The Worst Bear I Have Ever Met!

[JamerGamer]

So I was in Coastal Highway and I was pretty much set to move to Bleak Inlet. My plan was to go to one of the fishing huts near Misanthropes Island (sorry if it is spelt incorrectly) where I had seen some mountaineering rope on the shelf there wasn’t any in the box car near the ravine and the one in Mystery Lake in the Lookout was too far away. I went to the hut picked it up and saw a black bear about 20 meters/65.62 feet away from me. I play on Custom Voyager so I could of realistically passed time in the hut or something until the bear left but I had killed a few bears in the past on this save I felt so confident I lifted my Hunting Rifle and shot the bear he charged at me I shot him again but he was still chasing me. He attacked me and ruined a few of my cloths. Because mountaineering rope weighs 5kg/11lb I dropped stuff of at Jackrabbit Island and of course that had to be bandages. I ran back to the hut I ripped my Wool Toque (it was ruined so it would’nt even give a slight bit of protection) It took 10 mins to break down I was on like 25% condition got some cloth then used the cloth to craft bandages then was on no joke 10% condition then hypothermia kicked in. I saw the bear near me I said screw it pulled out my rifle shot it it fell over and (I know this seems stupid) got my Magnum out and threw the whole mag into its head. I popped a emergency stim and ran as fast as I could to Misanthropes Island where I was on NO JOKE 2-4 condition my vision was completely screwed I fell into bed and gave Mackenzie a solid 12 hours of sleep. Just shows you can never be to confident and not to be cocky in the beautiful Canadian wilderness also known as The Long Dark.

Thank you for reading my tough story.

[Stinky socks]

I felt that👍a handful of times my trip was ruined in a similar manner. Thank you for sharing!

[JamerGamer]

On 2/17/2021 at 1:15 AM, Stinky socks said:

I felt that👍a handful of times my trip was ruined in a similar manner. Thank you for sharing!

What are your stories? If you don’t mind me asking.

 

[Stinky socks]

Way too many during my reckless few survival days. ☺️ I tried to run a thread "(not)funny stories", but it didn't catch on and it's a drag to type up everything. I like to be very explanatory and it ends up a bunch of paragraphs. 

[JamerGamer]

8 hours ago, Stinky socks said:

Way too many during my reckless few survival days. ☺️ I tried to run a thread "(not)funny stories", but it didn't catch on and it's a drag to type up everything. I like to be very explanatory and it ends up a bunch of paragraphs. 

What difficulty out of Pilgrim, Voyager, Stalker, Interloper or Custom?

 

[Mroz4k]

Nice story. Im sure most of us have one or two similar stories to boot, from us who played the game for a while. Some are more memorable then others, for sure. I too have quite a few over the years, I will share two of them. I will put them under spoilers as I tend to go into detail. 

There are lessons to be learned there - some items you really should not put away. Like bandages. Even on difficulties like Voyageur, I have learned not to wear less then 4 bandages on me at all times. Used to be 2 before the sprains got reworked. It is also a good thing to have a cloth on you in case you do run out and need to make more before heading out for safety. 

For similar reasons, I tend to make small caches of items over the map, and I usually include a bandage there too, just in case... I often leave these medical supplies right behind the door, a lesson I learned like you, only back when you survived with 2%, I literally died a few feet away from a box with bandages in the past.

One experience that comes to mind was with wolves instead.

Im usually very good at avoiding them, and this was back when decoys were the most effective way to handle the wolves. I was loaden with a meat from 3 deer (I hunt them in the patch of woods at Ravine between Coastal and Mystery lake, there are no predators there and the area is limited so its a perfect hangout to hunt deer with a bow) and was moving to my usual base at Camp office on Mystery lake. It was a supply run, at the end of the day, so I was already exhausted. But the day had some 5 more hours left so I decided to do the mentioned run with supplies. I dropped almost everything, including most of my clothes, and carried only the lightest clothing, just enough to not go cold. No fire building mats, first aid, or anything. I kept a single bandage on me "in case" and a bit of old man´s beard. The wolves in the path have been killed a day or two ago so I was confident the road was safe. And, even if, I had 3 pieces of a strip of raw rabbit which was very old and very smelly. These bits were designed specifically to distract wolves I could run into.

Well, the trip wasnt safe. On my trip back around the derailment area, a wolf stood in my way. Out of the sudden, lured to me by the smell of all that meat, from behind the train cart. This was Voyageur kind of difficulty, the wolf attacks were a bit more serious at that point of the game, though. Well, did not have the time to drop the decoy, he ripped into me. Luckily, I am not a complete moron, and I kept a knife on me. So I did stab him, but due to being fatigued, it took a while and he took a chunk of my health. Down to 47% of condition and exhausted, I crawled into the the derailed cart, bandaged with my only bandage and dropped all the meat here, thinking to come back later. Only kept the rabbit strips for decoys so I still smelled a bit, but not nearly as much. I climbed out and get on the way as I hear a growl to my side. There were two wolves... I try to run back into the train cart and suceed. But he is prowling there... and of course I dont even have a bedroll to rest up. So, I take a leap and run out, trying to distract it with the decoys. He eats one, but I dropped all of them, and the way they work, he is attracted only to the last one. Then he runs me down and here is a struggle again. I start bleeding once more, and am now down to 5% condition. I crawl back to the cabin, and enter at 2%. Luckily, a bandage lies on the ground at the door - courtesy of me, at least not being stupid enough to store them upstairs anymore. I bandage and end up at 2%, taking a hit down to 1% due to exhaustion by the time I reach bed after eating and drinking up in prep for a long sleep. 

Such stories are the best learners. Later on when I shared this story, others asked me why didnt I rip my gloves into a piece of cloth and crafted bandages in the train cart. I should have - but it honestly didnt cross my mind at the time. Now, I carry 4 to 5 on me at one time. Since now you need them to treat sprains too, and sprains in a bad situation can easily cause death, too. 

 

Now, a story of a Bear.

So, back when Forlorn Muskeq was added into the game, and everyone went exploring it, so did I. After finding the coveted Homestead and its new forge (FINALLY, I dont ever have to go back to Desolation point and deal with its inhabitants, I swear I have the worst PTSD from trying to play Interloper there, even on Voyageur I somehow get hit by worst animal encounters there), I decided to press on after spending a night there and resting up. Its morning, but the wearher seems to be going bad. No big deal... Im a proffesional. I can handle a bit of bad weather. I decide to enter and go into the hills behind the homestead. The path that nowadays leads to the Broken railroad from the homestead. Now, as most of you know, if you look at the frozen marches from that higher peak, there are one or two deer carcasses up there. Now, I like not having to waste arrow condition to get some new hides, and I see a dead deer on the small island down below there. I billy goat down there, seeing two wolves strolling on a weak ice like it doesnt matter. They are in a path where I need to go, but no matter, I can just double back to Homestead and come up the way I came, right? I found out the island also had a dead corpse with a flare, so that was a nice enough find, too.

Well, leaving the island turned out to be worse. That little bit of island below, with the deer carcass, well its in the middle of a very inaccesible area of long patches of weak ice. The only way off the island as I soon learned was to go through the wolves, onto another small island where I could see had a rock connection to the path I was on initially. The wind died down, and a fog started to settle in. The weather also suddenly got a lot more colder, and because I dropped off my firewood at Homestead, I only had enough for a 1hr of fire at most. Okay, time for some action. 

Wolves could become a problem - so I decided to take them out with a bow. I used the decoy trick to lure them in, and backed off a bit to line up a close bow shot. Back then, they didnt charge you when you drew the bow, instead they kept going for the decoys. So we would hunt wolves very easily this way. Two arrows down, one goes down instantly, the other runs away with my arrow. I cursed the coward, then stripped the instant kill down for its materiel. I intended to store it back at homestead with the deer proceeds so I can pick it up later when I come back to forge new arrowheads. As I process the wolf, fog hits and its getting pretty cold. I make it to the archway island, not knowing a thing about the area back then. This was my first time in Forlorn muskeq. Also, in my hubris, I completely disregarded a very important auditory clue - that with the sound of crows, there also happen to be a distant sound of ravens in the mix. Getting closer. As I make the 1 hr worth of campfire to warm up, I hear a thumping, and for the first time notice the sound of birds is different. Then, a grumble happens. I had very little experience with bears at the time, despite them being in the game for a while at that point, I avoided them for most part. I had been mauled by a  bear once or twice at that point, so I knew what it means. But, I had not known that they dont care about fires... so I drew a bow, thinking to try and take it down at the safety of my campfire. Problem was, the fog was very heavy, and I could not see a thing.

... then out of the fog a bear charges in. I did not have the time to even draw the arrow, and I am getting ripped to pieces. My clothes get ruined, Im bleeding. I remember he wrecked my expedition parka because it was getting to half the condition, the bastard. Well, I see him paddle off into the deep fog, as I get up again.

I dont waste any time. I remembered there being something like an arch that would connect to the area where I was earlier, even in this fog i could recognize it was to my left. I started running there immidiately, and dropped the meat behind me. Condition at 25% and dropping fast, because now most of my clothes were damaged so I was also getting colder. But, I was also bleeding as I mentioned, and I did not care about bandaging, not yet. It was neccesary for me to put some distance from the bear first. I was lucky - the arch was there and I could find my way up to it even in the deep fog. Condition getting close to 20%ish, I finally bandage and treat the infection risk. Even in the deep fog, luckily my decent sense of navigation helps to put me on track towards where the homestead was. I struggle to find it for a long time, though, and eventually take some more exposure damage before finally finding the homestead. Down at 15%ish condition, I lit a fire in a forge and spend a day there, reculperating, forging arrowheads as I was fortunate to find the hammer there.

Lesson to be learned there. Always wear "the bearkiller" weapon with you. That his, the flare gun. While not a very reliable hunting weapon, it is unparrareled when it comes to dealing with bears. It is the only sureway of discouraging a bear that is already charging you. Aim for its head as it barrels towards you. Two things can happen - A) you hit it but the flare does not get stuck in its face. If that happens, he whimpers off and runs away. Or B) he gets a facefull of red flare flame, and runs away like a big, furry ball of red light. We know that if the flare gets stuck to animals, it causes massive bleeding. The bear will die in minutes. Might as well go get that piece of him, then. Thing is, not everytime you will succeed at landing that lucky sticky flare hit. Hence not very good hunting choice of a weapon, but the best defense you are gonna get for bears. At least so far.

[JamerGamer]

48 minutes ago, Mroz4k said:

Nice story. Im sure most of us have one or two similar stories to boot, from us who played the game for a while. Some are more memorable then others, for sure. I too have quite a few over the years, I will share two of them. I will put them under spoilers as I tend to go into detail. 

There are lessons to be learned there - some items you really should not put away. Like bandages. Even on difficulties like Voyageur, I have learned not to wear less then 4 bandages on me at all times. Used to be 2 before the sprains got reworked. It is also a good thing to have a cloth on you in case you do run out and need to make more before heading out for safety. 

For similar reasons, I tend to make small caches of items over the map, and I usually include a bandage there too, just in case... I often leave these medical supplies right behind the door, a lesson I learned like you, only back when you survived with 2%, I literally died a few feet away from a box with bandages in the past.

One experience that comes to mind was with wolves instead.

 

  Hide contents

Im usually very good at avoiding them, and this was back when decoys were the most effective way to handle the wolves. I was loaden with a meat from 3 deer (I hunt them in the patch of woods at Ravine between Coastal and Mystery lake, there are no predators there and the area is limited so its a perfect hangout to hunt deer with a bow) and was moving to my usual base at Camp office on Mystery lake. It was a supply run, at the end of the day, so I was already exhausted. But the day had some 5 more hours left so I decided to do the mentioned run with supplies. I dropped almost everything, including most of my clothes, and carried only the lightest clothing, just enough to not go cold. No fire building mats, first aid, or anything. I kept a single bandage on me "in case" and a bit of old man´s beard. The wolves in the path have been killed a day or two ago so I was confident the road was safe. And, even if, I had 3 pieces of a strip of raw rabbit which was very old and very smelly. These bits were designed specifically to distract wolves I could run into.

 

Well, the trip wasnt safe. On my trip back around the derailment area, a wolf stood in my way. Out of the sudden, lured to me by the smell of all that meat, from behind the train cart. This was Voyageur kind of difficulty, the wolf attacks were a bit more serious at that point of the game, though. Well, did not have the time to drop the decoy, he ripped into me. Luckily, I am not a complete moron, and I kept a knife on me. So I did stab him, but due to being fatigued, it took a while and he took a chunk of my health. Down to 47% of condition and exhausted, I crawled into the the derailed cart, bandaged with my only bandage and dropped all the meat here, thinking to come back later. Only kept the rabbit strips for decoys so I still smelled a bit, but not nearly as much. I climbed out and get on the way as I hear a growl to my side. There were two wolves... I try to run back into the train cart and suceed. But he is prowling there... and of course I dont even have a bedroll to rest up. So, I take a leap and run out, trying to distract it with the decoys. He eats one, but I dropped all of them, and the way they work, he is attracted only to the last one. Then he runs me down and here is a struggle again. I start bleeding once more, and am now down to 5% condition. I crawl back to the cabin, and enter at 2%. Luckily, a bandage lies on the ground at the door - courtesy of me, at least not being stupid enough to store them upstairs anymore. I bandage and end up at 2%, taking a hit down to 1% due to exhaustion by the time I reach bed after eating and drinking up in prep for a long sleep. 

 

 

 

Such stories are the best learners. Later on when I shared this story, others asked me why didnt I rip my gloves into a piece of cloth and crafted bandages in the train cart. I should have - but it honestly didnt cross my mind at the time. Now, I carry 4 to 5 on me at one time. Since now you need them to treat sprains too, and sprains in a bad situation can easily cause death, too. 

 

 

Now, a story of a Bear.

  Hide contents

So, back when Forlorn Muskeq was added into the game, and everyone went exploring it, so did I. After finding the coveted Homestead and its new forge (FINALLY, I dont ever have to go back to Desolation point and deal with its inhabitants, I swear I have the worst PTSD from trying to play Interloper there, even on Voyageur I somehow get hit by worst animal encounters there), I decided to press on after spending a night there and resting up. Its morning, but the wearher seems to be going bad. No big deal... Im a proffesional. I can handle a bit of bad weather. I decide to enter and go into the hills behind the homestead. The path that nowadays leads to the Broken railroad from the homestead. Now, as most of you know, if you look at the frozen marches from that higher peak, there are one or two deer carcasses up there. Now, I like not having to waste arrow condition to get some new hides, and I see a dead deer on the small island down below there. I billy goat down there, seeing two wolves strolling on a weak ice like it doesnt matter. They are in a path where I need to go, but no matter, I can just double back to Homestead and come up the way I came, right? I found out the island also had a dead corpse with a flare, so that was a nice enough find, too.

 

Well, leaving the island turned out to be worse. That little bit of island below, with the deer carcass, well its in the middle of a very inaccesible area of long patches of weak ice. The only way off the island as I soon learned was to go through the wolves, onto another small island where I could see had a rock connection to the path I was on initially. The wind died down, and a fog started to settle in. The weather also suddenly got a lot more colder, and because I dropped off my firewood at Homestead, I only had enough for a 1hr of fire at most. Okay, time for some action. 

Wolves could become a problem - so I decided to take them out with a bow. I used the decoy trick to lure them in, and backed off a bit to line up a close bow shot. Back then, they didnt charge you when you drew the bow, instead they kept going for the decoys. So we would hunt wolves very easily this way. Two arrows down, one goes down instantly, the other runs away with my arrow. I cursed the coward, then stripped the instant kill down for its materiel. I intended to store it back at homestead with the deer proceeds so I can pick it up later when I come back to forge new arrowheads. As I process the wolf, fog hits and its getting pretty cold. I make it to the archway island, not knowing a thing about the area back then. This was my first time in Forlorn muskeq. Also, in my hubris, I completely disregarded a very important auditory clue - that with the sound of crows, there also happen to be a distant sound of ravens in the mix. Getting closer. As I make the 1 hr worth of campfire to warm up, I hear a thumping, and for the first time notice the sound of birds is different. Then, a grumble happens. I had very little experience with bears at the time, despite them being in the game for a while at that point, I avoided them for most part. I had been mauled by a  bear once or twice at that point, so I knew what it means. But, I had not known that they dont care about fires... so I drew a bow, thinking to try and take it down at the safety of my campfire. Problem was, the fog was very heavy, and I could not see a thing.

 

... then out of the fog a bear charges in. I did not have the time to even draw the arrow, and I am getting ripped to pieces. My clothes get ruined, Im bleeding. I remember he wrecked my expedition parka because it was getting to half the condition, the bastard. Well, I see him paddle off into the deep fog, as I get up again.

I dont waste any time. I remembered there being something like an arch that would connect to the area where I was earlier, even in this fog i could recognize it was to my left. I started running there immidiately, and dropped the meat behind me. Condition at 25% and dropping fast, because now most of my clothes were damaged so I was also getting colder. But, I was also bleeding as I mentioned, and I did not care about bandaging, not yet. It was neccesary for me to put some distance from the bear first. I was lucky - the arch was there and I could find my way up to it even in the deep fog. Condition getting close to 20%ish, I finally bandage and treat the infection risk. Even in the deep fog, luckily my decent sense of navigation helps to put me on track towards where the homestead was. I struggle to find it for a long time, though, and eventually take some more exposure damage before finally finding the homestead. Down at 15%ish condition, I lit a fire in a forge and spend a day there, reculperating, forging arrowheads as I was fortunate to find the hammer there.

Lesson to be learned there. Always wear "the bearkiller" weapon with you. That his, the flare gun. While not a very reliable hunting weapon, it is unparrareled when it comes to dealing with bears. It is the only sureway of discouraging a bear that is already charging you. Aim for its head as it barrels towards you. Two things can happen - A) you hit it but the flare does not get stuck in its face. If that happens, he whimpers off and runs away. Or B) he gets a facefull of red flare flame, and runs away like a big, furry ball of red light. We know that if the flare gets stuck to animals, it causes massive bleeding. The bear will die in minutes. Might as well go get that piece of him, then. Thing is, not everytime you will succeed at landing that lucky sticky flare hit. Hence not very good hunting choice of a weapon, but the best defense you are gonna get for bears. At least so far.

 

Thank you for that highly detailed story. Yes Wolves and Bears are very annoying I would describe myself a bit of a noob at the game as it is my second save with about 60 days. But I am hoping to play on Stalker soon and hopefully Interloper.

[Stinky socks]

2 hours ago, JamerGamer said:

What difficulty out of Pilgrim, Voyager, Stalker, Interloper or Custom?

 

I set up custom mode which roughly equals to medium.

[Mroz4k]

43 minutes ago, JamerGamer said:

Thank you for that highly detailed story. Yes Wolves and Bears are very annoying I would describe myself a bit of a noob at the game as it is my second save with about 60 days. But I am hoping to play on Stalker soon and hopefully Interloper.

Quite frankly, I have barely ever played Stalker. It just was not fun for me. I prefer to play the game in a more realistical setting, so I usually end up with a voyageurish kind of difficulty. Stalker was just all about avoiding the ever-present wolves for a piece of canned peaches and some cotton torque. 

Currently I am playing two games - one is a custom one which is voyageurish, but with amount of loot, and the animal attacks and weather is a bit more serious but they are rarer - and then I play standard voyageur for feats. Once I have my feats, I think I will start a game of custom which will remove "resting condition" and add a normal gradual condition to very low, so in case of taking damage, one needs to stay in safety for a few days to recover again - as would a real world. And I will plaster that on my usual "voyaugerish difficulty" with rich loot.

I think one of the reasons I dont like Stalker is because how much it tore into me back when the difficulty modes were added for  the first time. I got killed in Stalker so much that it created a sort of PTSD. Im sure the game is much "easier" then it used to be, still the PTSD is there  

I think the best way to play the game is to try it all out, and find out what playstyle fits our style the best  

[JamerGamer]

On 2/18/2021 at 2:12 PM, Mroz4k said:

Quite frankly, I have barely ever played Stalker. It just was not fun for me. I prefer to play the game in a more realistical setting, so I usually end up with a voyageurish kind of difficulty. Stalker was just all about avoiding the ever-present wolves for a piece of canned peaches and some cotton torque. 

Currently I am playing two games - one is a custom one which is voyageurish, but with amount of loot, and the animal attacks and weather is a bit more serious but they are rarer - and then I play standard voyageur for feats. Once I have my feats, I think I will start a game of custom which will remove "resting condition" and add a normal gradual condition to very low, so in case of taking damage, one needs to stay in safety for a few days to recover again - as would a real world. And I will plaster that on my usual "voyaugerish difficulty" with rich loot.

I think one of the reasons I dont like Stalker is because how much it tore into me back when the difficulty modes were added for  the first time. I got killed in Stalker so much that it created a sort of PTSD. Im sure the game is much "easier" then it used to be, still the PTSD is there  

I think the best way to play the game is to try it all out, and find out what playstyle fits our style the best  

Yes I do agree with you there