Lesson Learned??

ehughes · June 19, 2006

So, there I was minding my own business.. and out of nowhere I spotted a bear feeding in a meadow.

I took quite a few decent shots but could never really get close enough for what I was wanting. The bear hung out for quite a while and finally wandered back off into the woods. And for most people that would have been enough, but for a few of you who know me probably could guess what I did next. Of course I followed it....

Well somehow the bear got up on a hill and behind me, and to make a long story short, the next thing I knew I hear a branch break, I spun around to see a fairly large black bear coming straight down the hill at me at full speed. I stood my ground and raised the camera, and tried to make myself look like I would be much more of a problem than I proably would have been. And much to my suprise ( and delight ), the bear changed directions about 15 feet or so away from me.

The following pictures are the bear during the turn and on it way back up the hill and then at the top giving me the stare while he's catching his breath.. I know the focus is bad but it is what it is.. and no I didn't get any shots of him coming down the hill

So, did I learn my lesson about following a bear into the woods?? Naaahhh

wxwax · June 19, 2006

I don't mean to be rude, Ed. And I'm certainly no wilderness expert.

But if your last line is actually how you feel, I have reservations about your judgment.

System · June 19, 2006

my question would NOT be: 'does a bear s--t in the woods?'-

but would be: 'does a photographer who follows a bear into the woods s--t in his pants?'-

george

ehughes · June 19, 2006

wxwax wrote:

I don't mean to be rude, Ed. And I'm certainly no wilderness expert.

But if your last line is actually how you feel, I have reservations about your judgment.

I constantly have reservations about my judgement...

I will watch my back a little better in the future, I still don't know how he got behind me. Unless of course it was a different bear.

cwphotos · June 19, 2006

Wow......Ed. I heard the rumors you were a bear chaser but this seals the deal. Im glad your still with us. Were you alone?

Wow...... :uhoh

ehughes · June 19, 2006

cwphotos wrote:

Wow......Ed. I heard the rumors you were a bear chaser but this seals the deal. Im glad your still with us. Were you alone?

Wow...... :uhoh

Yeah I was alone in the woods, the girls were at the other side of the meadow near the car. I wouldn't let them come with me in an area I didn't know.

Andy · June 19, 2006

ehughes wrote:

So, did I learn my lesson about following a bear into the woods?? Naaahhh

It's only a cuddly bear, for crying out loud

dragon300zx · June 19, 2006

wxwax wrote:

I have reservations about your judgment.

Hmmmm, Sid you were there with us at yosemite weren't you. Didn't you hear about ed chasing bears then? See I read this and it's just the same ole Ed to me. Just means if he invites you shooting you have to bring a bag full of steaks with ya, kinda like if you go shooting with Andy. Only difference is with ed the steak will be to distract the bear instead of andy so you can get away.

wholenewlight · June 19, 2006

ehughes wrote:

I stood my ground and raised the camera,

Maybe he only got close enough to see the Canon in your hand and then took off running for fear.

Everyone knows, bears favor Nikon quality . . .

bfjr · June 19, 2006

Sounds like pretty well know Bear tactic to me.
It's what they do, double back and come at you from above. I'd considered myself lucky nothing more came of it.

Only problem I see is I wasn't there, sounds like fun and exciting shootin

wxwax · June 19, 2006

I feel like I'm in the twilight zone. Sounds like no-one here thinks that bears are dangerous.

dragon300zx · June 19, 2006

wxwax wrote:

I feel like I'm in the twilight zone. Sounds like no-one here thinks that bears are dangerous.

Bears are dangerous? Wait a second now I'm the one who is confused.

I thought they just ate hunny out of bee hives and stole picnic baskets.

In all seriousness though everything is dangerous. Problem was he was alone, and lost track of what was going on around him. Can't let that happen.

marlinspike · June 19, 2006

ehughes wrote:

Ever looked at an old life magazine? They didn't give a rats behind most of the time about focus and blur (well I mean, I'm sure they did, but they made it "bad" on purpose often). Somehow it just worked...this one does that for me. Not sure why, but I just really really like this one.

Just stop wearing your muske cologne

THE TOUCH · June 19, 2006

gefillmore wrote:

my question would NOT be: 'does a bear s--t in the woods?'-

but would be: 'does a photographer who follows a bear into the woods s--t in his pants?'-

george

LMAO!

:lol

ehughes · June 19, 2006

wxwax wrote:

I feel like I'm in the twilight zone. Sounds like no-one here thinks that bears are dangerous.

Sid, Bears are dangerous creatures, Black Bears though are probably the least dangerous of the bunch, they ALMOST never attack humans. And personally, I have never heard of an attack on a human where the bear wasn't provoked or backed into a corner. Very seldom will a black bear even attack in defence of cubs.

I agree it could happen, but more often than not I feel more threatened on the freeway.

What the bear did was a bluff charge, meant to scare me away or let me know I wasn't welcome. I probably invaded his personal space and he was calling me on it.

I know it sounded like I was making light of the situation, but believe me I took it seriously. And things could have gone different. If it had been a grizzly I probably wouldn't be typing this right now, but then again I never would have followed a grizzly into the woods.

But since they won't come to my house so I can get a picture, I have to go to theirs.

A couple of Black Bear facts:

Recorded killings by black bears this century total only 28 across North America

The 500,000 black bears in North America kill fewer than one person per 3 years, on the average, despite hundreds of thousands of encounters.

To put this in perspective, for each death from a black bear across North America, there are approximately 17 deaths from spiders, 25 deaths from snakes, 67 deaths from dogs, 150 deaths from tornadoes, 180 deaths from bees and wasps, 374 deaths from lightning, and 90,000 homicides in the United States alone (data from the National Center for Health Statistics, 1980-1983).

wxwax · June 19, 2006

Thanks Ed, I didn't know that. Good info. Not trying to give you a hard time, I was just bemused.

ehughes · June 19, 2006

wxwax wrote:

Thanks Ed, I didn't know that. Good info. Not trying to give you a hard time, I was just bemused.

I didn't think you were giving me a hard time..

System · June 19, 2006

Girl dies in bear attack at Cherokee National Forest

http://www.wate.com/Global/story.asp?S=4770543&nav=menu7_2_2

happened just recently

by the way, those are neat statistics, but my underpants, that want to stay clean, say those odds might increase dramatically the closer you are to a bear-

george

GREAPER · June 19, 2006

I'm glad everything worked out Ok Ed.

Wild animals are just that. Wild.

More people are injured at Yellowstone park every year by buffalo than any other animal.

ginger_55 · June 19, 2006

Photographers on the chase of a photo are not known for their sense. I have personally laid down in the middle of the road several times.

Then there was the sucking pluff mud!

Snakes? If I get bitten I will worry then.

Bears???? Where? I could follow Ed, he would be the bait!

I like that one photo, too.

ginger

Stan · June 19, 2006

ehughes wrote:

So, did I learn my lesson about following a bear into the woods?? Naaahhh

Once bitten twice shy.... Obviously you are still waiting to get bitten to become a little shy

rofl

Neat shots though

Stan

Dick on Aruba · June 19, 2006

Some adventure!

Be honest...did you fill your pans with last night dinner and when he came in smell-range he turned away?

Well, we all glad it turnes out allright.

Thanks for sharing.

Dick.

Sam · June 19, 2006

Ed,

Did you ever read or hear about the nut case guy who camped out on bear trails, and sang to them? NO huh, well he won't be telling any more bear stories, because he became bear poop.

Glad all is well, but maybe, I'm just saying maybe here, you might want to consider a longer lense that would keep you out of paw swat, mock charge, oops! not mock charge range.

Sam

David_S85 · June 19, 2006

Timothy Treadwell
wiki here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_Treadwell

Sam wrote:

Ed,
Did you ever read or hear about the nut case guy who camped out on bear trails, and sang to them? NO huh, well he won't be telling any more bear stories, because he became bear poop.
Glad all is well, but maybe, I'm just saying maybe here, you might want to consider a longer lense that would keep you out of paw swat, mock charge, oops! not mock charge range.
Sam

jwear · June 19, 2006

well I saw it in yosemite --bear ed -- no no that brings a vision

:uhoh ed the bear man --no that is no better

man that chases bears named ed that will do . you ain't gooing to stop

but black bears are not nice bears and that guy that lived and feed the grizzleys --just keep your head up

gluwater · June 20, 2006

Ed you're a nut. Just don't get mauled before I have a chance to go bear chasing with you

. Those are some great shots you got in the Eastern Sierras, the bears and the landscapes. I really liked the waterfall with the tree in the middle of it.

ehughes · June 20, 2006

Sam wrote:

Ed,

Did you ever read or hear about the nut case guy who camped out on bear trails, and sang to them? NO huh, well he won't be telling any more bear stories, because he became bear poop.

Glad all is well, but maybe, I'm just saying maybe here, you might want to consider a longer lense that would keep you out of paw swat, mock charge, oops! not mock charge range.

Sam

I've seen that movie a couple of times, I'm nowhere near that crazy or careless. If you've never seen it, check it out. Treadwell was "out there" to say the least.

ehughes · June 20, 2006

gluwater wrote:

Ed you're a nut. Just don't get mauled before I have a chance to go bear chasing with you . Those are some great shots you got in the Eastern Sierras, the bears and the landscapes. I really liked the waterfall with the tree in the middle of it.

Thanks Nick, and don't worry I'll be careful.

ian408 · June 20, 2006

In the backcountry, it is common practice to challenge bears that come into
your camp site. The standard is to throw rocks and bang pots and pans.
On the trail, it depends where the wind is blowing and other factors. But
generally speaking, bears don't want to be around people. This is different
where bears have frequent contact with people and where people do stupid
things (like feed them, leave food in places it is easily accessible or don't
properly deal with your trash).

What Ed did was right. Had he run, you may well have read about him in the
paper. The one criticism would be not paying attention to where the bear
was going (or if others were nearby).

Of course the wild is just that. Wild. What works in many situations may
not work in all. In otherwords, your milage may vary.

Thanks for sharing Ed.

ian

Nikolai · June 20, 2006

Nice shooting, Ed!
I'm sure Sid only wants you and your family the best...
And I'm afraid to say I'd probably do what you've done.. Kinda runs in the veins

Any Mono shots lately? And I totally missed Bodie..

thalliday · June 20, 2006

One of my favorite lines came from a ranger in Yosemite. He used to remind the visitors, "Remember that when you enter the wilderness you become part of the food chain."

Lesson Learned??

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