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3 members (Double Lab, Carcano, 1 invisible),
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Forums10
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Jun 14th, 2026
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Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 1,164 Likes: 3
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 1,164 Likes: 3 |
I have a cased copy of one of my all time favorite outdoor books: "The Big Woods" by William Faulkner containing his immortal story "The Bear". When I get off work tonight I will inscribe it as a gift to my grandson to commemorate the first bear track either one of us ever saw in the woods. He's 5 and I'm 68 so he's way out ahead of me...Geo That's great Geo; bet he will treasure that forever! Craig's probably right about books being worth more without inscriptions, but I view my stuff in terms of my enjoyment, not somebody else's.
The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits. - Albert Einstein
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Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 6,779 Likes: 740
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 6,779 Likes: 740 |
F2F, where possible I insisted on an inscription if the book has been a gift. As Gil can attest, even if the gifter has never touched the book because it's been sent direct from Amazon, I still make a note in it of who, when and why. I'll also write something about what an awesome guy I am and how much I deserved the book. Lol
The world cries out for such: he is needed & needed badly- the man who can carry a message to Garcia
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Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 7,794 Likes: 395
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 7,794 Likes: 395 |
....I'll also write something about what an awesome guy I am and how much I deserved the book. Lol I was kind of thinking papa Geo might want to write down his motivation and describe the outing that lead to the gift. That poor book could end up being covered head to toe in fine print. That's pretty good cback, you order yourself gifts with dedications from yourself? I sit and stew all by myself in the corner.
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 1,215 Likes: 57
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 1,215 Likes: 57 |
I hunt elk in an area highly populated by both black and grizzly. It is not uncommon to see them in distance and unfortunately not uncommon to bump into them. I can tell you first hand it is no fun being chased by 2 two year old grizzly cubs with mum taking up the rear.
On the other hand I have a moose tag on the wide open prairie. Went scouting a few weeks ago and just at my area there is a sign on the highway saying 'Please Save Our Rattlesnakes'. Then a 100yds down another sign saying watch out for moose the next 5 km. I have no experience with snakes and a bit nervous after talking to a rancher who says he regularly sees 2 or 3 a day.
Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool.
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 1,215 Likes: 57
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 1,215 Likes: 57 |
I know I'm in Canada so this is kinda cheating but.....I'm very happy to live somewhere where bears are still relatively common. Even though they can become a pest depending on where you live. Saw this guy on my way home from the summer cottage last month. Goes along with the bear scat on the cottage island this summer. Only 9 acres so when there is one on the island, it's close. My dog Scout made sure there were only chipmunks while we were there. Although she did find every burr plant on the island! Canvasback, Those big ears are a telltale indicator of what we call a 'dink'. You could walk right up and pet him! Seriously, besides mumma with cubs the teenagers are the most dangerous.  My son spent the first week of July at Whistler-Blackcombe attending a ski racing camp on the glacier. Every day as the kids took a series of gondola and chairlifts up to the very top of the mountain, at about the half way point they would see one or two grizzlies poking about on the grassy ski slopes. I don't think any of them asked if they could walk down at the end of the day. LOL Sometimes it's a bit easy to get complacent about them, especially having watched old native women shoo 6 or 7 away at one time (from 5 yards away from the bears!) at an old dump before they closed it. When I lived in Banff, both black and grizzlies would show up from time to time, along with elk, in the town. But the summer I moved away, a girl was killed and several others attacked not 100 yards away from where I lived. They are big, fast and dangerous. edit to add: And seeing as this is off topic already....my first sighting of wild wolves came when I was in northern Saskatchewan when I was 11. Earlier this month, my son and I saw a wolf cross the highway in front of us, along the north shore of Superior. My son's first wolf. He's 11. I like that symmetry. 
Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool.
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 7,726 Likes: 129
Sidelock
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OP
Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 7,726 Likes: 129 |
I was kind of thinking papa Geo might want to write down his motivation and describe the outing that lead to the gift. That poor book could end up being covered head to toe in fine print. Have you know I write briefs for a living. Proves I can be brief!...Geo
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Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 9,477 Likes: 15
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 9,477 Likes: 15 |
There are plenty of bears in Northern NJ about hour to hour and half from NYC. There is one fella that walks on two legs. In Canada there are several cases were black bears killed people and tried to devour them. We are lucky not to have any of that here. Apparently black bears prefer "Canadian Bacon".
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Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 6,779 Likes: 740
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 6,779 Likes: 740 |
David, longish legs, not very heavy. Clearly pretty young. I kept looking to see if any of his siblings would show up. I don't take chances. They are bigger, stronger, faster and have bigger claws and teeth than me.
Edit to add: Just saw your other post about snakes. Got a big time intro to rattlers last summer and this. There has been a 20 year campaign to educate the cottage going public in Georgian Bay (Lake Huron) to protect the Massassauga Rattler. After 10 years of everyone walking around them instead of the previous 100 years of killing every one ever seen, they are now everywhere. Doing a little work in some junipers last weekend and everything took 3 times as long as we made sure we weren't about to step on one.
Last edited by canvasback; 08/19/16 08:26 PM.
The world cries out for such: he is needed & needed badly- the man who can carry a message to Garcia
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Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 6,779 Likes: 740
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 6,779 Likes: 740 |
....I'll also write something about what an awesome guy I am and how much I deserved the book. Lol I was kind of thinking papa Geo might want to write down his motivation and describe the outing that lead to the gift. That poor book could end up being covered head to toe in fine print. That's pretty good cback, you order yourself gifts with dedications from yourself? I sit and stew all by myself in the corner. Damn Craig, you've seen right through me! LOL
The world cries out for such: he is needed & needed badly- the man who can carry a message to Garcia
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Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 997 Likes: 7
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 997 Likes: 7 |
I've been around bears, particularly black bears most of my life and every one I ever bumped into took off like a shot, with the exception of one in AK! That's not to say that I'm not cautious around them....plenty of people killed by black bears and the experts say that when a black bear attacks, it's usually with the intent to eat!
When I graduated from HS, I worked in a remote USFS Ranger District. The area was lousy with bears and at the time, the usual for a remote ranger station, was to have a garbage pit. There happened to be two good sized fir trees close together right next to the pit. We got ahold of some 2x4" boards cut them to length and nailed them to the trees for a ladder and built a small platform about 20' up.
One evening I thought for entertainment I'd climb up to the viewing platform to view the bears. As the evening progressed more bears came into the pit and were rooting around in the garbage....great entertainment! I don't remember how many there were, but must have been 8-10 bears and then it dawned on me, it was starting to get dark and here I was sitting on a platform 20 or so feet above 8-10 feeding bears. I certainly didn't want to spend the night on the platform and I didn't want to climb down with all those bears. What to do???
Anyway, I had to take a leak and had held it about as long as I could. I went ahead and drained myself from the platform. When the urine wafted down to the bears level they scattered like a covey of quail! I can still see them scrambling in my minds eye! When all clear, I beat cheeks down the ladder and hurried back to the bunkhouse.
Cameron Hughes
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