Grizzly encounters while elk hunting

[Lyeatman]

I had a few run ins while in the Thorofare wilderness. One evening after a LONG hike up in the rain I had a mom and 2 cubs chase my dream bull, 2 satellite bulls, and 30 cows back over the other side of the mountain. It was a long wet ride back to camp on a horse for a couple hours. We had constant run ins over the 10 days I was there. You would hear the dogs barking at night and wouldn’t even get up because i hurt so bad even though I knew bears where in the area.

 

[Hessticles]

I've seen alot of griz in NW Wyoming but thankfully no close encounters, we did watch a momma and a cub chase a boar about a half mile across a meadow

 

[Elk97]

Last year hunting SW Montana I ended up day hunting by myself quite a bit. Normally I hunt with my sons but they had work obligations during the week. I'd hike out in the morning in the dark and hike back to camp after dark in the evening. I was calling in bulls everyday and having a great time but couldn't get a shot. Lots of bear sign around, fresh torn up rotten logs and stumps, large rocks turned over, etc. Walked by one big rock (150 lbs) that had been turned one morning just after it had stopped raining, felt the side that had been on the ground. Dry. Already had the bear spray in hand, but pulled the 357 out too and turned the headlight up bright and did a 360 (actually a couple of them). Never saw a bear but a week after I headed home my youngest son was hunting the exact same place I had been and the biggest griz he's ever seen crossed the old log road not 40 yards from him, downwind. 44 came out and he detoured a mile out of his way to get back to his truck. He guessed the top of the bears shoulder was close to 5' and my son is a builder so that's probably pretty accurate. He sees bears all the time but this one spooked the hell out of him just because it was so damn big. Not sure if we're hunting there again this year or not.

 

[mtnkid85]

We glass them up often and Ive had several uneventful bump ins with them. This past season I had my first run in where I actually had to defend my self against a charging griz. Tracking a bull that I put a bad shot on.
I told my story on the Transition Wild podcast, I think its episode 242, if you want to listen to it.

 

[Will_m]

We glass them up often and Ive had several uneventful bump ins with them. This past season I had my first run in where I actually had to defend my self against a charging griz. Tracking a bull that I put a bad shot on.
I told my story on the Transition Wild podcast, I think its episode 242, if you want to listen to it.

Now you know damn well you can’t come up in here without some details after leading us on. Come on let’s hear the story.

 

[nettereo16]

Now you know damn well you can’t come up in here without some details after leading us on. Come on let’s hear the story.

Gonna download and listen on my run today

 

[Will_m]

Just listened. Good stuff. Glad you were quick on the draw

 

[Gen273]

Just listened. Good stuff. Glad you were quick on the draw

Do you have a link, I can't seem to locate that episode? Or do you know the date it was released?

 

[Gen273]

I found it, great podcast. I am glad that it turned out okay, and you were on your toes! The episode is from February 13th.

 

[mtnkid85]

Now you know damn well you can’t come up in here without some details after leading us on. Come on let’s hear the story.

I shot a bull during archery season and while I was searching for the bull, days after the shot, I found my bull. The problem was I wasn't the only one hunting this elk. After I stubbed across the bull four days later I also stumbled across a bear. Once I bumped the elk the bear apparently decided I might be an easier meal than the elk and charged me. I was able to draw my .357 and stoped the charge at feet or inches away and walked away without a scratch. Unfortunaly I never did recover my bull. Nor did I tag another bull, as Im sure that bull eventually died from my shoddy shot. I still fill like shit, but im sure that bear or another bear at least got a good meal in before winter hit.

 

[Beendare]

Just listened. Good stuff. Glad you were quick on the draw

That podcast is an hour and a half long...about 40 min in, Mike talks about his friends bear attack where he defends himself with spray- and gets spray all over himself, then his gut shooting an elk at about 50 minutes in with the bear encounter about an hour in. Good lessons.

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[Roughwater]

Interesting thread, especially considering I'll be hunting in Montana this year for the first time and near Yellowstone. Glad I bought me a portable bear fence. I'll probably also be hanging bells and whistles and sirens from it after reading this thread.

Here is a pic of the unopened box. It's about the length of my RM elk bugle and weighs in at 3.1 lbs without the D cell batteries that power it.

 

[Beendare]

Get yourself a fence tester Roughwater.....these don't always work well due to improper grounding.

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[mavinwa2]

Had that bear fence and sold it. It will stop a curious bear, charging bear forget about it.
Blackie in CO, charged right thru mine. SW357 two shots killed the beast but still crashed into tent.

Made up my own bear deterrent fence from feed store but with 3x the joules power, more voltage!
Not incl 6-D batteries total weight is <4lbs. Mostly use it to surround, protect hanging meat area.
And I doubt it would stop a charging bear.

 

[owengohunt]

I live in northwest montana but do a majority of my elk hunting in other parts of the state do to the low population of elk since the wolves moved in. My first Day out this year around home I got to come face to face with a grizz that popped up onto the trail I was on, talk about enough Adrenaline to keep your heart rate up for a year!

 

[Roughwater]

Get yourself a fence tester Roughwater.....these don't always work well due to improper grounding.

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OK, I'll see if I can get one of my hunting buddies to touch it, if they hunt with me they can't be too smart?

 

[Beendare]

FWIW, I've had a couple versions of these fences as I hunt Kodiak a fair amount.

I made my own with a higher Joule charger. Grounding is critical. In sandy ground they sometimes don't work at all...or just give a little spark. A crummy ground rod like a tent stake is worthless IME. A cheap light fence tester is a no brainer if you actually want these to work.

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[Rkess171]

Had a griz kill a moo cow about 200 yards from us. Didn’t see anything but the sounds didn’t leave much to the imagination. I’ve watched enough National Geographic to get the visual. I didn’t know that moo cows could scream in terror. When the cow started bellowing, every other cow in the mountains started out. It sounded like a a stampede coming out. Absolutely nuts. After the kill, apparently another griz came in then a God awful fight incurred. We didn’t know whether to run or sit tight. It was one of the most terrifying things and one of the most awesome experiences I’ve ever had.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hope you brought an extra pair of pants

 

[Rkess171]

Outside Yellowstone, up the North Fork Shoshone River during archery elk....
We had just walked down game trails for 30 mins and then back to the horses, seen a sow and cubs half a mile away. Saw tracks on the trail. But never did I feel like we were on the verge of seeing one close. it was the first day of our back country wilderness hunt.
Upon arriving to the horses we heard a random bugle from the hill top to our left. We quickly assembled our stuff. I walked across a clearing that was call it 100 yards long to get to the edge while the guy behind me called. I was just over 10 yards from the edge when a head peeked through the trees and then a big dark burst. Grizzly coming straight at me. I had just stepped over a log with my right foot as I had been slowly making my approach to setup for the bull. I pulled back my right foot, reached for gun, didnt even get it out of the holster and yelled bear as it was now 10 feet from me and it paused. It looked at me for a moment and then slowly went away.
Guy behind me was running in as he witnessed it and provided back up.
I was lucky. I assume it thought I was a cow and then when it realized I wasnt it paused. Or the commotion of me flailing my bow in one hand and yelling was enough to make it pause, I dont know. But it paused and I am thankful. Also fortunate to have had a bad ass watching my back. I have no doubt that if I had been mauled the bear would have been eating some lead from his .44 vaquero. I would never travel solo in that country or with someone i didnt trust to have my back.

That's a heck of a story! Gave me goosebumps

 

[Elk97]

I used to be a commercial beekeeper and we would put electric fences around our hives that were up in the mountains. We used the most powerful ones they made and powered them with a deep cycle marine battery (not practical unless you are camping at the truck). But one trick we used was to tie pieces of bacon (raw) onto the fence wires so the bear would come up and lick it with their tongue, or nose it. Lots of straight trails of bear sh&t leading away from the fences. Not sure you want to attract bears to your camp with bacon, but just thought I'd throw it out there. We also put chicken wire down around the outside of the fence and attached the ground wire to it so the bears were standing on it when they touched the fence.