Hunting in grizzly country.

[jmez]

Clothes line test would be a good one.

Another good test. Put a target at 15 yards. Have gun on a table behind you. Some kind of whistle or bell and a buddy. Put on a blind fold. When you hear the whistle/bell you have exactly three seconds to remove the blindfold, get the gun and empty it into the target. See how many you can put in a target under these conditions.

 

[Matt Cashell]

Here you go, it was done by the USFS www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/gtr152

Interesting article. thanks for the link.

It seems like there are a lot of assumptions made in that article. Most notably, that shooting a stationary box of wet sawdust is similar to shooting a grizzly bear. Also, bullet construction isn't really stressed very much, but that may be due to the study being from 1983, and a lot of bullet technologies have changed since then, making smaller calibers more effective.

Still, I feel comfortable with bear spray.

 

[dotman]

I agree with the bear spray and will always have it but i'll also always have a pistol.

 

[Matt Cashell]

I agree with the bear spray and will always have it but i'll also always have a pistol.

Yeah,

One is good, both is better...

 

[Ryan Avery]

I have never used bear spray. But I have seen pepper spray used in large quantity while in the military. It seems once sprayed the person spraying it was just as effected as the target. So make sure you check the wind before you spray

 

[Kevin Root]

I have never used bear spray. But I have seen pepper spray used in large quantity while in the military. It seems once sprayed the person spraying it was just as effected as the target. So make sure you check the wind before you spray

I thought the same thing myself Ryan. Getting hit with some spray and or not knowing how it disperses prior to deployment might make for a big mess of things . I think perhaps it may be a good idea to practice when possible. ADAP I know makes a inert product at a much lower cost than the real spray for training purposes only.

My personal experience with grizzly bears is that they usually turn tail and run. I did have one aggressive situation with a young male near Hebgen Lake, but it turned out fine.

Like Bitterroot Bulls and others have mentioned in some of the bear articles attached in the thread, most bears that have the option to will run tail and choose to leave the area when they have their natural fear of humans still. I've seen them while glassing get real scared at seeing a helicopter land and take off and then run full out. It's awesome to see in person how something that big can be so fast when they want to really move. It's also eye opening thinking how fast they can really be on a person should they intend to do so .

 

[2ski]

I've looked through a lot of websites, forums, ect. after I bought my 10mm off of a friend of mine. While, if I had one shot, i think hands down, at least a .44mag would be the way to go. With my Glock 20, I can put a lot more than 6 bullets out. I realize that you can't put out that many shots with a fast moving bear anyways, but that's what I tell myself at least. One thing I found that was interesting was that the muzzle velocity of a .45 is considerably less than velocity of a 10mm at 100 yards. Add in the fact that you can buy 230gr hardcast bullets for the 10mm.

 

[broncoformudv]

With my Glock 20, I can put a lot more than 6 bullets out. I realize that you can't put out that many shots with a fast moving bear anyways, but that's what I tell myself at least.

This is a great point that some fail to take into account plus most people can shoot a Glock 20 better than they can a large bore revolver. But I will say my brother in law managed to get off 6 shots out of his Ruger Super Redhawk 454 casull on a charging brown bear @ under 30 feet, while I got off two shots out of my rifle. Granted my shots hit and his missed.

 

[broncoformudv]

Clothes line test would be a good one.

Another good test. Put a target at 15 yards. Have gun on a table behind you. Some kind of whistle or bell and a buddy. Put on a blind fold. When you hear the whistle/bell you have exactly three seconds to remove the blindfold, get the gun and empty it into the target. See how many you can put in a target under these conditions.

We do shooting exercises along those line in the military and call them stress shoots. Sure helps get people calmed down and concentrating on putting lead into the kill zone.

 

[Mike7]

My wife has used the UDAP on a pack of domesticated dogs (Rottweilers and shepard mix) once and it worked great. Light wind in her face produced only enough blow-back to cause a mildly irritating cough and eye watering for a while and certainly no disabling symptoms.

The Glock 20 is easy to deploy, carry, and shoot (I'm a little recoil shy of the bigger calibers which wouldn't be a problem while a bear is charging, but is a problem for practicing). The Glock will fit in a Badlands Bino holster conveniently, in addition to on the hip, and I like that it will function wet and dirty and doesn't seem to rust in the field. I will have to try the elk skull shooting trial mentioned above, but do know that the Doubletap 200-230 grain hardcast 10mm bullets will shoot through 12" of green spruce log (I haven't tried anything thicker as the bullets aren't cheap).

 

[Kevin Root]

This is a great point that some fail to take into account plus most people can shoot a Glock 20 better than they can a large bore revolver. But I will say my brother in law managed to get off 6 shots out of his Ruger Super Redhawk 454 casull on a charging brown bear @ under 30 feet, while I got off two shots out of my rifle. Granted my shots hit and his missed.

Wow I'm sure that got the adrenaline going. Sounds like it turned out ok but it won't be something you all will soon forget. Charging bear under 30 feet takes quick reaction.... Again Wow, my hats off to you and your brother in law.

 

[broncoformudv]

It all worked out, though my brother in law did say he was never going brown bear hunting again.

 

[dpetersen]

Packed an elk out on horses and didnt think about washing the panniers a couple days later. Had a big boar follow us back to camp in the day light.
It would have really sucked at night, At least you can see them in the day. I run into about 10 per year, Been charged by a sow and 3 cubs, Pepper spray did the trick. 80% of the time they will run like hell, when you jump them without meat. I would say most bears that smell a kill or blood will investigate.
I wouldnt do it alone unless it was a 380" bull. I have killed a griz in alaska and just from watching them alot in spotting scopes, I can say you wont get a pissed off bear killed with any gun before he has time to rip you appart, and once you put a bullet in him, He is pissed. most of the time you see them within 50 yards. At night your chances of killing one are slim. That is my two cents, I'm sure others will disagree.

 

[weaver]

Well after some more research and scouting i am now hunting a grizzly free area.

 

[AZ Vince]

You have gotten some great advice on here and the only things I can add are the following.
1. move your meat away from the gut pile
2. hang the meat in a tree that is close to a clearing that way you can see it as you approach so you will know if something is on it
3. if you carry a sidearm for protection practice practice practice, very few people that carry in grizzly country shoot much and very few people can hit what they shoot at
4. use some common sense, keep your eyes open and listen

Good luck hunting!

I carry a heavy stainless .44 Magnum because I do practice.
It was that practice that taught me that I need to shoot the heavier gun.
Great advice in a short, easy to understand format, thank you.

 

[blb078]

Anyone ever have/heard of issues with bears coming into their camp at night while sleeping or just sitting around? Curious what the diff in opinions are on what people do w/their camp food at night. Hang it a tree or keep in your shelter, and what do you do w/the packaging from the food you've already eaten, same thing?

 

[mtnkid85]

Anyone ever have/heard of issues with bears coming into their camp at night while sleeping or just sitting around? Curious what the diff in opinions are on what people do w/their camp food at night. Hang it a tree or keep in your shelter, and what do you do w/the packaging from the food you've already eaten, same thing?

The most important aspect of camping in bear country is keeping a clean camp. Do not sleep with your food. Hang it up along with with anything else with a scent, trash, fishing gear, skinning kit, ect ~ 100 yards from you camp site. Next, set up the tent up wind and away from where you cook and hangout.

Think of your camp as a triangle with 100 yards seperating each point. Campfire/cook site on one leg, food on one, and sleeping site on the last.
Some guys will even go as far as changing clothes before going over to sleep. (I generally dont have a change of clothes with me though).

 

[crumy]

My first time in Yogi country was last year because I am lucky enough to live in the end of the state that doesn't have them (yet) I carried a bottle of UDAP and my 45. Looked at the 44 super redhawk but I will be honest with you, after shooting it I knew that I would not be able to get two good rounds off at a bear let along 6. And the chances of one of those stopping the bear is just about zero unless you hit the spine. After that hunt I was introduced to a guy who has been guiding for a quite a while. He has had only a few bear encounters but all ended peacefully. He told me that he only carries a 45 and so do the other guys he works with. The gun is going to do little more than make a bunch of noise and hopefully scare the bear off. If you do have to shoot, well that is the worse case scenario and will still most likely end bad for you. He doesn't carry bear spray and I am reluctant too but I still will. The reason is, the wind. If there is one thing constant in Wyoming in the mountains it is the wind. The chances of a nice breeze in your face when it occurs or a strong side to side that will pretty much make the spray useless is high. The best advice (I think) that he gave me was. Put your head on a swivel, pay attention of where you are at and what is going on around you. We all do that already when we are hunting. There was also a show on the outdoors channel or pursuit where they took 5 guys who had skills well above mine shooting one of the hip cannons. They showed them shooting at 45 yards and at 20 yards group very tight. Then setup a mobile range where they had series of balls from a kickball size to a beach ball and they rolled it down from the hill. The ground was bumpy and made the ball bounce erratically They set it up so that the ball would be going on average the same speed as a charging grizzly. They told them that they could start shooting at 30 yards to 5. It was their choice when to start. The 5 limitation was for personal safety at that time.. granted you would be firing all you could up to zero hour so I get that. I don't remember the exact numbers but they all "died". I think only two shots out of that group of guys made it into the "bear". When they got to the beachball size ball, they did much better. That still would only wound a bear that was already pissed. So this is how/why I made my opinion. I have no illusions of grandeur about being able to take a 44 and hit a moving target multiple times. I know that I am an average shot with my 45 at stationary targets. But I do know that I stand a better chance of sending more lead down range with it than a 44. So in this case, the best defense is a good offense. Pay attention and learn to understand a bluff charge from the real deal. Granted, you will probably only get to be wrong once. But by overreacting you stand to turn a non-event into a fight for your life. And remember, we are talking about stopping a bear in the tracks... not killing it. Will a 45... no... Will a 44.. no. Very few rifles will. Granted, it just takes a lucky shot in some cases, but if you are unlucky enough to meet a grizz face to face, what makes you think you will be lucky enough for that shot. Or calm enough.


---- It’s a Crumy Life but someone has to do it.
.