We did have an exciting encounter one day. We had found a large meadow where there were fresh droppings, dust baths and a few feathers. After sitting for a few hours near the sign, we decided to circle the meadow and do some calling into the adjacent timber. Halfway around, with no responses yet, Keith again blew loudly on the crow call. Immediately the brush erupted 20 yards away and we caught a glimpse of brown fur. Initially I thought we jumped an Elk, but it came running right at us instead of away. Turned out it was a red cinnamon phase Black Bear, that charged up to 10-15 feet! Thankfully it wasn't a Grizzly, which briefly went through both our minds based on the color. He stopped, leaned toward us for a brief moment (as if to continue coming at us), then turned and ran off. The whole incident was over in 30 seconds, probably much less. Our guess is he was dozing, was startled by the sound and rushed in instinctively, looking for a meal. I think if it was only one of us, there could have been a different outcome, but what seemed to stop him was when he looked and noticed 2 of us. Hard to say that was his thought process, but that seemed to be his reaction.
Both of us did have bear tags, but it was over much too quickly for me to unclip my rifle from my pack (which takes only a few seconds). Keith had his shotgun leveled at the bear and it was clear one of two things would quickly happen - either he would run off in a few seconds, or he would come at us and Keith would fire. No chance for me with the rifle in that scenario. Maybe we should have been more scared by the encounter but, overall, it was a really exciting experience. Pretty darn nice bear - gorgeous coat and color plus a decent size. An experience that we will never forget!
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