...unless its got some bears in it.

The province I live in has been closed to visitor travel for over three months now, and we, especially outfitters and guides, count on United Statesian hunters every spring to come up for the spring black bear hunt. Locals don't hunt them in spring (and very few in autumn), and when the 'foreign' hunters don't take a bunch, there are a LOT of bears around for the summer. They mostly get shot or relocated as nuisance wildlife because the surplus tend to seek food close to habitation. This spring there has been a big sow and yearling cub across the road where I fish, and another solitary animal up the hill behind my place, hanging out at the gun dog training farm (go figure! Lots of gunfire and non-stop barking dogs).

I was down yesterday morning to try a few beadhead nymphs I'd tied up, on the local fish for a couple of hours, and noted the mom and youngster's tracks ahead of me along the sand and mud bars, still full of cloudy water. I just made sure to make lots of noise, and had a good time with what turned out to be pretty productive flies. On the way back out, I was conscious of the potential for a 'meeting', and was pushing my way through a dense stand of chest-high ostrich ferns when I startled an animal that took off about 3 meters from me. I **** near soiled myself before I realized it was just a groundhog or snowshoe hare or some such. Pretty sure I was home before my heart settled down. I've lived, hunted, fished and worked near bears all my adult life, and most sightings involve seeing the fleeing backside of them. But a mom and offspring is always kind of a crap shoot, pun intended.
brent

Thanks, Cliff. The voice of experience is ALWAYS welcome.

Wow! Based on your depth and breadth of wisdom, you've had a LOT of experience

Knotty: Interesting stuff! I see North Carolina also claims highest density of Black Bears: "According to the North Carolina State Bear Biologist, the Albemarle-Pamilco Peninsula has the highest black bear densities in the world! " We certainly don't have any record-setting densities; I'd describe it as 'plenty' or 'enough'. I've only been threatened by a sow with cubs once, just upstream of where I live; solo canoeing with a buddy down the stream when we spooked a sow with three cubs on a turn. The runt couldn't climb a tree like the other three bears did, so mom quickly descended and stood on shore and roared at us as we passed. 50' wide stream, about 3 feet deep so she could have attacked had she wanted. Anecdotal, I know, but I still avoid moms and cubs.
Can't comment on brown bear motivation; I've encountered them while fishing in northern BC and Yukon, and always took their presence as good reason for my absence.
Speaking of polar bears: While fishing searun brook trout from a small aluminum boat in coastal northern Labrador about 30 miles inland, we had a beluga swim under our boat. Our guide looked quite panicked for a minute because, until he got a good look at it when it surfaced, his first reaction had been 'polar bear'. Never seen a man that tanned turn that pale.

Wow! That's a big 'un. Hunter must have been shocked at the size.
Years ago, while working at DNR on a bear license allocation quota with outfitters, I heard some great stories from the old guys. (I was a young guy at the time - yes, Cliff, they had guns back then ). Best was from a guy, Hoot, who said he had a hunter from New York who insisted on not hunting over a bait, but was pretty adamant about getting a bear. So Hoot put him up in a tree stand, on a trail a couple hundred meters from a bait (half-ton cow carcass and old donuts) and told him nothing about the bait. Buddy shot a 200 lb bear, but it ran down the trail, and expired at the bait. Hoot quickly made up a story about a cow-killing bear terrorizing the local farmers for months, and clearly buddy had shot it, for which the community would be forever grateful. Not one question about how a 200 lb bear hauls a 1000 lb carcass two miles into the woods or where the donuts came from. So buddy went home with a carcass and a story, and Hoot got a great tip.

Taxes.

yes, there have been times that I have smelled them before I knew they were there. Not an odour you're likely to forget.