Ran into a bear, American river north fork

PaulieNoNuggets

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Dec 21, 2013
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Aww, missed it! I've got the parents visiting from England and took them out to Mineral bar today. Was hoping one of the bears might turn up to give them a bit of a thrill :)
 

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TravyLeigh

TravyLeigh

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Sep 17, 2014
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LOL a thrill!? I'm menu-sized! I'm goin to mineral bar tomorrow
 

AuSomeness

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Aug 12, 2014
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No, it's true. I was standing on the river bank when I hear someone yelling like they were crazed. All I could think was maybe they had hit the mother lode as I saw someone panning in that direction. Then I heard the story!

Nice to have met you, man. Glad you got a little color. Next time, let's both get some Au and no bears (or snakes)!
 

TheGoldProspector

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Apr 14, 2014
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Did it come from along the river or down the mountain side? Haven't seen one out there yet...would probably piss myself
I have seen cougars in the area, bear tracks, no bears (yet)
 

BurntBear

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13AndyRouse_WinnerAntics_Bear.jpg

"Aw man, I ran into this hairless wonder and he started yelling at me! I only wanted a fish...or two."
 

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TravyLeigh

TravyLeigh

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Hahaa! No he didn't! He said out loud... IMMA EAT YOU! and your honey.

Apparently, someone committed suicide off that big bridge last week... They didn't find all the guys' body parts...
 

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TravyLeigh

TravyLeigh

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If you're free this coming Saturday, let's go back up there! Nice to have met you too, AuSomeness.

@schoolofhardrocks he came mid-hill, walking across... Then I yelled to try and scare it off (kids were in the direction he was heading by the way). And once he heard me, I caught his attention. So he perked up and came down towards the water, looking like he wanted to come across and come check me out! So I threw a few rocks till I landed one next to him and he ran off
 

SchoolOfHardRocks

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If you're free this coming Saturday, let's go back up there! Nice to have met you too, AuSomeness.

@schoolofhardrocks he came mid-hill, walking across... Then I yelled to try and scare it off (kids were in the direction he was heading by the way). And once he heard me, I caught his attention. So he perked up and came down towards the water, looking like he wanted to come across and come check me out! So I threw a few rocks till I landed one next to him and he ran off

Nice move...and good eye. I always give the occasional scan of the landscape to try to see any animals that may be in the area...probably not as much as I should though. I will definitely be on my toes now though, thanks for the heads-up!
 

57chevy

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What part of the North Fork? I used to go camping and prospecting a lot on the river about half way down Mosquito Ridge road out of Forest Hill. Private property that is now off limits. And yes that is bear country. I woke up one morning, looked outside the tent to find a line of bear tracks in the sand not two feet infront of our tent.
 

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TravyLeigh

TravyLeigh

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This was just at the confluence! Couldn't believe it was that close in.

And more than anything, keep your ears open! Or have at least another person with you. I just ordered a detector for gold... I'm gonna have to keep one earmuff off to listen to rustling bushes and stuff
 

TheGoldProspector

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What part of the North Fork? I used to go camping and prospecting a lot on the river about half way down Mosquito Ridge road out of Forest Hill. Private property that is now off limits. And yes that is bear country. I woke up one morning, looked outside the tent to find a line of bear tracks in the sand not two feet infront of our tent.
That private land, is quite gorgeous... They snagged it at the right time. :)
 

PaulieNoNuggets

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Dec 21, 2013
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I've seen one of Momma bear's babies out at Mineral bar, but Confluence?!! I would have thought all the mountain bikes would have chased off all the wildlife from there by now.
I guess it's a good reminder that although it sometimes doesn't feel like it with all the people around, all of those nice, easy-access spots along the NF are still wilderness and there's gonna be beasties roaming the place.

If I'm remembering correctly, I think it was at Confluence about 15 or 20 years ago that a jogger got eaten by a mountain lion. I believe the mountain lion was tracked and killed and her cubs ended up at the San Diego zoo.
 

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TravyLeigh

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Oh wow. The jogging probably triggered it to attack also. I'm thinking about either wearing bells from now on, or attaching a CD player and speakers to my backpack. I heard bears and mountain lions will stay away if we make noise
 

Reed Lukens

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With the King Fire where it was people will be seeing a lot more bears along the lower middle fork area for a while. After the Star fire I had 13 different bears in my yard in one day because they were on the move. Fires get all of the animals moving and there will be a lot more bears on the North Fork again because of it :) There are a lot of bears in Auburn, seeing them weekly in the yard was normal when I was staying there last year after my father passed.
Here's some old footage but that bear and her cubs made the rounds.
These were at Ikeda's in the dumpster
 

Hoser John

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This ungodly drought has brought them out of the hills also as they MUST gorge to fatten up to hibernate. To them anything works as they are omnivours-as in eat almost anything except rocks. Big cats,bobcats,coyote,racoons,and all be it tooth and or claw are in panic mode right now as their natural plate is empty. Caution is needed. Sounds like ya had enough bears for a good old Disney style Bear Jamboree Reed :BangHead: -John
 

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TravyLeigh

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They don't hibernate up here
 

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