I love listening to John’s stories. We had a face to face meeting with a bear up Jakes Creek trail. We had told our daughter who was in her 20’s at the time to stay close to us but off she went heading up the trail a few yards ahead of us. We always look ahead on the trails because you never know. All of a sudden here come a bear rounding the bend down the trail. We called to her, she looked up and saw the bear. I told her to stand still. He sniffed the weeds to the left of her, hiked his leg and went right across in front of her and right up the hillside. She hasn’t been hiking with us since.

I witnessed a woman at Cades Cove crouching down just feet away from a bear to take its picture. I was kinda hoping it would scare her a little without hurting her, but it just meandered back into the woods. Thanks for another great video! Always get excited when I see you post a new one!

Thank you Mr. Donnie and Mr. John for the history story. My favorite. God bless you both.

My husband and I always enjoy watching your videos and listening to all your stories. I appreciate Mr. John, for sharing his stories . Many thanks, Donnie . God bless.

Keep the stories coming.Donnie God bless your family

John thank you and Donnie brother thank you for sharing these stories GOD BLESS

Good morning Donnie. I love these interviews with Mr. Macaulay, he has a lot of history and knowledge of the Smoky area . He did the right thing with that bear. Many poeple just don't understand the danger that these bears can present, especially tourists. I hope you had a good 4th yesterday. It was so humid here that it was hard to breathe. Thank you Donnie for this interview. God Bless.

Talkin bout puttin a knot on yer head!!😂😂 Mr. John , you gave that bear a knot on his head that made it see 🤩 stars!! So glad you and your friend didn't get hurt!! Thank ya for sharing it. Thank you Donnie for takin us along to visit your friend. ❤🙏

Donnie I really enjoyed this bear story thank you for sharing with us.God bless.

Thanks Donnie for another good story.

Morning Donnie. That was a good story. It reminded me of back when I was about 13 in the 60's. I was in the Boy Scouts and we were camping in the Smokies. We'd just been told to get some sleep and crawled in the tent for the night. Me and the boy in my tent were laying there and heard something big coming out of the woods. We laid there still and quiet and it was a big bear. It passed so close to the tent that it walked into one of the guy lines and pulled the wooden peg out of the ground. After about two minutes we heard some women screaming and came out of the tent. It was some of the mothers that came with us. They were standing on a picnic table and the bear was standing up on its hind legs just a few feet away. It wasn't more than a minute before Rangers pulled in with a bear cage trailer and jumped out with tranquilizer guns. They yelled at the bear and were ready to shoot and it ran back into the woods.

Morning Mr Donnie. Hope you getting along well. Don't mind the wind chimes I hear them all the time on my Mama's porch. Stay cool my friend.

Awww what a great story from John! I’ve never seen a real live bear…..but I can say if I did I’d be hightailing out of there! lol. Thanks Donnie…I love when you and your friends get together and talk about your adventures! Take care of yourself! Blessings always to you and your family! ❤️🙏😊

Good morning Donnie and John, Thank you for sharing your bear story with us. I hope you have a great day and weekend.God Bless You my dear Friend!😊❤🙏🏻

It's always refreshing to hear people on the internet who have no irritating accent. Thanks for bringing so much to me and my family. I happen to be dealing with a bear today that won't keep his distance.

When you and your friends reminisce I envy you all. The older I get,the more I regret not heading for the hills at an early age. 95% of my life I lived in the country but I should have lived deeper into the country. I have always loved animals and should have gone to Veterinary College,got my license then became a true country Doc. All those years of being a nurse were pretty much wasted. The human medical world is not what it used to be. Young folks,if you love animals and want to make a difference…. Don’t live with regrets. God Bless you and yours Mr. Donnie!! God Bless all who frequent these videos❣️

I only had one bear encounter when I was about 22 years old. I was walking up an old dirt road that had once lead to an old house that had burned down. The road beyond the old remains of the house continued onward up the mountain, and I had planned on walking up to the top to a place we called Caney Ridge. As a walking stick, I had my karate bo staff with me--a pinewood wooden cylinder about 5 and a half feet tall, and about an inch and a half in diameter. I walked over the little creek that crossed over the old dirt road, walked past the remains of the burned house, and all the sheds there (including an old outhouse that was still standing). As I continued up the road, it became a trail through an old crab apple orchard, and the path become more grown up, and more of a horse path than a road. I was enjoying the sunshine, and the chirping of the birds singing in the trees, and then I heard it. KRACK! It sounded like a tree snapping and falling over in the woods. I looked around, and about 50 yards from the trail I saw a small or medium sized black bear standing up on it's hind legs and shaking a dead three. The "KRACK!" I'd heard was the top of the dead tree breaking off and falling to the grown. Well, I couldn't gauge just how big the bear was at that distance, and in case it was a young bear with an even larger mommy bear around, I decided to just do a 180 degree turn and head back the way I came. I didn't want chance running into trouble, even if I did have a big bo staff with me. Better safe than sorry!

Hi Donnie! I hope you had a wonderful Independence Day. I love you visits with John.

Great story Brother Donnie. Hope your body is healing up and your able to get around better. Been praying for ya. God bless.

Good morning sir 🌞 have a wonderful day. God bless 🙏.. tks for the story this morning.

Morning Donnie, thanks for sharing this story.

Brother Donnie thank you so much for this video. I wish people would realize the harm they are doing when they feed the wildlife 😢. What is wild let it stay wild. The way the Lord created it to be.

Good morning Donnie , love hearing your voice while story telling. You have such a way of telling that just draws the listener in. Thank you so much. God bless your day.

Rivers and mountains...Nature's (God's) AC! A wonderful way to cool off and get closer to God! Take care my 'ol friend! God Bless!

Enjoyed Mr. John's bear story. Thank you for sharing AND the good advice for not feeding bears. God Bless

Enjoyed your video and the stories.Thanks Mr Donnie I hope you and your family have a wonderful weekend.

THANK YOU FOR SHARING THIS MR DONNIE AND MR JOHN ❤I LOVE THESE STORIES ❤GOD BLESS YOU ❤

OMG.....that was a scary situation. I'm glad to hear that they got away without any harm. great story, thanks for sharing, your friend, Louise

Bless you Brother Donnie. Thank you for reminding me of my Gramps

Good Morning Donnie. Looks like we're finally going to get some rain today.

To close for comfort. Was sitting on the edge of my chair. Enjoyed

I enjoy listening to John's stories. Thanks for this video and God bless you Donnie.

It is awesome to hear more stories about the animals and such. You are so good in putting these video's out there and Mr. John telling about the bears many about strange things, and the respect for it all in the Smokey Mountains. Many people have no respect and that is what gets them into trouble, was surprised to hear Mr. Jon's daddy run away from the bear and it did not chase him. I guess that day the bear just did want to bother him any how have a safe day and Blessings.

Good 🌄 friend, May God continue to bless you and family🙏

Thank you both so much for sharing your stories. I really enjoy them. God bless.

I could set and listen to stories like this now. Brangs back a lot of great memories

Thank you Donnie, I love John's stories.❤

I really enjoy when you sit 🪑 and share these great stories with good ole down to earth folk. Praying and Blessed! 🤗🙏🌄

Thank you, Donnie and John, awesome story, y’all have a blessed one🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽

Good morning Donnie love your interviews. I'd be afraid if I encountered a bear.

Thank you so much for this beautiful video.❤

Great story Donnie, thank you for sharing this with John.

Thank you Donnie Laws! 🐨

Awkward & Anxious Moments, Thank You For That Excellent Video. GOD BLESS YOU

Good morning Mr. Donnie. I love to visit the Smokies but I sure don't want to have no encounters of any kind with a bear. Thank you for sharing this story I enjoy them all. Hope you have a wonderful and blessed day ❤

Thank you for this great video, Mr. Donnie! I love your interviews. We were always warned strongly about bears when I was growing up. Maybe it has slacked off, I don't know. But you're right--we are all safer and the bears are better off when they're afraid of us and we leave them alone!

Such knowledge and good advice. Thank you, I enjoy these stories of the mountains so much.

Hahahaha great story!😂😂 poor ole bear. Hahahaha. I bet his eyes watered every time he seen a human after that. Great story. 😊 you and your wife have a wonderfully beautiful blessed weekend! 😊

Incredible story indeed don't get anything like that in the South of England, it would be as interesting as it would be scary to see one in the flesh and very glad that John was able to get out of danger. But that's the smokies for you just the size and complexity is astounding and is truly a wonder of the world. Love to hear it Donnie God bless.

Thank you both for these stories. Its a good thing Mr John found a bigger rock! This is such a treat for me. Hearing the chimes dance with the wind all while I can see the Great Smokys in the background. Well done Mr Donnie!!

I sure enjoyed spending time with you and john

Always interesting stories and the tourists need to know the bears live in the mountains and they are just passing through there home thanks for sharing and take care.

Love these stories. Thank you Donnie

Good morning and thank you Donnie... Hope you had a good 4th of july. Have a great weekend.

Good Morning Donnie! Great Video. Your friend seems like a really nice fella. I love listening to his stories. i hope you and yours have a great weekend. Looking forward to As the Ridge turns on Monday. God Bless you my friend. 🙏

Great story Mr Donnie!! ❤️

Love your stories

Thanks for a great story I really appreciate it and hope you and John have a Blessed day

Good morning, my friend. I loved this video and hearing your voice. I've always wondered about what we'd do if we came up on a bear. I had a close up encounter with an alligator trying to take a fish from me when we were fishing on a trip to Kiowa Island in SC. I was reeling it in and the alligator started racing for my fish....I was reeling like crazy and scared he'd get there first (I didn't have scissors or a knife to cut the line). I got the fish in and he sat right there, like he was thinking of coming after me. We took the fish off and I lobbed it to him... that sucker caught it in the air! We watched him swim under some trees on the far side of the pond. He just held it for several minutes and then, chomp, chomp, chomp. I'll never forget the chilling sound of those bones crunching. I always be sure I have a knife with me now. I loved hearing this guy's story.❤🙏Jane in SC

Thanks donnie and John for your great stories. I've always loved to go to Cades cove. We would spend all day there enjoying everything in it. But since my husband's passed I haven't been back. God bless and I'm waiting for the next stories.

Donnie, you’re the reason or you’re the one that really had rekindled my love for the outdoors. You’re the reason I got trail cameras. I love your videos. I love the way you think. Keep up the good work and don’t stop no time soon God bless you.

I love your stories and windhimes 😂❤

Thanks Mr John for your stories Thanks Mr Donnie for sharing.waiting for some cool weather then you can start hunting them shotgun shells.👍👍

Love this video and story! Thanks Donnie! Have a blessed day my friend! Looking forward to my next visit to Tennessee!

What a peaceful place. Thank you Mr Donnie. I hope y'all had a fabulous 4th 😊❤❤❤

Hey Donnie, Wow, that was close🫣! Excellent photography Donnie👍. Thank you, John. JO JO IN VT 💞

Hope you both had a good Independence Day. Thank you Mr Donnie and Mr John for sharing the bear story. Grandpa used to say not to let wild animals learn to trust you because not all humans are kind. He didn't want to scare us too bad. God bless you and have a wonderful weekend. Continued prayers

Mr. Donnie another great video listening to John’s stories! We have them here too, we haven’t seen any lately, really hope they stay away from our place 😂 Thanks so much for sharing! God Bless you and your family!

Thank you for sharing this story!

Good morning Mr. Laws that was a great story. I’ve had several bear encounters too, but they turned out good. Most of them will run from you. Got to be careful. Hope you have a great day and God Bless!

Good story there Donnie. Thank you sir.

Good Morning Donnie 🍃🌞🍃

Good morning Donnie and John. That was quite an encounter with the persistent Bear. They scare me. John you thought fast to brain the Bear with the heavy rock. Good job. Around November, we had one killing and eating cats in my neighbourhood. I lost one cat to it, but still have my 18 year old cat left.

Awesome video and story… thanks buddy…

Love to hear the old stories Donny. Keep them coming.

Love story time! Awesome video Donnie : )

Thanks for this story. I really enjoyed it.

Thank you Don for another informative video!

I really like listening to John's stories. Thanks for sharing them and all the others things you bring to us.

That’s amazing how Mr John found the end of the snake catcher tip with his pa later in life. Being from the High Sierras I can relate to the tourists and bears 🐻 I cannot abide a person who would interfere with wild critters, then they get attacked or learn to go to humans for food and the critter get killed. Breaks my heart. Thanks for the stellar video Donnie. Happy late 4th Brooks, Oregon.

I love these i listen to one every night and fall asleep easily. Please bring more stories about the mountains from your family and friends adventures as well. Thank you so much.🎉

Thanks again for sharing John's story, Donnie lazy bear Bless weekend

Thank you and John for the story about the 🐻 I dont want to come close to any bears Thank you for sharing this video God bless y'all 😊😊

Donnie I like how you chose nature to make a dream come true

Hi Donnie thank you for your guest telling his story I dont think I will ever run into a bear here! I wouldn't want to either lol!!, you keep safe and well love from the UK 🙏👏👏💕

Good morning Donnie , hope you had a wonderful Fourth of July. Awesome video. Thank you and God Bless you friend

Good stories!!! Get well soon, Donnie! ❤️🙏🏼✝️

Well, good morning Donnie . Never had a bear encounter, but I was once chased by an old sow, I don’t have to explain what that is 🐷, anyway I was fishing in a pond nearby where I live and after a while I started walking back home with my mess of fish. Well, I hadn’t gone very far and heard something, turned around and saw that old sow coming fast towards me, so I took off, knowing I had to make it over a fence hoping that would stop her! Well, I did, but barely, she was right behind me with her nose up on that fence! She smelled 🐽 and wanted my fish , too! That encounter was back in the early seventies, some things you don’t forget. Enjoy your day, keep cool and take good care of yourself. Oh I didn’t mind the wind chimes one bit, thanks. 🙏❤️🙏

I hope all is well with you 😊. Thank you for the chats .

Thank you for sharing 😊

My son showed me a little video about the Appalachians that was so interesting. Did you know that they really are the oldest mountain range in the world?! So old that they were there before animals even walked. So old they were part of Pangea and were ripped apart when the land on the earth separated. I thought that was really interesting! Thank you for the stories they always brighten my day Donnie ❤️

Enjoyed the bear stories... thanks Donnie and John 👍👍

I very much enjoyed this Story Mr Donnie and look forward to many more Thank you for sharing 😊

Thank you friend for anthem good story. And tell John thanks for sharing them all ❤

Good morning Donnie…I pray you are doing well 🙏🏻…I love these stories …. I thank you & John for sharing these stories….Sorry for the late post Donnie but I had an appointment this morning…..Take care…God Bless & Lord willing I will see you next time 🙏🏻💯❤️☦️🇮🇱

Thumbs up on the video, Donnie. I agree with you partner, about feeding the bears. All people should know better by now. Don't feed those dog gone bears. That is serious business. Thank you for sharing your memories and stories, Donnie. Now let's all get out and make some memories. God bless you friend. Stay cool.

I love that story. I had a black bear come out of a tree about 15 yards from me walking to my deer stand back in the mid ‘90’s in Crawford County, PA near Saegertown. It was treed up. Idk if I startled it or what. It came outta that tree making some strange vocal noises. Almost like it was falling. Breaking branches all the way down. Startled me something fierce. It was such a shock if it woulda come at me, I’d have froze up. Happened so fast and such a surprise!! He/she ran off. No big deal. It’s a fond memory now but wasn’t then!! Thanks Donnie. God bless.

i LOVED this story. Thank you Donnie !!

My thanks to you and John for these stories, cousin Donnie! I've seen people act downright crazy around bears. A number of years ago, we'd stopped to watch a young bear eating blackberries there off the side of the road in the Cove. I had to run after a little boy, about five years old, three times. He wanted to pet that bear, and his mother was too busy taking pictures to keep an eye on her son. I really bawled her out after that third time, when the little fellow got within ten feet of the bear before I caught him. I'll never forget that! It was a small bear, probably no more than two years old, but he could have hurt the child and me! I wish you, yours, and John Shabbat Shalom, cousin. G-d bless each and all, and please pray for the peace of Yerushalayim. ❤

Another great story, Donnie! I wish we had some mountains here. Would love to be able to get away from the 100 degree and humid days. 80 sounds amazing!