Appalachian Trail Journal -- Bear Spotting 101
A lot of what I'm going to jot down here may seem like common sense, but I know for a fact that an awful lot of people either don't know these things or could be reminded of them. I know this because just about every time I told someone I saw a bear, I'd hear someone bemoan the fact that they either hadn't seen one yet or had hardly seen any.
There are lots of bears to be seen along the AT! I spotted at least two dozen, probably more than thirty actually, and I wasn't even trying that hard. There were more than I'd expected! I saw them in every state along the way except for Massachusettes, Connecticut, Maryland (blink you're eyes and you're through it), and Vermont. I saw big ones and little ones. I saw some that ran away and some that didn't. I even had one walk up the trail and almost right into me.
As I mentioned earlier, I sleep with my food instead of hanging it, yet I only had problems with one bear. It was a New Jersey bear too, so I don't think it should count. I say this because New Jersey bears have an attitude that I've never seen in other bears. They are so used to people that the don't even move away when you hike near them. One of them, quite a large fellow, was within five meters of the trail and I got a bit nervous about getting so close to him. I shouted and banged my sticks, something that normally would send any bear racing off. This Jersey bear just turned and gave me a look that said: "so what's with all the racket?". He didn't move an inch.
The one that gave me trouble was near an urban area. I was camping off by myself but could hear a highway in the distance. I'd found a chair (!) in the woods and was sitting near my bivy, just off the trail when some hikers came by, excited about the bear just in front of them. They couldn't believe I hadn't seen it since it had to have gone right near me. Well, I wound up seeing far too much of him later. He kept sniffing around my bivy all night and I couldn't shoo him off. I'm sure this bear must live off of plundering garbage cans. I finally had to get up in the night, pack up my stuff and leave.
A few other bears were a bit too used to people as well. I saw one up a tree in Shenandoah and stood nearby watching it, trying to figure out what it was up to. It turned and saw me, climbed down the tree and started towards me. I moved off and it followed me for a bit. I think people in the park must feed them. Outside of New Jersey, the only places where the bears were too used to people was in the two national parks.
Every other bear I saw ran like a chicken when it got wind of me. The one that walked up to me was in Maine, towards the end of the 100 Mile Wilderness. I was standing just off the trail looking at a mushroom. I was wearing forest green clothing and standing by a fir tree and this bear came walking up the trail right towards me. At first I thought: "cool, he doesn't see me, look how close he's coming and how good a look I'm getting at him." Then, when he got really close, I started thinking: "shit, what if he really does know I'm here and is coming for me!" So I made a noise, just a small, clearing the throat noise, and this bear turned his head and gave a look that said: "shit, look how close I came to walking into that smelly thru-hiker!" He took off in a flash.
OK, the bear spotting lesson is simple. First, you need to be as crepuscular as they are: get out early or late. With only about three exceptions, every bear I saw was either early or late in the day. Next, avoid getting just behind other hikers. I only saw bears when I wasn't close to other hikers. Finally, keep your eyes open and don't make a ton of noise. Follow these guidelines and I guarantee many bear sightings on the AT.
Getting off the trail and just standing still for a bit works well too. I know this because besides my mushroom detour, I saw bears four times when I went off-trail for a squat. Another time I returned from a squat to find a young cub sniffing at my bag, which I'd left by the trail.
The opposite works fairly well too. If you move quickly, provided you don't make a lot of noise, particularly with your poles, you can catch sight of bears before they smell or hear you. This won't work if the wind is behind you though. I never saw bears while moving when the wind was at my back. You're just too smelly for that to work.
Of course these methods work with other animals as well. I saw moose and beaver in the north, deer everywhere, and quite a few other critters along the way. Basically, the only way to minimize animal sightings is to hike with other people and only camp at the shelters, something that many thru-hikers do.