[Art Eatman]

This was taken at the restaurant in the Basin at Big Bend National Park. The size is typical for bears in this general area.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zdj9nBQ9CtY

[Speedo66]

Gee, that bear looked terrified by his encounter with people, not!

I think I want more than a piece of glass between him and me. Anybody notice how quickly that fat pudgy bear moved.

[burrhead]

Art, heard about that guy at the lodge; thanks for the video. Couple of weeks ago I saw a BIG bear three miles west of Hwy 385 on the old Marathon road. Two days later seven elk: 2 bulls, 3 cows and 2 young’uns. I'm working out at the Harte ranch these days. Never know what you’ll run into out here. ;)

Jim

PS. Badgers everywhere.

J

[MCgunner]

I haven't been to the basin or that restaurant in 35 years. There weren't the bear there back then. That vid makes me wanna go back packing in the bend again, LOL. Pretty country in those mountains. The south rim and trail is just breathtaking, both in vistas and beauty and in the effort it takes to get there. When I hiked it last, I was 20 something. It'd probably kill me now, LOL. As I recall, the initial climb out of the basin up that switchback trail was killer, couple thousand feet or something. Sheesh!

[Art Eatman]

From the Basin to the top of Emory Peak is around 2,500 or 3,000 feet, I disremember. Two trails; one rather steep but the other winds around and the slopes aren't nearly as bad. I went up the slow trail in '76, and came down the steeper one. The steepest part of the whole deal for Emory Peak, though, is that last thousand or so feet upward in just a half a mile. (Summit elevation is about 7,800 feet.)

[MCgunner]

We went up to the south rim via boot springs. The switch backs out of the basin were tough and I was in good shape then, still in college, had swam competitively in high school. I had a pack and 5 quarts of water in a milsurp water bag weighing me down a bit. I remember stopping a bunch of times to catch my breath, LOL! It was 14 miles in some really rough country.

We made a loop, came back through "laguna meadows" and into the basin, was much easier slope, suppose that's the other route you're talking about. Remember seeing some neat volcanic stuff on that route and walked right up on some carmen mountain whitetail, thought they were dogs with horns. LOL. It was a fun trip and lots to see for a wildlife and fisheries science major at the time. It was the first time I'd ever seen an actual mountain. Grew up near Freeport and the only hill we had around was Damon mound, a salt dome. Oh, take that back, I'd seen the Arbuckles in Oklahoma, but nothing like the Chisos! I'd also been to Bull Shoals to see family when I was very young, barely remember the Ozarks from that trip and they ain't squat either to the Chisos. I was rather awed by the whole trip. It was also my first back packing trip. Had to camp cold, no fires allowed, but had a tent along, a HEAVY tent. I couldn't afford the trendy stuff at the time.

All my kodacrhrome shots were in my mom's slide stuff when she died and I never found 'em when we cleaned out the house. I had borrowed my step dad's Yashica rangefinder camera for pictures. Had some good stuff.

Next time out there was on motorcycles. We rode the "primitive roads" in the desert and rode up to the Basin. We climbed the lost mine trail for a day hike and when we got to the top, it was socked in by clouds. Dangit! Couldn't see your hand in front of your face.

[Art Eatman]

Several of us drove up to the restaurant this morning for a breakfast gathering. The manager told us that a larger bear had been along for the visit; it was too big to get between the railings. The two have been seen halfway regularly in the recent month or two.

Nobody is feeding them from the sidewalk. They're attracted by the smells from the kitchen. Dumb bears. I noticed that on the opposite side of the building, the kitchen is far more readily accessible. :)

[Kurt S.]

My sister was employed for a US Biological Survey wildlife study of bears in Big Bend circa 1994-95.

The first bear I have seen in the wild in over 30 years was about 3 years ago, a little north of Big Bend at Elephant Mountain WMA (http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/hunt/wma/find_a_wma/list/?id=7) while dove hunting.

I had just turned loose a volley of #7.5 from my 16 ga. Rem 1148 at a couple of those fast flying little demons (Kurt S., 0; Doves, 2). All of a sudden about 10 yds to my left, something with a large furry black rear end hauls buggy to the south away from me. They'd had a good monsoon that year that lasted well into September so the tumbleweeds were pretty high and thick; the critter still laid down a pretty good path through them with no trouble. I first thought it was a hog until it dawned on me that hogs don't 'lope' like that.

The buddy I was hunting with said they had been seen in Alpine!

[MCgunner]

Dude, that's a long way to go dove hunting. :what: Man, makes my annual Waco trip seem normal. Of course, most of that trip (incredibly good dove hunting, though) is visiting friends.

[LeonCarr]

I thought all of the bears in Big Bend had radio collars :).

Good to see the herd out and about. Hopefully they are multiplying and not being poached.

Just my .02,
LeonCarr

[Kurt S.]

MCgunner, we have rental property out there in Alpine that will eventually become our retirement place. So, anytime I go out there, it becomes a "business trip" to "inspect" the property.

My wife & I graduated from Sul Ross State in Alpine and still have a lot of old buddies out there. Family membership to Big Bend Sportsman's Club range http://www.iomoon.com/bbsc.htm (just to keep it gun-related).

Plus, we plain flat-out love the Big Bend-Davis Mountains area.

Kurt

[MCgunner]

It's pretty country, for sure. My wife was a city girl, went to Sul Ross for a year, transferred to Oklahoma. LOL I'd have liked it out there, but went to A&M. I guess home was closer. Old Plymouth broke down enough, would have hated to been stranded out on Hwy 90 somewhere. LOL. They'd probably never found my corpse. My old man went to school out there, too, never did figure THAT one out. He probably didn't know where it was when he signed up, LOL, but he's not the type that would like it out there. Me, I'd have loved it.

I'm a bit envious, nice climate and pretty country to retire to. I can't be that far away from my duck hunting spots and my trout holes and redfishing, though, and bow fishing and other things. I'd sure miss home if I was in the desert/mountains. I got too much salt water in my veins.

My buddy in Waco is an old Aggie friend. I don't own anything up there, but we get together there and here every season. He absolutely LOVES goose hunting and I get us booked on a hunt every season. We hunt my place for deer/hogs, but I think he comes mainly for the geese. He's got about 250 acres in grain and pasture and his dad has about 400, so there's some good dove hunting up there. Limits are more common than not.