Have you ever had a bear incident?

[u/dke783]

Honest question: have you ever had to fend off an aggressive bear in Canada? (hunting or otherwise) What happened,​ and what worked for your response? ​​

[u/GreenMan165]

Not sure if this is helpful, as it wasn't aggressive that I know of, but I had a close encounter with what I assume was either a curious, or head strong black bear that was wanting to walk down the path I was on. He was walking quietly on mossy ground and we came up upon each other at close range, about maybe 8 yards.

I first tried the usual throwing up my arms and yelling at it, but it didn't even shift position, or make a noise, just kept staring at me, which got me a bit nervous. I wasn't sure in the moment if it was just unwilling to move from its usual path or if it was curious, and wasn't sure how it would react to any movement I made next. That, and I was in a spot where escape out to the sides was rather difficult with how marshy it was.

I had a bear banger loaded in my 12 gauge, which I fired off to the side of his left foot, and that made him take off instantly in another direction. One potential mistake I encountered though it worked out for me, is the soft wet moss actually caught the bear banger and so it never actually popped like it was supposed to, the projectile being fired in its direction was enough to scare it off. I believe in the value of bear bangers in certain situations now, maybe not so with a fully aggressive bear, but it was enough to end my particular encounter.