# Ohio Deer hunter shoots Bear



## fshnteachr (Jun 9, 2007)

http://www.whiotv.com/news/26008638/detail.html

If I was a "bettin' man" this guy was not being "charged" by the bear, he simply saw a bear and shot it. I hope not, but I bet that's what happened.


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## fishwendel2 (Nov 19, 2007)

Sure....it charged you. 

MASSILLON, Ohio  A northeast Ohio deer hunter netted a bigger kill than expected when he reportedly shot a 225-pound black bear on opening day of Ohio's deer gun season.

Wildlife officials say bears are protected in Ohio and they have to treat the shooting as a criminal act while investigating.

Officials said the hunter notified the Harrison County sheriff's office on Monday that he shot the bear in self-defense as it was charging him near Cadiz in eastern Ohio.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports investigators haven't released the name of the hunter, from Massillon in northeast Ohio. He has not been charged.

Wildlife officers had to call in an all-terrain vehicle to remove the bear from the woods.


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## tOSUSteve (May 30, 2007)

My father-in-law saw one near tappan last year, hope it wasn't this one...


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## bkr43050 (Apr 5, 2004)

fshnteachr said:


> http://www.whiotv.com/news/26008638/detail.html
> If I was a "bettin' man" this guy was not being "charged" by the bear, he simply saw a bear and shot it. I hope not, but I bet that's what happened.


Come on! We all know how aggressive Ohio black bears are don't we? Of course it was attacking him. I suppose there is always a chance that it was but I know I will not be taking you up on that bet though. We may never know the "rest of the story".


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## icefisherman4life (Aug 5, 2007)

ya i call it charging b.s.


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## Jigging Jim (Apr 3, 2010)

I wonder if they can test for the amount of adrenalin in the Bear's muscle tissues.... hmmm...


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## Shortdrift (Apr 5, 2004)

Just how can anyone determine whether the bear was charging with the information available so far? Can anyone be sure of the hunters guilt or is it something that comes to mind based on a what an individual would do if presented with the same situation (encountering a bear without giving the animal a chance to flee? Maybe the bear was wounded or had previous encounters with humans that triggered an aggressive reaction. I'm sure the wildlife officers involved in the investigation will do their best to determine the the truth and I will trust their decision.


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## Bigun (Jun 20, 2006)

I would expect the scene will give officers plenty enough to make an educated guess about the scenario. Wound location, disturbances to the ground, blood trail, etc. Personally I doubt the charge story but time will tell.


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## ohiogary (Dec 14, 2006)

Do you think a shot fired in the air would have helped


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## slaughtereyez (Jul 13, 2009)

yea wonder where the shot placement was...lung shot from the side, def wasnt charging...head shot or shot to the front, maybe it was charging....shot to the pooper and out the front, def not charging!


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## Snakecharmer (Apr 9, 2008)

The Plain Dealer said it was shot it the head at close range. Sounds like self defense to me.


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## Bulldawg (Dec 3, 2007)

Good thing it didnt have horns ! Never know he might have checked it in !!!!!!!!!!!


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## nschap (Jan 6, 2008)

i have been close to a bear they can be very intimidating, how close do u let one get b4 u shoot it, charging or not.


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## Bonemann (Jan 28, 2008)

If you were totally wrong shooting a bear why would you call the sheriff ?


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## bkr43050 (Apr 5, 2004)

You are right. It is wrong for me to not believe his story without further proof. I will have my suspicions but I should just keep this to myself. My apologies.

But I am interested to hear the details when they come.


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## claytonhaske (Apr 16, 2010)

Snakecharmer said:


> The Plain Dealer said it was shot it the head at close range. Sounds like self defense to me.


yeah, but he was using a shotgun slug.........so no matter where you shoot it, it's gonna look like it was close range, unless it's head was half-way blown off.


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## Pastor Angler (May 19, 2010)

What scares me is that is way too close to where I hunt. 

And I am from Massillon!!!!

The bears are out to get all of us from Massillon!!!!!!!!!!!


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## bkr43050 (Apr 5, 2004)

I think for the most part there is a real misconception of black bears as being dangerous. While they present a bit more risk in the wild than anything else we have around here they are not normally aggressive toward people. They can become a nuisance if they get to the point of encroaching on homes and such but mostly just that they will tear things up. That is not a statement pertaining to this hunter but just my take on the presence of black bears as a whole.


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## icefisherman4life (Aug 5, 2007)

if he woulda shot a warning shot it would ran away. look at them dudes in alaska shoot a .500 and it scares away grizzlies. which are way more not intimidated by humans. ive seen where guys were in tree stands and a black bear tried to climb up a tree to see what they were. and they shook a aarow at it and it ran. so i dunno.


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## martinconcrete (Feb 4, 2006)

I have a pic of the bear on my cell phone sent to me on Tuesday. A friend on mine from Tappan is buddys with the game warden and he stopped by his place to show him the bear. He said that it was shot near Clendening and weighed about 250 pounds(his estimate). He did say that they are investigating on whether or not is was a legal shot. 

I also have some property on the eastern side of Harrison Cty north of Hopedale, and my neighbor showed me a picture of a bear he had on trail cam. He said he called the game warden and was told that the bears are showing up with more frequency. The game warden said that there is an active den somewhere near Stuebenville.

Last night I was checking in a deer at the Deersville General store and Warden Nick Turner was in there talking about the bear. He said it was 225 pounds and somewhere between 21/2 and 31/2 years old.


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## ezbite (May 25, 2006)

im no bear expert, maybe there were cubs in the area and mama was PO'ed. doesnt say male or female black bear. you have yearling deer running around, why not young bears too?


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## CRAPPIE LOVER (Feb 11, 2007)

My guess it would be a charging kill...All he had to do was shoot the bear and walk away and who would have known..I have to lean on the hunters story...My two cents.....JIM....CL....


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## creekcrawler (Oct 5, 2004)

I shot eight deer in my backyard this year.
They were all charging me!


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## Snakecharmer (Apr 9, 2008)

bkr43050 said:


> I think for the most part there is a real misconception of black bears as being dangerous. While they present a bit more risk in the wild than anything else we have around here they are not normally aggressive toward people. They can become a nuisance if they get to the point of encroaching on homes and such but mostly just that they will tear things up. That is not a statement pertaining to this hunter but just my take on the presence of black bears as a whole.


A good friend of mine and his wife were stalked by a black bear in the Smokies last August. Only having 3 other people coming to their rescue throwing stones at the bear kept it from having a sad outcome. They were chased up a mountain by the bear and his wife hyper ventilated by the stress. Finally after 5 people yelling and hitting the bear with stones were they able to safely retreat to their cabin.


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## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

Certainly don't know the facts of this situation, I have my personal opinion but who knows.

I took a customer from work bowhunting with me some years ago. Upon meeting back at the truck at noon he told me he shot (, hit, did not kill) a large black dog that was "chasing" deer. The dog he shot was the neighboring farmers dog. I had watched that dog walk through this section of woods for many years. The deer would pay little attention to him other than move away from his direct path. The dog would stop and watch the deer and then go on about his almost daily walk around the woods. In 5-6 years I had never seen this dog even walk at a fast pace much less chase anything.

First off this dog was not on his owners property, second I guess I should have been specific with this guy about expected behavior and do's and don'ts It is just that in all of these years watching that dog I had never once seen it as anything but the neighbors dog out taking a walk and would have never considered harming it or that anyone else would either.

I learned a valuable lesson that day. There are some guys that just like to kill **** no matter what it is, maybe even a bear if the opportunity presents itself.


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## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

CRAPPIE LOVER said:


> My guess it would be a charging kill...All he had to do was shoot the bear and walk away and who would have known..I have to lean on the hunters story...My two cents.....JIM....CL....



Who would he have been able to tell his bear killing story to in that scenario?


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## Muskarp (Feb 5, 2007)

Lundy said:


> Certainly don't know the facts of this situation, I have my personal opinion but who knows.
> 
> I took a customer from work bowhunting with me some years ago. Upon meeting back at the truck at noon he told me he shot (, hit, did not kill) a large black dog that was "chasing" deer. The dog he shot was the neighboring farmers dog. I had watched that dog walk through this section of woods for many years. The deer would pay little attention to him other than move away from his direct path. The dog would stop and watch the deer and then go on about his almost daily walk around the woods. In 5-6 years I had never seen this dog even walk at a fast pace much less chase anything.
> 
> ...



Whatever happened between you and the neighboring farmer? Did you guys come clean and tell him you shot his dog? That surely couldn't have went well! One of my co-workers told me he shot a dog last week that had continually run deer off his place. Sounds similar to the guy in your story. 
Your last sentence is definetly sad, but 100% true!


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## fishwendel2 (Nov 19, 2007)

I hear ya on the bear encounter. I was on a hike with my kids in the Smokey Mountains and we came between a mother and her cub. Not good. Luckily I was able to keep everyone calm and the mother and cub moved past us on the trail.


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## JignPig Guide (Aug 3, 2007)

Jigging Jim said:


> I wonder if they can test for the amount of adrenalin in the Bear's muscle tissues.... hmmm...


Oh heck yes they can. I have a friend named Bruce Brown who was attacked by a Grizzly when he lived in Alaska. He had just dropped a grizzly with his bow and was approaching it, when another one charged him and started ripping him apart. He shot it two times with his 44-magnum before it dropped.
Well anyway, he tells me that the Alaskan Division of Wildlife regularly checks/measures the adrenalin of a suspected illegally taken bear. If the bear doesn't rate a certain amount of adrenalin, the shooter is charged with the crime of poaching.


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## blink17925 (Jan 6, 2009)




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## wally72 (Apr 24, 2004)

All I know is that me and that bear would have smelled pretty bad, cause I would have had an accident if he was coming up my stand


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## Muskarp (Feb 5, 2007)

Dude. I think that guy had a Snickers in his pocket. That bear was smelling where it rubbed against brush on the hunters way in. He was just zeroing in on his next snack.


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## monsterKAT11 (Jun 20, 2004)

blink17925 said:


> YouTube - Bear Climbs Tree Stand


I must meet this man. He is now my hero. 

"hey what are you doing there?" haha amazing.


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## blink17925 (Jan 6, 2009)

i wish it was my video. my wife sent it to me. i would love to come across a black bear. i have a taxidermist/ ex-big game hunter in my family. he said that the only time a *female black bear* is aggressive is around cubs, for their protection. other than that, they will avoid humans... hmmmmmm.


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## Huntinbull (Apr 10, 2004)

Any word on the disposition of this investigation?


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