Tip of the cap to professional wildlife expedition guide Brad Josephs for this sensible guide to dealing with naughty, curious, and aggressive adolescent brown bear. Josephs encourages folks not to rely on guns and instead use electric fences and marine safety flares (in rare cases bear spray) to deter brown bears from entering his camp.
“How to deal with an aggressive subadult bear who is testing you in a camp situation without relying on firearms, which can result in dangerous situations and unnecessary dead or wounded bears.”
Jospehs points out that bluff or hop charges are just a part of brown bear body language and they don’t necessarily mean the bear wants to attack. In his 30 years of experience in Alaskan brown bear territory, Josephs has been bluff charged and short hop charged around 500 times by subadults, huge males, mothers with cubs and everything in between. In all those encounters he only had to resort to marine flares about a dozen times and has never sprayed a bear or discharged a firearm.
The following video shows a healthy 5 year old male brown bear on his second summer of independence. It has a typical winter coat shedding for mid-July. This bear was invading a camp situation, so must be hazed. If the bear was upset because you have have invaded its space and it was defending cubs or food source, or personal space, one should try to slowly back away rather than hold their ground.
Ultimately, Josephs’ wisdom proves that navigating bear country safely comes down to composure, preparation, and understanding wildlife rather than overreacting to it. By replacing immediate lethal force with effective non-lethal tools and a clear reading of bear behavior, folks can protect both themselves and the animals they come to admire. Staying calm and respecting those boundaries isn’t just safer for apex predators, it’s the smartest choice for us, too.
