Cutest & scariest thing in a thick hammock

hoggator

We took a picture & got out of there back tracking our steps real quick.  Bear Island this week.  So young, it couldn’t stand up & its head was bobbling around trying to look back at us.  Not sure where  Mama was, but didn’t want to find out.  

bswiv

Awfully early in the year for them to be out following mother. Especially if it was not able to move about as you noted.

hoggator

That’s SoFl for you.  We also saw a fawn that was 3-4 month old.  Maybe May breeding.  

Turner River Terror

3 months on that Fawn will put it at 6 Months when the Rains come in the Glades.
Thats survivable but a little older would not hurt.
Bear Island is what we called High Ground... It that Fawn was in Stairsteps it'd need a snorkel in Rainy Season..

Jstubby2

Armadillo in the woods at night, sounds like an army!

Big Bend Brian

Hoggator you nailed that title!
Great photos! Glad you didn't have a problem!
Brian

hoggator

Big Bend Brian said:

Hoggator you nailed that title!
Great photos! Glad you didn't have a problem!
Brian

My buddy laughed at me for throwing my  Turkey shotgun over my shoulder and pulling out my Glock .380 as we back tracked. I just wanted to be able to fire some quick warning shots if mom showed up and just wanted to scared us away.  Plus it was really thick in there.  Tougher to swing a shotgun around.  Just glad non of that played out. 

bowhunter4life

I wouldn’t want to get in a gunfight with a bear using a 380… like bringing a knife to a gunfight!..💀

joelunchbucket

Might work if you held it to their head and pulled the trigger. 

Wouldn’t want to get close enough to find out though.

Mackeral Snatcher

Yea, you got lucky.

Mama bears don't play.

JohnnyBandit

As BSWIV... it is EXTREMELY early for a cub to be out following the sow...

In Florida, cubs are born in January to early February.

At Most that cub is two and a half months old. It should not be out and about. And The Mom should be right there...

So something is wrong.  Something happened to the sow. Or there is something wrong with the cub and she abandoned it.

As far as sows go....  They are protective.. They will want you to leave and give them space. But she does not want to fight. Getting in a fight puts her at risk of injury. She will typically give a person plenty of warning... They teeth pop and make a huffing sound. If that does not work, then a false charge will probably be next.

altuck

Couple of years ago.
Pic is from a game camera, but I watched the show from ladder stand. 
They hung around for a half hour before moving on.
My wife says they were playing pattycakes.

swampdog

In Florida they give birth in thick growth. It’s speculation as to where the mother was. You may have caught her moving cubs and she was off retrieving another one. A sow bear will charge if she thinks her cub is in danger. 

I think you guys used great judgment. 

JohnnyBandit

swampdog said:

In Florida they give birth in thick growth. It’s speculation as to where the mother was. You may have caught her moving cubs and she was off retrieving another one. A sow bear will charge if she thinks her cub is in danger. 

I think you guys used great judgment. 

As you said... They keep their cubs in thick growth....  If the sow was moving her cubs because they felt her old den site was no longer safe... It is very unlikely that she would have left a cub out in the open like that....

As far as a sow charging you..... She DESERVES a hell of a lot of respect...  But she is far more interested in getting her cubs away from you than picking a fight with a creature that has the potential to hurt her... Reducing her ability to protect her cubs...

I spend quite a bit of time photographing bears... If bears, even sows with cubs, readily actually charged people I would be dead many times over.... Sows with cubs are usually take off and lead the cubs away from you....

JohnnyBandit

altuck said:

Couple of years ago.
Pic is from a game camera, but I watched the show from ladder stand. 
They hung around for a half hour before moving on.
My wife says they were playing pattycakes.

Is this Florida? Looks like it..... VERY COOL either way... you got a southern bear with a white chest blaze.. 

cracker4112

Walked this one up down south turkey hunting a couple years ago.

altuck

That pic was in Jefferson County Fl.
Aucilla river area.

JohnnyBandit

cracker4112 said:

Walked this one up down south turkey hunting a couple years ago.

Very Cool!!! when they do that they are just trying to get a better look at you or the situation.....

This one gave me this photo right at sunrise and in the fog on my birthday last August...

cracker4112

Yep, he never really figured out what I was. I had the wind on him as I was trying to find my way through a thick line of palmettos chasing a gobbler. I wasn’t super quiet as I was in a hurry and to him, I could have been many things…

NuthinTooFancy

Had this big boy on camera last year here in South FL. Never saw him in person, unfortunately.

meateater

i remember one time i was out hunting and came across 2 cubs     outa nowhere the mother attacked me     shot her after the first attack with my muzzleloader but she came back twice,    had to finally  kill her with just my knife       big mac and trt just hauled a zz and left me out there     still looking for those 2.  

Big Mak

meateater said:

i remember one time i was out hunting and came across 2 cubs     outa nowhere the mother attacked me     shot her after the first attack with my muzzleloader but she came back twice,    had to finally  kill her with just my knife       big mac and trt just hauled a zz and left me out there     still looking for those 2.  

Lol! Meat, you still out there crawling over half the state looking for us, holding a grudge? I thought we moved past that little hiccup...

RayI

I don't know if I could forgive and forget that one either meat?

JohnnyBandit

RayI said:

I don't know if I could forgive and forget that one either meat?

Meat was being sarcastic....He did not get attacked by a bear.....

He was trying to draw in ignorant people that never go in the woods and thought bears would actually attack people

joelunchbucket

I’m fluent in sarcasm. Pretty sure it was just a joke rather than sarcasm. 

Turner River Terror

meateater said:

i remember one time i was out hunting and came across 2 cubs     outa nowhere the mother attacked me     shot her after the first attack with my muzzleloader but she came back twice,    had to finally  kill her with just my knife       big mac and trt just hauled a zz and left me out there     still looking for those 2.  

Me and Mac can't help it that you were drunk and run like a 3 legged monkey...loser

FloridaOD

Some time ago I encountered Cubs and Mom..... and broke all the rules.I was not aware of the rules.... protocol.
Driving a Osceola National Forest road..... two Cubs scurry up tress. 

I get out of the vehicle, nearing the Cubs for photos..... then Mom appears a little ways away..... upright.
I got all sorts of photos. 

Since then, Bear encounters have become routine and I follow the Rules. 

Neatest Bear event was a single bear walking on a railroad rail.... all fours on the rail..... walking right towards me. 

gogittum

FloridaOD said:

Some time ago I encountered Cubs and Mom..... and broke all the rules.I was not aware of the rules.... protocol.
Driving a Osceola National Forest road..... two Cubs scurry up tress. 

I get out of the vehicle, nearing the Cubs for photos..... then Mom appears a little ways away..... upright.
I got all sorts of photos. 

Since then, Bear encounters have become routine and I follow the Rules. 

Neatest Bear event was a single bear walking on a railroad rail.... all fours on the rail..... walking right towards me. 

I'd really like to see the picture of that...

JohnnyBandit

This is the biggest bear I have ever seen.... Last May.... I spent about 45 minutes with him.  I sat on the ground and photographed him as close as 20 yards.....

He was chill... He knew I was there.... He did not care.... He was dining on crawfish.

JohnnyBandit

Same trip... This She bear... No cubs gave me some issues and got between me and my truck.... False charged me a couple of  times.... Finally moved off and I got past her... Then she came back out of the sweetgum swamp and followed me to my truck...

I did not take a lot of photos of her... it was raining and she was showing behavior I was more focused on paying attention to her and what she was doing.... I walked 50 yards backwards.... About 25 yards from the truck I hit the alarm button on the key fob and she went back in the sweetgums....

Showed this photo to a USFW guy the next day... he said... yea... you see those ear tags.... she already got in trouble somewhere else.... Steer clear of her...

swampdog

I noticed the tags when I looked at the pic and thought, “oh no that’s a relocated problem bear”. 
Bears are like people and each can have a little baggage with them They’re also wild animals and can be unpredictable depending on circumstances. That big laid back photo-op male, could be a problem if you wandered between him and his sow during the season. Nice pics.