This is horrible - 22 yr old killed by bear in West Milford

[UglyStick]

I hate reading these stories - such a tragedy... I've had too many encounters to count since I see bears on my property almost daily in the summer (my property borders a section of the Sparta Mountain WMA). 99% of the time, they are more scared of you than you are of them but I hope I never come across that 1 bear that isn't the norm.

My scariest encounter... I was in my driveway, down on 1 knee grinding paint off a section of an open car trailer I was restoring. I shut the grinder off and hear breathing in my ear. I turn my head and a 400-500 pound adult bear is leaning over my right should checking out what I'm doing (it sounds strange but you could tell he was just curious). As soon as I see his head about 6 inches from mine, I shout out and jump as one does when startled. This causes the bear to jump back a few feet (out of being startled from my reaction). So there we are, me still down on 1 knee about 4 feet apart from the bear and him just looking at me. We stay this way for about 10 seconds and then I clap and say in a raised voice, "get outta her... go..." and he slowly turns and walks away.

That day could have ended much differently... Be careful folks and read what Gerry posted... remember, these are wild animals...