Things that go bump in the night!

[NuthinbutJHP]

So last night my wife and I are just getting into bed around midnight when she says "did you hear that? It sounds like something just hit the house." I said I didn't hear anything and we went to bed. 15 mins later the dog is growling and my wife is shaking me awake whispering "something is stealing one of the garbage cans. I think it's a bear." I roll over and look out the window to see just out of range of the motion lights a 350-400lbs black bear carrying away an entire trash can. At this point we start yelling at it and the dog is given the OK to start barking. All this and the bear sits down to open the can and starts eating. At this point I decide this bear is too close and not afraid of people and it's time to face it. We get up and get dressed. My 8 month pregnant wife grabs her mossberg 930spx and I grab my ruger SR9 and AR15 and head out the door. As we exit the front door and jokingly yell "Hey Booboo I got another pica-nic basket for ya" the bear turns and starts walking towards use. Despite all our yelling at this point it keeps coming towards us. My wife tells me to fire off a shot from the AR to scare it away so I do just that. I fire a single into the dirt about 10 yards in front of the bear. The bear stops and looks at me like it's thinking to it's self "haha yea right". The bear turns and slowly wanders off into the woods. My wife then calls the local police to let them know if they got any calls for shots fired it was me and everything is ok. The cop that came out to write the report was great, he didn't even flinch at the sight of me with my AR strapped across my chest and handgun on my hip. He just simple said " so how big was this thing", unholstered his glock and started scanning the woods. Today we bought a game camera and are going to try and get some pictures of it and some of the other wildlife on the property including several sightings of a large cat by several neighbors ( I know I have 2 bobcats on the property but my neighbors insist this cat has a long tail and is much larger ).

[nlcrsn]

Time for a paint ball gun with pepper balls or an OC grenade. I'd hate to have to put down a bear just looking for food. They do need to associate some pain/ fear with humans. Maybe one of those Taser claymores around the garbage can would get him thinking.

[The_War_Wagon]

Time for a paint ball gun with pepper balls or an OC grenade.

You're REALLY wanting to play "paintball" with a bear?!?!


You need something in .308. At a minimum...




Set up for the 'night shift,' too.

[nlcrsn]

You're REALLY wanting to play "paintball" with a bear?!?!


You need something in .308. At a minimum...




Set up for the 'night shift,' too.

Didn't say not to be prepared for an alternative outcome. Animals do fear man unless taught not to.

[acosenza2]

You're REALLY wanting to play "paintball" with a bear?!?!


You need something in .308. At a minimum...




Set up for the 'night shift,' too.

The non-PAFOA smileys that you use in your posts always add so much expression to your posts...they usually make me laugh. I am going to start reping your emoticons lol

[StrangeKnight]

The one thing I would be concerned with is if the bear found food, what are the chances it will return? But I can imagine another horrible scenerio, here you are tired just wanting to go to bed and you are bare footed and then it happens! step right in a pile of bear sh*t. I seen what a big dog can do, I can only imagine the bear.

[den9]

up my mountain property i had a bear chowing down on some corn 15 yards behind me while i was sitting at the camp fire. i heard something so im scanning the woodpile on the porch 40 yards away, for 10 min and cant figure it out. finally i decide to look behind me because i seen a raccoon earlier, well i see this bear, i never ran so fucking fast in my life.

[IronSight]

... At this point I decide this bear is too close and not afraid of people and it's time to face it. We get up and get dressed. My 8 month pregnant wife grabs her mossberg 930spx and I grab my ruger SR9 and AR15 and head out the door. As we exit the front door ...

You have got to be kidding me. Why would you go outside to face a hungry 350-400lb bear that you've already decided is "too close", when you have windows and an (apparently) clear sight line from inside the house?

Even worse, not just putting yourself in the more compromised position, but your unborn child as well.

Sorry, but this sounds like a made-up event, and if it's not, then I don't see any "logic" behind what you chose to do.

[str8shooter]

So last night my wife and I are just getting into bed around midnight when she says "did you hear that? It sounds like something just hit the house." I said I didn't hear anything and we went to bed. 15 mins later the dog is growling and my wife is shaking me awake whispering "something is stealing one of the garbage cans. I think it's a bear." I roll over and look out the window to see just out of range of the motion lights a 350-400lbs black bear carrying away an entire trash can. At this point we start yelling at it and the dog is given the OK to start barking. All this and the bear sits down to open the can and starts eating. At this point I decide this bear is too close and not afraid of people and it's time to face it. We get up and get dressed. My 8 month pregnant wife grabs her mossberg 930spx and I grab my ruger SR9 and AR15 and head out the door. As we exit the front door and jokingly yell "Hey Booboo I got another pica-nic basket for ya" the bear turns and starts walking towards use. Despite all our yelling at this point it keeps coming towards us. My wife tells me to fire off a shot from the AR to scare it away so I do just that. I fire a single into the dirt about 10 yards in front of the bear. The bear stops and looks at me like it's thinking to it's self "haha yea right". The bear turns and slowly wanders off into the woods. My wife then calls the local police to let them know if they got any calls for shots fired it was me and everything is ok. The cop that came out to write the report was great, he didn't even flinch at the sight of me with my AR strapped across my chest and handgun on my hip. He just simple said " so how big was this thing", unholstered his glock and started scanning the woods. Today we bought a game camera and are going to try and get some pictures of it and some of the other wildlife on the property including several sightings of a large cat by several neighbors ( I know I have 2 bobcats on the property but my neighbors insist this cat has a long tail and is much larger ).

Sorry, but this story is full of fail.

One, a woman 8 months pregnant shouldn't be out in the dark trying to intimidate a bear that you determined wasn't afraid of people, armed or not.

Two, never shoot at or near a living creature unless you intend to kill it. Gun safety 101. The round could have easily ricocheted off the ground and injured the bear. If that happened and you were lucky, Boo Boo would've run away to painfully bleed out somewhere in the dark. If you weren't so lucky, it would have continued to come toward you at a much greater speed. At that point your 9mm pistol wouldn't have even made a good club against a 350+ pound black bear, and I'm guessing your wife isn't quite the sprinter she may have been 8 months back should the bear decide she's the one he's pissed at.

Three. Why call the cops and tell them you just broke one or more laws. Granted, there really shouldn't be a problem with this, but firing a gun within x number of yards from a permanent residence is against the law in every city and township I'm aware of in PA. So is shooting at an animal out of season that is not a threat to anything more than your leftovers. You say it was coming towards you, but if you had time to fire a warning shot, then you had time to go back in the house to get yourself and pregnant wife out of harms way. Calling the PD to explain the situation in case more calls came in seems like the appropriate thing to do, but if the dispatcher wakes up an officer napping in his cruiser to come out and get your report, you're taking a risk that he might be cranky enough to cite you for each and every ordinance you violated.

Four, an officer takes out a handgun and starts looking into the dark woods for a black bear that has already demonstrated it's pretty adamant about getting the goodies in the garbage can. Unless Ranger Rick has nerves of steel and can make a kill shot with a pistol on a charging 350+ pound bear at night, he would have been smart just to tell you to stay indoors for the night, then skeedaddled it out of there before Boo Boo got back.

[Daycrawler]

IIRC the OP had another post where he had to deal with trespassers on his large property! There fore I do belive that he had a bear on his property. Bear are lazy and will take the easy meal.
My cabin is about 40 miles from the OPs Scranton/Lacawanna location. The bear will walk into your camp in an attempt to get food. Bear can also tear into cans, dumpsters, cars ect. .
So unless the OP has stone walls and bars on the windows, he just may have been safer chasing the bear away! A bear the size described could easily get into a house. I would not feel safe with children around a bear that size. A child or adult could easily be killed by even a small bear. I would have the bear trapped and removed.