Black bear encounter while turkey hunting

Discussion of the Remington 870 for hunting.
Post Reply
CarolinaKat
New Shotgunner
Posts: 13
Joined: Wed Mar 25, 2015 12:46 am

Black bear encounter while turkey hunting

Post by CarolinaKat » Tue Jun 05, 2018 1:00 am

So I was turkey hunting in the foothills of NC first weekend in May. My friend and I were on his hunting lease. I was in a ground blind 10 yards back in the pines off of a pasture on top of a knob. My friend was a quarter mile away in another spot. I had a hen decoy in the field near the corner of a small clover/oats food plot. Back in February, we had put some cracked corn out around the edge of the food plot. Just after 7 AM this young black bear shows up. He's about 15 yards away from me, nosing around in the food plot, probably looking for more corn he'd been feeding on the past 2 months. BTW, the corn was gone. In the second picture, he sees my decoy and I guess it startled him? He turns to his right and jumps the barb wire and walks straight at me. He walks just to the left side of the blind. Now, I had the side flaps on the blind closed up and I can't see him. My shotgun is standing up over in the corner because I was taking pictures with my stupid iphone. I'm sitting in a small camp chair. I gripped my pistol, didn't pull it out of the holster and slowly turned to my left to look out the unzipped tent entrance on the back left corner. The bear was 5 yards away, on all 4's looking right back at me! We looked at each other for a moment and then he lightly shakes his head and turns and runs off down into a ravine behind me.
IMG_2064 (3).JPG
IMG_2064 (3).JPG (420.71 KiB) Viewed 14729 times
IMG_2070 (2).JPG
IMG_2070 (2).JPG (380.51 KiB) Viewed 14729 times

I really wasn't scared until he left. Then, I realized if there had been cubs around things might have gone differently! So I stood, grabbed my shotgun and slowly edged out of the blind to look all around me. The blind was making me feel claustrophobic now! So I calmed down and after a few minutes, I could hear turkeys gobbling around me. So I went back in the blind and sat down. There at my feet was my half eaten cold McDonald's Egg McMuffin. I stuffed the rest of it in my mouth and laughed. Don't know if he smelt it or not but I'm betting he did.

I hunted once in a different spot on this same lease last season but didn't kill a turkey then. I knew there were black bear in this area but I NEVER expected this.

So, didn't kill a turkey that morning. We broke for lunch around 11:30. We swapped hunting spots and started back about 1:30. I killed this turkey at about 3:30 in the afternoon at 35 yards. Not a real big bird, weighed 16 or 17 pounds with a 5" beard. Shotgun is a 1995 870 magnum (stamped Special Purpose) with 21" barrel. I was using a Remington extra full turkey choke.
IMG_2075 (E).jpg
IMG_2075 (E).jpg (474.63 KiB) Viewed 14729 times
It was a wonderfully exciting day!

User avatar
Scorpion8
Elite Shotgunner
Posts: 1321
Joined: Wed Nov 29, 2017 7:17 pm
Location: SE-AK

Re: Black bear encounter while turkey hunting

Post by Scorpion8 » Wed Jun 06, 2018 5:48 pm

That's a great story! I've encountered many black bears in my area, and generally if you don't bother them they'll either ignore you or trot off. They don't like people, and unless it's a sow with cubs they prefer to retreat away. You got some great pics!
Imperious Moderatus
Retired USN
NRA Life ; NAHC Life
Pain heals, chicks dig scars.....glory -- lasts forever!

CarolinaKat
New Shotgunner
Posts: 13
Joined: Wed Mar 25, 2015 12:46 am

Re: Black bear encounter while turkey hunting

Post by CarolinaKat » Wed Jun 06, 2018 11:20 pm

Scorpion8 wrote:
Wed Jun 06, 2018 5:48 pm
That's a great story! I've encountered many black bears in my area, and generally if you don't bother them they'll either ignore you or trot off. They don't like people, and unless it's a sow with cubs they prefer to retreat away. You got some great pics!
Thanks Scorpion! Yep I really wasn't much concerned about things when they were happening. I really enjoyed getting to see a black bear in the wild up close like that. It was after it was over that I got concerned about the possibility of there being cubs around. Also, afterwards when I realized I had a half eaten egg mcmuffin in the blind with me, i felt a little stupid!

User avatar
Scorpion8
Elite Shotgunner
Posts: 1321
Joined: Wed Nov 29, 2017 7:17 pm
Location: SE-AK

Re: Black bear encounter while turkey hunting

Post by Scorpion8 » Thu Jun 07, 2018 4:52 pm

CarolinaKat wrote:
Wed Jun 06, 2018 11:20 pm
.... afterwards when I realized I had a half eaten egg mcmuffin in the blind with me, i felt a little stupid!
I hear ya. I was walking a trail once when I encountered two cubs who immediately treed. They were adorable and fun to watch (adorable?!?) even when they started to howl. Howl for ......MOMMY?!? Where the heck was Momma Sow!!!! Yea, only then do you realize the beauty of nature comes with the possibility of getting your arse jacked up by an angry momma. Love to watch the bears and deers and such......from afar. :mrgreen:
Imperious Moderatus
Retired USN
NRA Life ; NAHC Life
Pain heals, chicks dig scars.....glory -- lasts forever!

Germansheperd
Senior Shotgunner
Posts: 245
Joined: Sat Nov 24, 2018 2:42 pm

Re: Black bear encounter while turkey hunting

Post by Germansheperd » Thu Oct 10, 2019 11:27 am

Great experience all the way around honestly.

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest