Watch Hikers in Dakotas Get Surprised By Bear on their Trail
I've shared a lot of moments involving bears surprising people, but normally it's not from the Dakotas. That changes now as I have located video from a group of hikers in South Dakota who had a bear scare them off their trail.
I have some questions, but before I ask them this is the video just dropped on YouTube.
Here are the hikers own words about what they encountered:
A hiker got the shock of her life while hiking with her husband when a bear popped out of the bushes in front of her. Skye was hiking in South Dakota, US, when the bear showed up on the road in front of her. The couple spent a frantic few minutes trying to stop him getting closer until he eventually disappeared off into the wild. Skye, said: “I was terrified and thought we would be attacked, I thought this was the end.
My first question has to be is this really South Dakota? I've driven through that area a couple times in my life and never encountered mountains like that, but then again I don't get out very much. The Black Hills are amazing so maybe I just haven't explored that area enough.
Second thought isn't really a question, but a compliment. These hikers did 2 things which I don't see often enough involving bear encounters. When they saw the bear, they got off the trail and gave it room. They made noises to make sure the bear wasn't completely surprised. They also had bear spray at the ready if the bear became aggressive.
The only thing I would have done different is they attempted to return to the trail a little quicker than I would. The bear got up on its hind legs to check them out when they did, but eventually just went on its way. If I were grading this bear encounter, I'd give them a solid B+ for handling things correctly.