My father has tons of experience with bears…. hunting them, serving as a safety office and bear guide and as the guy in Hoonah who skins bears for the City of Hoonah.
One of the guides went home and said, “Dad, I was out there on the bear trail today and the bear approached us and Owen walked, stepped in between us and he started talking to the bear. He said, ‘A long time ago, that’s what we used to do. We used to talk to the bears and tell them, ‘hey, we’re not here to harm you, we’re just here to gather food.’ Just talk to them in a normal tone of voice. You don’t want to scream and holler at them. That’ll get them more excited and more agitated and they’ll more or less attach you or… so. I could say it was very interesting to me, working out there. I try and talk with the guys and say, ‘don’t get excited. Just settle down.’ And I’ll step in with a tour, ‘Hey this is what we expect from you folks. If I’m going to stand between you folks and the bear, if any of you have any questions I’m not going to answer it. I’m going to stay focused on the bear. And actually I’ll walk past and I’ll catch up with you folks so you can ask all the questions you want. I’ll be more than glad to answer them.’ That was my focus. My focus is the bear. Not about you folks, I’m worried about the bear.
Owen James
Dad and Grandpa Hunting Bears in Kake
My father and I used to go hunting every fall, mainly for the fat… mainly to make bear oil out of it for cooking our fry bread and stuff…”
Owen James
Listen to my father’s story about hunting fall bears with his own father.