What to do when you meet a bear in the forest

Will you run away? Will you stand dumbfounded? Will you keep calm and pull out your rescue from behind your belt? And how will the bear react? It is necessary to react at that moment. If the bear is close, you should take care of your own safety as soon as possible.

There are several principles and guidelines on how to behave. We do not claim that they will work at 100 %, but they are worth trying and maybe thanks to them you may save your skin.

Camping and its rules

Our beautiful landscape, full of natural phenomena and interesting locations, directly invites people to camp. Do you also like to go out to the nature in your free time? You pitch a tent and have fun with your friends on a tent. How far will you pitch a tent from the hearth? Where do you put the delicious food that you roasted, and you have left over?

If you have everything in one place, you should pay attention. You definitely need to ensure your safety and minimize the risk of an unexpected hairy visit to your tent as much as possible.

Be sure to set up outside the animal pathways. Definitely do not pitch a tent in places where you can see the animal traces, or you see signs of walkways in the grass or bushes. That’s the same as if you parked in the middle of the highway. Also, check out the area for raspberries, berries or even leftovers from other tourists. The given location is probably a source of food for forest animals.

Did you find a suitable place? What‘s next? Campsite based on a triangular layout is essential. The tent, food and hearth should be at a sufficient distance from each other in the shape of a triangle. First of all, find out the direction of the wind and make sure that the smell of food and smoke from the hearth does not flow directly onto your tent. It is best to hide the food in a relatively airtight container or in a car. If none of it is available, hang the food bag in a height, e.g. on the tree so that it is as far away from the trunk of the tree as possible. The height must be sufficiently dissuasive for the bear. Bears can also climb very well and for food they do it even better.

To prevent unexpected visits, we also recommend maintaining a sufficient noise level. If the bear hears you from a distance, it will be happy to avoid you.

When facing the bear – action is needed!

If, despite your best efforts and caution, you do not avoid encountering this beautiful but dangerous animal, you still have the opportunity to react in various ways. Although in a very short time, but you have more options. It is up to you how you evaluate the situation.

Keep calm. A calm and quiet voice does not frighten the bear as if you started screaming as if you were out of your mind. It would be even worse if you turned your back and started running in this situation. Do you think you can escape the bear?? You'd better start moving back facing the bear nice and slow. Of course, do not look them in the eyes. Eye contact is very dangerous and could provoke the furball. You better make sure there is no path or even a food source directly behind you. Because at this point, you would be standing between the bear and its target.

Thwarting the attack

There are two ways why a bear attacks. It may feel threatened and only "defends itself". The best solution at this point is to use a spray against bears and other wild forest animals. The spray reach is 10 meters and we recommend applying it for at least 6 seconds. The spray creates a shield between you and the bear, in which there is a high content of irritant substance CR. In addition to burning the eyes, this substance also causes burning of the skin and affects the respiratory tract. It causes suffocation and intense cough. The spray works within 2 seconds of contact and paralyzes the bear for a minimum of 15 minutes. 

If you don't have it on hand, then don't provoke the attacking bear. As you have heard many times, lie down on your stomach and play dead. Remember to cover your neck as well, to protect vital organs at least a little.

When can the bear also attack? It may also consider you the target of its hunt. This makes hiding or running from it more difficult. We recommend using self defence spray, which will really increase your chances to repel the attack successfully. If you don't use it, find shelter in the form of a car, a building, or climb a tree.

Bears are mostly afraid of people and they are afraid of us. As soon as they see, hear or feel a person, they run away and are frightened. However, they are unpredictable and very dangerous due to their strength and size. Therefore, in the event of a collision, try to give the furball many opportunities to escape or leave the zone where it feels uncomfortable.