• Gilt
      • Have you ever come across a bear while running? 11/21/2013 4:18PM
      • Gilt
      • Driving home today, right in front of me, I saw a large black bear run across the street & into the woods, maybe slowing for a second to look at me. This was only a mile from my home, and I've run down this road several times. This got me wondering what I would do I if ever I meet a bear again, but on foot. Any advice? Any good bear stories?
    • Running on Empathy
      • RE: Have you ever come across a bear while running? 11/21/2013 4:34PM - in reply to Gilt
      • Running on Empathy
      • Yes.


        Black bears, brown bears, coyotes, elk, deer, moose, porcupines, skunks ...... I've run across most North American animals at one time or another except for Grizzly bears and wolves.

        Was out in the woods running with my dog once when we came across a momma moose and her offspring. I stopped immediately (you don't want to mess with moose on a mountain logging road), but my stupid dog kept going down the road oblivious to my commands. Then the young baby moose started jogging alongside my stupid dog, the both of them jogging along together as if they were running buddies or something. Meanwhile the mamma moose headed off into the woods so I didn't know where she was, and I'm yelling at my dog to "get back here now!" Finally about 100 yards down the road my dog realized I wasn't with him and stopped, looking back at me like I'm being lazy or something. Baby moose then carted off into the woods and I never saw either moose again.
    • aewfsd
      • RE: Have you ever come across a bear while running? 11/21/2013 4:35PM - in reply to Gilt
      • aewfsd
      • There's that one guy that posts on here that had that encounter with a bear in Canada with a go-pro on. I'm to lazy to look up the video, but it's probably on the youtubes.

        Me: have run in Yellowstone a lot and seen several bears from the car, but (fortunately) have yet to encounter one while running.
    • Flo'da boy
      • RE: Have you ever come across a bear while running? 11/21/2013 4:36PM - in reply to Gilt
      • Flo'da boy
      • Yeah, was going crazy on this little dude out behind a woodshed. I turned and ran quick as I could but you can't unhear some things
    • another dot
      • RE: Have you ever come across a bear while running? 11/21/2013 4:37PM - in reply to Gilt
      • another dot
      • No, but I've come across a mountain lion during a run.
    • Rock Sock
      • RE: Have you ever come across a bear while running? 11/21/2013 4:44PM - in reply to Gilt
      • Rock Sock
      • The best running advice I ever received was from my college track coach. He said, "whenever you run in the woods, take a slower training partner with you on your run. If you encounter a bear, then try to outrun the bear. You don't have to outrun the bear. You just have to outrun your running partner." That was great advice.
    • memep
      • RE: Have you ever come across a bear while running? 11/21/2013 4:54PM - in reply to Gilt
      • memep
      • OP, Where are u?

        I'm in Castle Rock, CO, kinda a fear of mine is to encoutner a bear, my reasoning: When you trail run in dense wood areas if you DO SEE ONE it's kind of to late you are face to face, unlike other sightings on here when u are 1/2 mil to a mile away and have time to GET AWAY. ON a trail like barr trail of pikes if u are running u will run INTO one.
    • jorvack
      • RE: Have you ever come across a bear while running? 11/21/2013 5:04PM - in reply to memep
      • jorvack
      • I have only seen bears on runs in Canada. Once on a run on my first day in Jasper, BC all I could think about was grizzlies. 15 min into my run I came right up on a bear and almost had a heart attack, until I saw it was a black bear.

        In the Jasper backcountry I saw grizzlies but always from a distance. When I would run in Wy and Montana I would grab an empty soda bottle from my back seat and put some pebbles in it, I figured it would make enough noise as to not startle a mama bear.
    • JoeyJoeJoeJrShabadoo
      • RE: Have you ever come across a bear while running? 11/21/2013 5:14PM - in reply to Gilt
      • JoeyJoeJoeJrShabadoo
      • Almost ran head first into a black bear coming around a turn on a Colorado trail. Was standing in the trail eating a berries off this bush. Got within 3 feet of hitting him, and he never budged. Was not bothered at all by me, but being scared as sh*t I turned around and took off running the way I came. Had it been a grizzly, would have been a bad encounter most likely.
    • luv2run
      • RE: Have you ever come across a bear while running? 11/21/2013 5:18PM - in reply to Gilt
      • luv2run
      • Had one run parallel me to me as I was trail running. we were both running down hill. Of course I was just running easy and he was obviously doing a tempo workout.

        I have heard that bears cannot run as fast as a man downhill, but I am not really interested in testing that theory.

        I have also heard to make a lot of noise and make yourself as "big as possible". Being a distance runner, I find this to be questionable.

        I have heard to make yourself into a ball.

        I think the last one is the one I like the least.
    • SMJO
      • RE: Have you ever come across a bear while running? 11/21/2013 5:21PM - in reply to luv2run
      • SMJO
      • Combine the three. Roll into the biggest ball you can and find the steepest hill.
    • ics
      • RE: Have you ever come across a bear while running? 11/21/2013 5:24PM - in reply to JoeyJoeJoeJrShabadoo
      • ics
      • Not while running, but twice while hiking. Once in Wisconsin & once in Washington. Both times I saw the bear up ahead at least 50 yards. It didn't even look my way & completely ignored me.

        Another time I was again hiking in Washington in Mt Rainier & the trail was on the edge of a cliff & a bunch of us were looking down at a bear that walked into some brush below. About half a dozen hikers walked by it within 5 feet of it & didn't even realize a bear was hiding in the brush. We tried to get their attention but it didn't work.
    • barry mccockiner
      • RE: Have you ever come across a bear while running? 11/21/2013 5:25PM - in reply to ics
      • barry mccockiner
      • 3 young badgers once, less than a mile from my house. Scared the chit outta me.
    • Raptured
      • RE: Have you ever come across a bear while running? 11/21/2013 6:00PM - in reply to Wørd
      • Raptured
      • I've seen either 2 or 3 black bears while running. I saw the first one, an adult, here in Utah a few years back. It was at night and kind of alarming. The thing was on the middle of the dirt path going down Collins Gulch at Alta Ski Resort, and I had no other way down, so I had to wait for it to move to the side and then run past it. I went by slowly, but once I was a tenth of a mile away, I hauled it the rest of the way down the mountain. Last summer, I saw a cub at mile 30-ish of the Old Dominion 100 mile run. Roughly 15 miles later, while coming back near the same point on the course, I saw either the same cub again, or another one of about the same size. The first time, it sprinted across the road about 50 feet in front of me, but the 2nd time, it was only 5-10 feet in front of me when it crossed the road. I never saw the mom, and I was definitely a little nervous about running into her. In any case, black bears are probably not usually that big of a deal. If you see a grizzly, you might be in trouble, but not usually with a black bear.

        Regarding moose, I've seen somewhere in the ballpark of 15 of them out here in Utah, mostly in the Cottonwood Canyons, but 1 in Mill Creek Canyon, and 1 in Neff's Canyon. As long as they don't have young with them, they're not usually aggressive. Just give them some distance and they're cool.
    • Gilt
      • RE: Have you ever come across a bear while running? 11/21/2013 6:03PM - in reply to memep
      • Gilt
      • memep wrote:
        OP, Where are u?

        I'm in Castle Rock, CO, kinda a fear of mine is to encoutner a bear, my reasoning: When you trail run in dense wood areas if you DO SEE ONE it's kind of to late you are face to face, unlike other sightings on here when u are 1/2 mil to a mile away and have time to GET AWAY. ON a trail like barr trail of pikes if u are running u will run INTO one.
        Central Massachusetts. It seems as if the they are moving in from the west. Looking at the replies, the black bears seem pretty safe compared to the grizzlies.
    • zzzz
      • RE: Have you ever come across a bear while running? 11/21/2013 6:10PM - in reply to Gilt
      • zzzz
      • Yes, frequently on the trails. A mama black bear with a cub passed through my back yard a month ago. I have also seen brown bears, though less frequently, near my house. There were a some of maulings or attacks a few years ago within a couple of miles where I live, though I've never had a bad encounter.
    • Winklevosses >> brojos
      • RE: Have you ever come across a bear while running? 11/21/2013 6:17PM - in reply to Gilt
      • Winklevosses >> brojos
      • Black bears a half dozen times
        Wolves twice
        Most agressive encounters

        Grizzly with cubs while I was on a mountain bike (scariest 10 seconds of my life)
        Moose (that was also scary, and I got behind a tree)
        Racoon (sort of comical, it reared up and wouldn't let me pass on a bike path, but I wouldn't want to mess with them)
        Urban Canada geese (annoying)