Montana griz/elk questions

[TreeDog]

If you are see/hearing/seeing sign of wolves while hunting, your cances at being successful in harvesting elk tumble quickly. Wolves make it impossible to call and every deer and elk is on high alert. If you are into wolves while archery hunting, your hunt will be better with a 20+ mile move to a new area.

This is my experience and yours may differ.

Jay

What if you live in Region 1 and 20 miles just puts you into another wolf pack AND different grizz bears ?!?

 

[Skerhunter]

How bad can the wolfs be while elk hunting ?

If you are seeing herds, especially multiple herds in a small area and they aren’t talking (should some bugles). You have wolves in the area and calling basically becomes worthless. It can take a few days to figure it out, since you may not be close enough to hear the wolves howl or see sign.

 

[TaperPin]

We like to take friends or family interested in bears to the NE side of Yellowstone where you can watch grizzlies for hours every day. If you have an extra day or two it’s pretty entertaining. Like others have said, they may be in timber, or out in the open, and literally disappear when laying down in even the smallest depression or knee high brush or blown down timber.

There’s a rhythm to many things in nature, just like watching elk or deer for long periods shows off their differences in how and where they move. The more you observe bears being bears it reduces unnecessary fears and gives you a heads up for situations where you might bump into one. When I see one crossing through the timber, or bedded down, I imagine how I’d be hunting that area and what could be done to minimize run ins. The biggest take away for me has been how hard they are to see when bedded down or on the other side of brushy trees. For most of my life I’ve scanned for bears on all fours, when I should have also been looking just as carefully for small parts of bedded down bears much closer.

As an example I was elk hunting an area thick with bears, so when a bugle came out of a strip of timber on the valley floor with rather lush tall grassy patches, rather than work my way through what is also a comfortable spot for bears to take a snooze, I paralleled the area on the finger of trees next to it that was a side slope full of rocks and much less likely to have a bear. A little extra work, but I was able to cover the same area. Other times while walking I’m likely to error to slightly higher terrain where I can glass through timber looking as much for bedded bears as elk, before working through it. I’ve also had a bad feeling about a brushy/grassy bench - I couldn’t tell you exactly what made me nervous then or now, but it felt bearish (beary?) more than elkish, so I went well around it. Over the years I’ve come across a number of bear beds in an open patch of low vegetation with maybe a single little tree and old dead log somewhere out in the small meadow. I don’t know if the old downed log makes them feel somewhat cozy, or if they even bed there more than other places, but it’s easy to pay a little extra attention. Many beds with packed down vegetation that were seen in my younger days were assumed to be elk or deer and not given much thought, but now I enjoy looking for turds and some actually belong to bears.

Have fun and hopefully you get a chance to watch a bear at distance without issues. As others have said, bears out for a Sunday drive or vacation often travel through areas not thought of as bear territory, so it’s good to be aware of your surroundings and keep a clean camp.

I also started measuring bear tracks with a small tape to be able to tell if tracks have been made by one bear or many just out of curiosity. Once I ran across a game trail that was a super highway between areas for black bears and there were 7 different bears that used it in a two week period.

 

[Kenai_dtracker]

I did two archery elk hunts in Montana recently, and although we were into elk most days and saw grizzly sign, we did not encounter any bears. Our food and good smelling stuff was always up a tree away from the tent, and we both carried bear spray and sidearm. Carrying an additional shotgun or rifle didn't seem needed.

The one things that we did do, which helped us sleep, was to pull or cut away any weed, brush, grass, etc, around the tent that could be blown by the wind and scratch it. That noise at night sounds just like a bear sniffing you through the nylon....

 

[The Guide]

What if you live in Region 1 and 20 miles just puts you into another wolf pack AND different grizz bears ?!?

This is my experience and yours may differ.

As I said, this is my experience and yours may differ. My experience has been in regions 2, 3, 4, and 5 for elk/wolves/bears. I've hunted black bears in the spring in region 1 but have no experience with elk there.

Jay

 

[TreeDog]

As I said, this is my experience and yours may differ. My experience has been in regions 2, 3, 4, and 5 for elk/wolves/bears. I've hunted black bears in the spring in region 1 but have no experience with elk there.

Jay

More joking about the sad state of affairs that is elk hunting in region 1. Lots of wolf sign everywhere you go, with little elk.

 

[The Guide]

More joking about the sad state of affairs that is elk hunting in region 1. Lots of wolf sign everywhere you go, with little elk.

True. I’ve had multiple people tell me that they drive from region 1 to region 3 just to get a chance to see elk while hunting. I've been told that most elk killed in region 1 are by dumb luck chance by bumping elk while deer hunting. This was not what I remember from the late 80's and early 90's when timber was still being harvested and wolves hadn't been released yet.

Jay

 

[rambo2345]

Have seen plenty of grizzlies in MT. No bad encounters yet but can happen at any time.

 

[Dlaurino]

There are a bunch of YouTube videos that cover this topic in depth. Randy Newburg, Elk101 are some of the clips that I have seen that are very good

I will check it out. Thanks for your help

 

[Geewhiz]

Went bear hunting last weekend. Saw 3 black bears and 3 grizzly bears in one evening in region 3.

 

[Mdfowlman2]

Lucky enough to draw a general unit elk tag, will be me and my brothers going. We are considering a couple units that are in grizzly territory. What are some of the Do’s and Don’t for hunting in grizzly areas. Will areas with heavy grizzly population have good elk population to. What kind of areas should be avoided to less are contact with bears as far as going into dark timber or thick covered areas?

we will be coming for archery hunt September 12th-26th unless we tag out early. All of us will be carrying pistols and bear spray,considering bringing a shotgun or lever action to. We are also thinking of bringing one tent big enough for all of us instead of individual tents to lessen are exposure don’t know of this is a good idea or not.

I can share unit #’s in Pm if anyone has advice

Thanks guys

Pm sent

 

[PACbowhunter]

Only have 3 hunts under my belt (from the Midwest) but I agree with most of the above. I would take Griz over wolves when it comes to hunting. Common sense and carrying a pistol has kept me safe and feeling relatively confident so far. That said no personal run ins with a griz. Statistically you really dont need to worry about it ESPECIALLY if you keep your food away from camp, keep your wits about you, handle any kills appropriately.

 

[MODrake]

What’s everyone’s thoughts when camping near your truck? As mentioned above, I plan to camp each night near my truck and have thought about keeping a black stone under a tonnou cover after cooking. Are they likely to mess with it or is it smarter to take it a ways from camp? Obviously you want to keep everything sealed as tight as possible but unsure of how much they mess with vehicles.

 

[DarthVader]

yes elk will be where the grizzlies are. avoid cow/calf calling so much unless you know your on elk. i use a heavy fishing line and 3 small keyfob alarm "sound grenades" that can be tripped. i tie this around my tent and it gives me some small peace of mind that if something is coming into camp, ill have a moment to wake and ready my pistol. or it may just scare it off.

 

[DR33]

I have hunted north of Helena for a couple of years and have seen black bears, but no tracks or sign of Grizzlies. Maybe I just have been lucky from some of the comments above.

 

[Elkhuntinfool78]

There's definitely high odds of seeing a grizzly in certain parts of the state. And definitely a possibility of having a hair raising encounter.

But that said I feel most make way more out of it than need to. Use some common sense and be smart and you have statistically way higher odds of dying in a car crash on you're way to your hunt than you do getting mauled by a grizzly.

I hunt solo in grizzly country ( just northeast of Yellowstone Park) every year and don't loose any sleep over it.

 

[Snow Doctor]

Have hunted Region 3 many times, some solo. Carry your bear spray, Know how to use it, carry lead spray if that makes you more comfortable (I do!), keep either spray on your person and not attached to the pack 20 feet away especially when on a kill and keep a clean camp. You'll be fine.

 

[Andrewlonghi]

Thanks everyone for all the information,tips, and messages. It’s getting closer and we can’t wait.

 

[ikeG]

What’s everyone’s thoughts when camping near your truck? As mentioned above, I plan to camp each night near my truck and have thought about keeping a black stone under a tonnou cover after cooking. Are they likely to mess with it or is it smarter to take it a ways from camp? Obviously you want to keep everything sealed as tight as possible but unsure of how much they mess with vehicles.

We keep our Blackstone in the truck bed that has a fiberglass cap. Garbage, too, as well as our food, obviously. Have had no issues for 5 straight years this way.

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