Perhaps this bear would tip the scales at about 400 pounds or more.
In the thirty five years living very near the Greenbrier Entrance to the Great Smoky Mountains, I have personally encountered no less than 75 Black Bears (and perhaps more than 100) in and near the Smoky Mountains. Mama bear is certainly protective of her new cubs. Often Mama Bear is accompanied by last years cubs who may get the boot from Mama who has new cubs from this year to attend. The female cubs seem to linger a little longer than the male cubs all of which are about a year in age. The winter seems to just around the corner this year. Most years we see maverick bears, small and full of mischief in the month of October. This August was different as I had never seen a bear in my neck of the woods (which is only a couple of miles as the crow flies from the Park. There is a refrigerator on the back porch here at the cabin and the back door screen opens against it. I was blundering out the door to get a glass of ice and it seemed pretty tough opening the screen door. I pushed fairly hard and my weight on the door was reminiscent of pushing someone out of the way which turned out to be the truth. It was a large Black Bear perhaps 400 pounds or so. He lumbered out of the way and stood about 12 feet from the door while I was yelling at him as loud as I could muster and he did not move at all. It was very intimidating. One or two minutes of yelling followed by a trip to the gun rack to fetch the shotgun and upon returning the bear was still right where I had left him. I would never shoot an animal unless he was hurting someone and I have never seen that happen. I have even held a cookie out with my hand to give another bear a treat. [PLEASE DO NOT DO THIS] After I had shot the shotgun into the dirt, the bear left and I came back inside fairly shaken. You know … heart racing, excited and going over the experience again and again. I was alone with my two dogs and a cat and they were pretty good company for the next hour or so. Back to the baby cubs!!!
The male cubs get life’s initiation early as they gain knowledge of how to provide for themselves. The responsibility of the male bear is nil. All of the cub’s support is provided by Mom. Enough about the cultural family of black bears. For the most part, an average black bear, or should I say one who has recently been kicked out of mom’s care weighs about 200-300 pounds. He is often a maverick sort of animal, feeding in dumpsters and garbage cans, acting more like a nuisance than any other description.
We call this particular 'pulloff' Bear point where bears often visit. The image below is across the road from the 'pulloff.'
On the other hand is an experience of a a much larger animal, perhaps in the 500-600 pound weight class. Of course there is no way that we are able to weigh these wild creatures but when the fish tales begin, there is no way of stopping uncle George and telling him he is a crock of fish dung. Bear sizes are a lot like uncle Georges’ fish tracks, but be aware that the tales are not heeded because there might be a chance that the tale is just good information.
Bear Point in the Fall. My son David and another of the Flying Gimps, Budro and I hike as much as possible
My son David and another Flying Gimp and myself were hiking the 32 mile trail from Clingman’s Dome down to Fontana Dam. It is such a gorgeous trail with views of Fontana Lake on the southern slopes of the trail and Cades Cove views on the northern slopes. It passes over Thunderhead with Tesla type electrical energy on the top of this mountain which reaches almost 6000 feet in elevation. There are many stories about Thunderhead, but limitations prevail and I will continue to talk about black bears. There is a fairly large intersection where the trail from Cades Cove traverses the mountain and hikers from many parts congregate at the Spence Field shelter. It was like one of those events where a little music and a little sour mash wrapped its head around many of us, making the morning like thunderhead itself. I was still not awake at about 7 am but the morning relief just had to be there and as I opened the door to the shelter and walked to the corner, there was another creature who likely needed to relieve himself like me. He was the biggest bear I have ever encountered, in my 35 years of wandering in these beautiful mountains and while standing on all four legs, stood just a little above my waist. If he were to have stood on only his back legs, he could reach a full eight feet. I would suggest that this bear weighed about 500-600 pounds with no reservation in my thinking.
How could this tiny one cause so much fear? Friends from Ohio were returning from a day hike on the trail to campsite 31 in the Greenbrier. A cub much like this one was sitting in a bed of violets and Mama was no where around. We tiptoed past this marvelous little cub, then scurried on down the trail with so much excitement .When he would cry a little it sounded just as a human baby would sound.
