Bears

[Eskimo]

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I don't do much shore line fishing any more so I rarely encounter bears.

There was a time when the Delaware Water gap was insane. Somehow, PETA got a hold of Governor Corzine and he stopped bear hunting in New Jersey.

The Gap was over-run with bears that were very hungry and showed little fear of people. Being in the Gap after sundown was like finding yourself in the zoo on the wrong side of the cages. Nobody in their right mind would fish from the shoreline in the evening unless they were with a group of people.

Eventually Gov. Christie restored the bear hunt and things are a lot safer, although I do kind of miss seeing the bears all the time.

Here's a pic I took a few years ago of a bear looking over my shoulder while I fished.




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[UglyStick]

I live out in Sussex county and I see bears on my property nearly every day in the summer. It's not uncommon for me to walk out of my house or around the corner of my house and be within a few yards of one.

My best story to date was a few years ago I was out in my driveway working on a trailer. I was down on one knee using a power grinder for several minutes. When I stopped and shut the grinder off, I felt something on the back of my neck. I turned my head to find an adult bear was standing directly behind me with his head about 6 inches from my ear... it was him breathing on my neck I felt. When I turned my head head I was obviously startled and let out a sudden gasp which startled the bear causing him to jump back several feet. Me still down on one knee and him standing about 6 feet back we stayed like that looking at each other for about 30 seconds. I finally clapped my hands and yelled, "Come on, go..." and he slowly turned around and walked off back into the woods. True story...