[Jeff Higgins]

I've run accross the dreaded mama bear with cubs several times. I was actually unfortunate enough to be between the mama and her one cub on one such occasion, and mama and her two cubs on another. On both occasions the fearsome mama, with those protective mothering instincts coming to a full boil - ran like hell and left me with her cub(s).

On the first occasion, my partner and I were hiking in to hunt mulies above the Similkameen River in Washington's north Okanogan. We jumped mama and two cubs way too close for anyone's comfort, like about ten yards apart before everyone saw everyone else. Mama wasted no time getting the hell out of there, leaving her cubs to us. They both climbed about ten feet up a dead snag, where my partner got some great pictures of them. They were bawling for mama the whole time, who we never did see again.

The other time, my then six year old son and I were grouse hunting above the Suiattle River about 50 miles north of where I live. He starts in, "dad, there's a bear..." and I see a very small cub playing around in the berry bushes, not ten feet away. Ruh roh... where's mama?

Immediately to my right, at the top of a cut bank we were walking past, less than ten feet away and even with my head. I never saw her until I started looking in earnest - I had walked right past her. She had me dead to rights. Knowing she had the full tactical advantage, she elected to take full advantage of her position - and run like hell. She left her little cub sitting right in front of us, now less tha five feet away. Our dog was sitting obediantly at heel. So, we walked around the cub - who just sat there looking at us - and hoped his brave, ferocious mama would calm down enough to come back for him.

Anyway, you just never know. I was chased by a goddamn cow elk one time, of all things. Scared the absolute bejeebers out of me. I guess deer will do that too, sometimes, although I haven't seen it. I had a coyote seek shelter from a driving rain under the low hanging branches of a pine tree with me; he didn't notice me when he started crawling in. He surprised me, and I had time to do nothing but sit there with him. Close enough to touch. I thought he was going to tear me a new one. He checked me out, then crawled back out as nonchalantly as he crawled in, walking away and stopping to look back a few times, as if to say "schit... taken..." I had a wild turkey do his damnedest to chase me off one time (I wasn't hunting them, I was deer hunting). Pretty ballsy for a flippin' bird. He meant it, too. He was mad. Our size difference meant nothing to him. I even "charged" him, trying to scare him off. He not only held his ground, he came for me. He won - he chased me away. 1:10 size disadvantage and all. He wanted it more than I did.

Point is, you never can tell. Spend enough time out there and you will see some weird stuff. Spend enough time around guys who have spent their lives out there, and they will tell you even weirder stuff. And every single one of them will tell you that a full grown adult brown bear boar would absolutely destroy the biggest cat on earth.