
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