Bear Bumper

scatter · 10-16-2008, 10:20 AM

Hit a bear last nite. We were headed east on Hwy. 70 after dark and a bear comes charging out of the trees. I zigged and zagged while leaning on the brakes, but to no avail. Hit the bruin to the left of center with a pretty good jolt and then felt the thump as I ran over him. Wasn't too big of a thump so I think it was probably a leg that went under the wheel. No one else on the road so I looked around (from inside the rig) and he (she?) had run (crawled?) off into the forest. I pulled ahead a hundred yards and got out to check the van and there was some bear dust and a small scuff on the powder coat. No dents or anything else. A sheriff pulled up while I was checking things and asked if I needed help. Told him I was fine but that there was a hurt and pissed off bear up the hill. I mentioned that seeing as how he was the one with the gun it was his responsibility to check it out.
The way he looked at me I think he was trying to decide whether to shoot me or give me his gun and send me up the hill. We agreed that I would go on my way and he would take a look around next to the road and let it go at that.

Really a bummer re the bear. I sure hate to hurt one like that and have it crawl off and die.

At least we have tough bumpers.

Aluminess bumper one, bear zero....

adventureduo · 10-16-2008, 10:32 AM

Damn that sucks. Poor bear. I love animals more than most people. I hope he's alright. Sucks the sheriff didn't want to call fish/game, animal control etc. But the chance of finding the fella might be hard. How big was he? How fast were you going when you hit?

jage · 10-16-2008, 11:01 AM

Hopefully he is O.K. or will be. The fact that he didn't wind up on the road is a good sign.

I feel your pain- last month I went to Meeker because the only opportunity to spend time with my brother and father this year was during their elk and deer hunting trip. We spent 10 days, they hunted I camped and offroaded.

I'm the only one who killed anything the whole trip- a buck jumped out in front of my Jeep and caught the bumper, snapping his neck and killing him instantly. I was glad the bumper protected most of the Jeep from damage, but it was horrible to see such a beautiful animal die.

Someone pointed out later that because it was lifted that probably kept him and his 4-points from coming through the windshield, the bumper certainly protected the front of the Jeep.

I would be all the more mortified if it was a bear- but bears are tough and we can all hope he lived through it, probably due to your braking efforts. Glad you are all right too!

scatter · 10-16-2008, 01:56 PM

Yeah, I hope the bear is alright too. It really bummed the wife and I out. I was down to about 15 MPH when I hit it, so hopefully it's alright. They're pretty tough animals.
A few years ago I hit an elk and that was a whole different story. Lots of damage to the van and I had to put the elk down and then use my winch to move it off the road. That was a 45 MPH hit. Airbags and fur everywhere.
I enjoy hunting, but sure hate it when anything ends up as road kill.

Blackeye · 10-16-2008, 03:34 PM

Since we are on the subject of bumpers and wildlife, I was cruising along CA36 on Tuesday evening and as I rounded a corner, doing about 60mph, an adult deer was standing in the opposite lane. I immediately let off on the accelerator and was going for the brake when it decided to get a closer look at the Aluminess bumper on the front of the rig.

I was probably doing 50mph when we made contact. All I felt was a small thud and then a very minor bump-bump as it went under. Bummer! I pulled over at the next safe spot and checked brake lines, etc. All was intact, albeit a little red.

I was glad to have the Aluminess bumper and the lifted rig as it might have impacted the radiator or worse.

PeasBugs · 10-16-2008, 09:15 PM

I know that there are differences through out the entire country but here on the coast the rut is in full swing. You have to be extremely careful when driving on the back roads. The bucks are chaseing the does all over the forest and out onto the roads. The normally wary deer are all over the place even in the middle of the day. They really get stupid at this time of the year. Be careful out there.

Ed in Montana · 10-20-2008, 02:38 PM

Sorry to hear about the bear Scatter. Glad you are OK.

In early August we were headed north on I-15 along the Missouri River when a bear cub ran in fron of us headed west. He was far enough in front that all I had to do was slow down a bit to avoid contact, but the medium size bear (a yearling maybe) vaulted over the jersey barrier about a hundred yards in front of a pack of motorcyclists.

I was flashing my lights and hitting the horn and luckliy they slowed enough to miss the beast too. It could have been ugly for them.

Buji · 10-20-2008, 05:19 PM

talk about pucker factor!

I had an elk jump right out in front of me in Jellystone, and one night crossing the alien highway in nevada I ran up on a group of deer or gazelles or something and as I slowed down they formed a pack around the van until I slowed further and then they bounded off to the side.

Right after that I put them deer whistles under the aluminess bumper. Don't know if they do any good but I figure it's worth a shot.

Glad to hear y'all survived ok and everything.

Ford_6L_E350 · 10-20-2008, 06:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ed in Montana

Sorry to hear about the bear Scatter. Glad you are OK.

In early August we were headed north on I-15 along the Missouri River when a bear cub ran in fron of us headed west. He was far enough in front that all I had to do was slow down a bit to avoid contact, but the medium size bear (a yearling maybe) vaulted over the jersey barrier about a hundred yards in front of a pack of motorcyclists.

I was flashing my lights and hitting the horn and luckliy they slowed enough to miss the beast too. It could have been ugly for them.

Amen to that. We hit a mule deer (~150#) with our motorcycle/sidecar rig. Not fun at all.

Mike

Txn2daBone · 10-20-2008, 06:29 PM

Glad to hear nothing serious happened to anyone here. My brother sent me these pictures a while back and by the looks of it this person didn't have a chance to slow down.

Ric

Admin Edit: changed to links for disturbing content. Sorry I don't want to see a poor dead moose everytime I view this thread.
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