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[Steelhawk]

I must say I am a bit lucky never spotting a bear in the Vedder and Chehalis after fishing them for almost 20 years. Considering I mostly fish alone during steelhead season treking bushy trails in mid river, this is comforting.  But on the island rivers was a different story. Ya, the Nitnat has lots of bears. Once 4 of us fished for red spring there. One guy had a fish on, and had to walk with the fish down towards a bushy area. We spotted a bear on the other side of the bush and yelled at our friend who was totally taken up by fighting the big spring. He probably didn't hear us, but when he rounded the bush and saw the bear, he dropped his rod and screamed. I had never seen a fisherman run so fast before...  The Stamp also had lots of them. Once we were fishing the Stamp Falls above the rapids on the camp ground side on the meat hole (later closed due to a knife fight), there were 20+ fishermen on one side, and there were bears on the other side, kind of licking on the pop cans fishermen threw over to the other side. Funny thing is, fishing was so hot and furious that no one seems to care about the bears.   One American fisherman was not so lucky. He was fishing at the Heart Attack Hill section of the river. When he walked back up the hill with a spring, a bear stalked him for the fish. Rumours have it that he was stupid enough not to drop the fish and run, so he was mauled. Sad but quite stupid. Never risk one's life over a fish. So let go of your fish if the beast wants it.

[hotrod]

I had an encounter with a 1000 lb grizzly on the Squish at 26 mile. Later heard that same bear was harrassing some campers near 29 mile. It's totally wild up there, heard of alot of wierd and wild things!


   Hotrod

[dereke]

 ya upper squamish is an awesome place. have seen alot of wildlife up there...alot of bears for sure but never a grizz, would love to see one in the wild and still havent; at a distance of course. i did see a bobcat or a lynx up there not sure which one. thought it was a small cougar until i saw the tail was gone..beautiful animal regardless and wasnt very frightened of me surprisingly. just kind of hung out for a bit then casually disappeared into the forest.

[BladeKid]

Encountered black bear cubs near where I was fishing last week.

[THE_ROE_SLINGER]

Encountered black bear cubs near where I was fishing last week.

And unfortunatley one got hit by a car....Im sure the mother was near also

[Xgolfman]

Twice this year.
On the Skagit a month ago. I walked right by it while it was feeding on a rabbit it killed or took away from another animal. I was wading the river, the bear was on the bank in the under growth. I froze when I heard him grunt. When I stood still it ate away. Everytime I moved it would drop the rabbit and following me. Kinda freaky. After about 50yards of walking and stopping I was well enough in an open area to walk away quicker.

This morning while walking a trail to my fishing spot on the lower Vedder a bear ran right in front of me from one side of the trail to the other . It disappeared into a blackberry thicket and kept going. It had a chum in it's mouth. Scared the crap out of me.

That wasn't a bear, it was Merc

[allwaysfishin]

i've hiked into the run right above ranger... from the backside and had a cougar stalking me for maybe 200 yards. I saw it after i crossed the side chanel that used to be after the rapids below the slab.... it was a big cougar... discovered the tracks on my way back out and realized how long it had been behind me. it was a little unnerving... was back in there the next day and packed my folding stocked pistol grip 12ga remmie just for good measure.

Grizzleys, not mentioned much by users of the river and the woods beyond, but yup... there's more than one up there. Therre was on old boar that was radio collared some years ago. I wonder if he's the same one being seen these days. His range was mostly the far end of chilliwack lake and into skajit country... rarely seen... met him twice while hunting blacktails up hanging lake way.... big ugly scary looking bear.... but both times we bumped into him... once at less than 50 yards.... he just watched us , smelled the air and walked away.

Black bear populations have been on the rise in region 2.... big time.... we have had 3 years in a row now of warmer falls and nice springs.... good for the bears, the deers... ect. I spend a lot of time on the north side of the vedder from slesse park up and have seen bears frequently. If you are venturing back there.... be smart... bring bear spray and or bangers. If i go in there with dogs or children i also pack my shotgun. Call me paranoid, I just call it being safe

[island boy]

kellya i worked there about 12 years ago. the black dog that was there when i was was named chud. he used to go out and scare all the bearss away in the morning. saw rob last summer and talked to garry d awhile ago. too bad about garry r. had some unreal times working out there. good guys and allways felt welcome. do you know seaton?

[Geff_t]

I got a call from searun today as he was on the river with his son guppy and they had a black bear come up behind them. They where fishing behind on the way and it came out of the area that the new beaver pond is. It satyed about 70 yards away.

[kellya]

kellya i worked there about 12 years ago. the black dog that was there when i was was named chud. he used to go out and scare all the bearss away in the morning. saw rob last summer and talked to garry d awhile ago. too bad about garry r. had some unreal times working out there. good guys and allways felt welcome. do you know seaton?

Chud passed away they got a new dog though to replace him and hes back chasing bears. I think many of the workers have changed but think i remember garry d and i think rob. I have only worked the last 3 years and now dont get to as it overlaps with uni. Its a good experience some unreal fish. Couple guides working there now i picked for info all good people

[BCHunter]

i got out yesterday to the Vedder, i checked out all the main fishing spots looking for tracks, I saw a old beaten track at the bridge by the hatchery. I'm thinking in 2 weeks there will be more bears.

At the last fishing spot before the hatchery i couldnt believe the huge springs being hauled it...huge! i tossed the idea of going up sunday but the crowds arent my thing

[lapetitebuse]

I have seen a grizzly very close (25m) while hiking between squamish and whistler (by the Nordic ski Olympic resort) late august.
More recently, 2 days ago, i was fishing the chehalis. Walked all the way from the hatchery to the mouth and at almost every sand patches on the side of the river, there was fresh bear tracks. I saw at least 5 fish that has been eaten by a bear (looks like they prefer the brain and the guts, but not so much the fillets), some of them so recently that the flesh was still nice and pink. It was quite scary given that my buddy and me were bushwhacking and making our way through VERY dense vegetation. I you bump into one at that moment, it will likely be close to you and you cannot really run.
I heard bears would not attack you because they are hungry (Obviously not, they're fat with salmon!) but to defend their fishing territory. Is that true?

[BCHunter]

any bear that is looking for food is dangerous, the worst thing would be to be walking in to a fishing spot to a momma and her cubs. She'd be pretty upset to see you.

I'll be out again next weekend hopefully to find a bear, my hounds are looking for some chasing fun

[milo]

Saturday I was fishing the Gun Barrel with nobody near me, as most of the guys were fishing downstream because the water was too high to efficiently fish the hole. I wasn't getting into many fish, as springs, chum and coho were zooming by in high water. I did persevere with the short floating method and got rewarded with a nice wild coho and a spring jack. 
As I was fishing, I heard some commotion coming from downstream, and as I looked to the right, I saw half a dozen anglers running towards me. When I asked what it was all about, they pointed at a large black bear that came out of the bushes behind them and scared them away.
The bear started roaming the bank, probably excited with the smell of gutted fish and roe. Of course, I kept my distance like everybody else, but then the bear decided to swim across the river to the opposite bank. Some guys that were fishing the opposite bank downstream from where the bear landed hastily waded across the river - just in case.
Of course, as there was now a whole width of the river between me and the bear, I gathered enough courage to walk downstream and snap a few pics and a video of the bear, which was now fishing from the opposite bank.
It seemed quite young and well fed - probably putting on the last few pounds before going into hibernation. It didn't prove to be a great fisherbear, though, as it got skunked during the time as was watching and filming it. After a few unsuccessful attempts at getting a salmon, it disappeared in the heavy mountain vegetation.
Here's the video for all of you to enjoy. The movie was shot with the regular movie mode with full digital zoom on my Optio W30 camera.



This was my second encounter with bears this fall on  the Vedder - last time was two weeks ago in the Upper River by the Cedar Run. The bear and I ran into each other, but this one was obviously one not used to people, so it scampered as soon as it saw me. I agree that there are more and more bears on the local flows, and what worries me that an increasing number of them don't seem to be leery of people at all. Not good.

[Geff_t]

We had a bear in the neighbors yard on Saturday rolling around in their garden. I was also walking the dog on the Allouette today and saw quite a few bear tracks along the river.