- [Austin] Right now.
Yeah, dude.
She's coming right towards us.
- [Man] Okay.
Back up, back up, back up, back up.
- [Austin] Walk to the car, walk to the car, okay?
Walk to the car.
- [Man] Back up slow.
Yo bear, yo bear!
Back up, bear!
- [Austin] Back up bear!
(tribal music)
- The Alaskan wilderness is by far
the most epic looking location we have captured on camera.
Its towering mountains can be seen no matter
what direction you turn, and as your boots trudge across
the vast silt flats, you feel a sense of complete awe
for this magnificent landscape.
Aside from the scenery, this far northern state
is home to a number of iconic animals,
including bald eagles, moose, wolverines,
and the most powerful predator in North America,
the brown bear.
And these tracks right here
are probably only about 10 minutes old,
and that means the bear is just ahead of us.
In the past I've had the chance to work up close
with a brown bear, specifically ursus arctos horribilis,
more commonly known as the grizzly bear.
(bear roaring)
We filmed an episode of Breaking Trail alongside Adam,
a bear who was raised in captivity, and who is very used
to working in front of the cameras.
The goal of interacting with this 750 pound animal
was to show you what to do...
(bear roaring)
Woah bear, woah bear!
And not to, if you ever encounter a grizzly
and are faced with an attack.
It was one of the most intense episodes
we had ever produced, and to this day,
has garnered millions of views,
all while educating the public on proper safety techniques
when hiking in bear country.
And it was no more than a couple years later
that I would put in a position where I had to implement
these techniques, as I encountered a bear in the wild.
(bear roaring)
We had just completed production on our highly anticipated
wolverine episode, and the sun was getting low in the sky.
It was a great time to get some location photography,
so the crew and I headed up an old logging road
and deep into the wilds of the Alaskan back country.
At this time of day bears are very active,
so we made sure that we were armed with bear spray.
We headed off the road and down onto the silt flats,
where we spent time getting a few epic looking shots.
Mark and Mario wanted to film the sunset,
so they headed upriver, leaving Austin and I behind
to shoot some photographs.
Once finished, we began to walk back in the direction
of Mark and Mario, when all of a sudden,
we were faced with one of the most dangerous encounters
in the animal kingdom.
- [Austin] Right now.
Yeah dude.
She's coming right towards us.
- [Coyote] Okay.
Back up, back up, back up, back up.
- [Man] Walk to the car, walk to the car, okay?
Walk to the car.
- [Coyote] Back up slow.
Yo bear, yo bear!
Back up, bear!
- [Austin] Back up, bear!
- [Coyote] Back up, bear!
Back up, bear!
Good bear, good bear!
First you, slow.
- [Austin] Yo bear, yo bear, yo bear!
- [Coyote] Yo bear, yo bear!
- [Austin] Yo bear, yo bear!
- [Coyote] Go back, bear!
Go back, bear!
Holy cow.
- [Austin] Woo!
- Holy cow, that was insane.
We had a mother coming straight up on us
with multiple cubs.
- Woo hoo hoo!
- That was pretty wild.
- [Austin] Yo!
- [Coyote] Keep your guard though, 'cause she may have
worked her cubs down the line there.
Woah, wow, that was crazy.
- [Austin] What was that, three cubs, four cubs?
- Four cubs.
- [Austin] Four cubs.
- Four cubs and a sow.
Just pace yourself slow here, we don't know
where she moved off to.
Wow.
Okay, just go slow.
- [Austin] Woo hoo hoo hoo hoo!
- That is my hand shaking, bear spray ready to go
if she charged.
That was crazy.
That was a mother with four cubs.
That is the closest you are ever gonna get to a brown bear
right there, less than a hundred yards.
That was insane.
How you feeling right now?
- Dude, I'm like shaking.
- [Coyote] Dude, my hand is shaking, look at these tracks.
- When she stood up, I was like, "Oh man."
- [Coyote] She stood up, hind legs, right there.
Look at that track.
- [Austin] Woo hoo hoo, baby!
- [Coyote] That is closest you're gonna get.
- [Austin] Holy.
- [Coyote] And she had cubs.
A large number of bear attacks happen
when a human stumbles upon the exact scenario
Austin and I were faced with.
Nothing is more dangerous than the mother bear
defending her cubs.
Okay, so we've now met back up with Mark and Mario.
The bears actually ran right in between us.
You guys were up ahead, trying to find bears,
and they just split the difference between us.
But come here, check this out.
Look at all the tracks down here in the mud.
I would have loved for them to get a little bit closer,
but you have to make that wise decision at some point.
You can see that there's a bunch of log snags here,
and I had to make that call that was alert the bear,
let them know that Austin and I were in front of them,
because if the mother got up over the top of these logs,
she may have felt pinned and charged us.
Thankfully they went the other direction.
That may have been the most intense thing that has happened
the entire trip.
And right now I'll show you copper...
Right now I'll show to you a...
And right now...
I can't even talk.
And right now we'll show you a couple of photos
that Austin got of the bears.
I don't even know how you had the wherewithal
to pop up camera and get those shots, but holy cow,
that's being less than a hundred yards
from a mother brown bear and her cubs.
Wow, that crazy.
- [Austin] And that's why always carry that.
- And that is why you always carry bear spray
when you're out here in brown bear country.
Wow, that was crazy.
(slow contemplative music)
If you like bears, make sure to go back and watch
my up close encounter with Adam.
And don't forget, subscribe, so you can join me and the crew
on the next location.
(bear roaring)
Geez.
Yeah, that's a big set of teeth right there.
(bear roaring)
(bird screeching)