How are you supposed to deal with the bears??

[e11]

I set up a campfire next to a freshly-shot wolf, so I could harvest the hide, when a bear shows up. I made some distance, then put three rifle bullets into it before it reached me for a cuddling session. A few seconds later, before I could really get my bearings, it came in for another. I got another shot off, but the bastard still didn't die.

What does it take? It's now a day later in my game: Did he bleed out somewhere nearby? Or did his health regenerate, and I'll have to waste yet more bullets if I'm to get him out of the picture?

[IFIYGD]

Check your Journal to see if if you have a new bear kill listed. Of course, that only works if you know how many you had before your snuggle-with-Fozzy moment.

[NOVA7258]

Very nice. I like the fact that JayXL gets off a shot before the bear comes to halt at the fire. Then the bear is likely to die from that one more shot. I usually only critically wound him and have to track him down.

By the way, a fire at a corner of a house is not effective.

I forgot to give credit to JayXL for first showing me how to deal with bears. Thank you JayXL !!!!

[H34VY_R41N]

I have had a bear stopped before thrown torch. I don't know if it's reliable neither because I don't want to test it once more )

[Icarus]

You raise your hands above your head and start screaming at it while jumping , or was that for large felines ?

[Stridswombat]

Originally posted by Anta:

You raise your hands above your head and start screaming at it while jumping , or was that for large felines ?

You might be joking, but that is unironically how you deal with blackbears irl.

[humblehome]

Find a safe place from which to shoot. If there is none, avoid the bear. Best options are usually broken trees that are too high up for a bear to reach. Or shoot when you are near a car and then jump inside it. Ducking into a house that has a loading screen sometimes resets the bear's health, so that's not the best option. Better than dying though.

[Blizzard Walker]

Never engage a bear in a fair fight. On my Voyageur run I have killed 80 bears so far and have not yet been mauled.

Upon entering an area learn the bear's route. For example, the bear walks by the PV Farmhouse back porch like clockwork at dusk. The Bear Creek Campground bear similarly walks past the CH Fishing cabins at dusk.

Shoot from safety. Pull bears in closer with stones or by letting it see you (standing not crouching). One arrow is all you need as it will bleed out provided you don't go into a building or cave with a loading screen - doing so often results in the bear recovering.

Setting aside low condition arrows (27% condition or less) means you will get your killing hit while your broken arrow will be on the ground even if the bear runs off.

Once dead you get 15+ days of peace till it respawns.

[IFIYGD]

Originally posted by Blizzard Walker:

... Pull bears in closer with stones ...

This actually works pretty well. When they first added throwing stones to the game, I decided to see what the bear at Trappers would do if I pelted it with stones. It did not end well for my character, lol. Unlike wolves (that get distracted or scared off)- bears do not like having stones thrown at them and it will attract them or outright aggro them. It really can help if you are trying to pull them in closer to a "safe spot" where you can shoot them with less risk.

[tatansteve2]

I know bears are really hard to deal with. If you want to kill it I would suggest finding a spot where it can't easily get( preferably on rocks because their AI isn't programmed to go on there) and after it has spotted you and is ready to attack shoot it a couple of times. Now if you're not looking for trouble I wold suggest taking a flare/torch and find a house to stay in for about half a minute.

[HM]

You have to be proactive with bears. Either actively avoid it or actively kill it. Simply hoping to avoid it by setting up fires and going about your business won't work. IMO best way to hunt a bear is essentially what JayXL showed but I use a flare on the ground in front of me as a break point. Then you snipe the bear, draw it towards you. It will stop at the flare/fire before getting to you, giving you extra time to take it down. Also, having an escape plan is smart, like an interior door to run to nearby should things go badly.
Most importantly, bears are an obstacle best avoided. You shouldn't even bother hunting wolves in an area the bear frequents because it's a waste of resources. There is tons of space, better to make your way in the places the bear is NOT, unless you have no other choice.

[Geronimo]

Bears are actually the easiest kills if you hunt with bow and arrows on Interloper. Compared to deers, wolves and especially the moose they are far easier to kill. Their target area is much larger, and they don't run up and down or sideways. There are two pieces of advice though, to be given:

1. ALWAYS try to shoot him in the head. Make your shots critical shots, either in the head or the neck.

2. ALWAYS have an exit strategy such as a fallen tree, hunters blind, or a cabin to flee to. Because if you shoot an arrow in the head, and he charges you, and you shoot another arrow in the head on point blank range, but the distance is too short for him to back off, he can still get to you.

[pbmax]

When you harvest, don't hold on to the meat.

[pbmax]

Originally posted by IFIYGD:

Originally posted by Blizzard Walker:

... Pull bears in closer with stones ...

This actually works pretty well. ... It really can help if you are trying to pull them in closer to a "safe spot" where you can shoot them with less risk.

It also works to lure them away from your path. I got past the bear on the TWM summit run that way once, since I didn't have a weapon yet.

[PK_Ultra]

If its the storyline bear, RUN until you find a way to kill it.

If its just a normal bear, a flairgun to the nose will instakill it. Pistol is useless, you need to use hunting rifle to hurt the thing.

Besides that, grenades and noise makers to hurt and distract it. If you think the bear is bad wait until you run into a moose. GL.

[e11]

Originally posted by PK_Ultra:

Besides that, grenades and noise makers to hurt and distract it. If you think the bear is bad wait until you run into a moose. GL.

Well, the moose ran into ME.