Exciting Black Bear Encounter

[LookMomNoSights]

I'll start by saying I am not a bear hunter (yet or so-far) and spend my time locally hunting deer, turkey, coyotes .....But we have alot of black bears around.   I don't know too much about hunting bears and some of their behaviors when encountered in either a hunting/stand situation or more specifically what's typical when you are say hunting deer but encounter a bear or have a bear sighting while in a deer set and the bear catches on that you are present in the woods ........
I was sitting in my stand this past Monday evening,  on a moderately used deer run that coincides with some decent buck sign the past few years.  I hadn't seen any deer in the first few hours of the sit,  and was enjoying just being out there in perfect weather for sitting.   Breaking the faint sounds of the subtle breeze blowing steadily through the forest,  was the distinct sound of branches breaking under the weight of something heavier than rodents or smaller critters.  In trying to pinpoint the location of where the sound was coming from,  I'm focusing in on the thick stuff,  to quickly see a black bear cub come squirting out from the tangle.  Then a sibling right behind.....and then Mom.  They headed off on an angle,  away from my stand and I was as happy to see them moving off as I was to see them in the first place....because I am hunting deer ....  but this was short lived ....... as out of nowhere,  they for some reason decided to change direction,  now traveling with the wind to their backs,  straight to me!  First one of the little rascals .... in no time,  directly under my stand and acting as if nothing is out of the ordinary.  Then,  thing 2 right behind the first,  but does not come directly under me and hooks off and up a bit back to stay with  mom,  who is now directly down wind of me, 15 yards out.  When she hit that 6 o'clock linear at my back,  she switched into high alert and made this very obvious.  She started by huffing loudly while franticly pacing back and forth and smacking her teeth together .... jaw popping?!  I'm trying to focus on her and the little one, it seems as though she was telling the little one to get out of a danger zone and the little guy was slow to catch the hint.   At one point,  the cub jetted toward the base of my tree and looked as if it wanted to climb and say hello. It did not thankfully,  and after several seconds,  did make it's way over to mom,  and they all got outa there with quickness.   I've seen the videos on the Tube where black bears climb trees and get face to face with hunters in some instances in what seems to be just a case of curiosity.  I'm glad that didn't happen I should say.  But wonder,  how close was I to it happening like that for me? 

[varmint101]

Holy cow!  Bet that got your heart pumping!

[TI_Bowmen]

Wow that would've got me pretty darn excited! I bet they were close to climbing

[woodchucker]

 

[southpawarcher]

Pucker factor 9.5!

[two4hooking]

I had a similar exciting experience while hunting deer in 2017, but I was on the ground leaned up against a stump when a bear came following my scent to me.  I stopped the video and got up putting the stump I was leaned against between us and let the bear know I was there.  Luckily, he decided to leave quietly as I had nothing but a longbow to protect myself. 

[Trenton G.]

That will wake you up. I had a sow with three cubs that came and put her paws on the 2nd rung of my treestand ladder once. I'd only used one section of ladder as well!

[Dirigo]

I hunted New Hampshire for 25 years for deer and turkey mostly.  I was always non-resident, so I would only get the bear tag before they increased the price to around $50 for out of staters.  I would see bear in NH about once every three years, and it was always while hunting something else.  All of the encounters were on the ground since I don't do treestands, and they were all exciting.  The sow and 2 cubs twist happened to me once too, but they blew right past where I was standing and I did not have that extra excitement you were treated to.  The other run ins were pretty similar, most of the rest were solitary bears and they ambled right past me at varying speeds in each case and none seemed to notice that I was standing by a large tree. Great memories.
  If I lived in NH I would get the tags each year and make the time to scout for them and increase the odds of getting a shot. I have never taken one, but the sign they leave behind on and in trees leaves no doubt that they are in a given area or not, and it is something I look for when exploring any new areas even if my primary target species is something else.