This midwesterner is hunting alone in grizzly country

[flanneldude]

Hey fellas,

Always read this forum, but it wasn’t until I moved out to Bozeman for work and diving into western big game hunting when I felt the need to pose this question.

I have been scouting for archery elk—solo, and I can’t help but to admit that I have nervousness being in these mountains by myself—especially at dark hours where it will matter the most to play the thermals for this upcoming archery elk season.

I’m hunting a heavily dense grizzly area, and even with a 10mm, bear spray, Garmin and acute senses of what’s going around me stemming from the Marine Corps, this first season is going to be interesting.

I understand that this question has likely been posed quite a bit on this forum, but looking for a fresh and respectful perspective to ease the nervousness of this midwesterner.

I do have precautions that I will likely set in place, such as: walking in when the light starts to break, not hunting last light and not going 10 miles back for the sake of my wife’s sanity.

But because of these precautions, I’m now limiting my chances to harvest an elk, whether it be a cow or bull, by 50%.

I understand that this is mostly a mental game, but having been through a few nervous moments in my life in the dark—whether it was humans or predators, was enough to keep me on my toes for the foreseeable future.

Anyone have any tips they could provide that helped them in this scenario?

Thanks in advance

 

[akcabin]

Get out n start hanging out in the bush more. I kinda believe that you're over thinking things a bit. I'll say this. I used to get nervous n carry a large pistol. I believe that your much safer just staying cool n not panicking per say. And you know, stuff happens. Good Lord has a plan

 

[insanelupus]

Could be worse. You could have to hunt with someone else! Lol.

Similar thoughts for me, similar situation 20+ years ago.

My discovery: they aren't hiding behind every tree, and not every one of them wants to kill you.

Respect the grizz for what it is, an apex predator. That grizz isn't an enemy, it's just doing what God programmed it to do, survive.

Treat it with the care and caution you would any other potential threat, use some caution, and retain a healthy respect for its capabilities.

And as always, resolve that in any potential conflict, your plan is to survive.

There are a lot of predators in those mountains, any mountains these days. Participation in what those mountains have to offer comes with a certain level of accepted risks. Among those risks is the realization and acceptance that outside of yourself and what you do, you have very little control over anything else.

You are fully equipped, simply untested and inexperienced in this particular endeavor. Only one way to fix it, just do it. And, if you had come in here cavalier and nonchalant about it, I'd have concerns.

Assess the risks, leave your ego at home, and go have fun.

 

[WormSportsman]

Great advice above and I agree with everything that was said. It gets easier and you get more comfortable, the more time you spend out there during archery season. One thing that helped me was line up a buddy to help you pack out if you tag out and agree to help him if he tags out. Going back in for more quarters is my biggest concern normally and I’d rather there be two of us for less trips. Other than that it sounds like you have a healthy awareness of your surroundings and some good experience to be able to have a great archery season.

 

[wyosteve]

One thing I always did when going through thick brush/trees where I might surprise a bear or get between a sow and cubs is to have my bear spray in one hand ready to use just by flipping the safety off.

 

[TaperPin]

I would say rattlesnakes are a bigger threat across much of the west and the philosophy of how to avoid either them or bears is not that different. I give brush a little space rather than brush up against it, don’t step down where a snake could be relaxing just out of sight, don’t put a hand anywhere I can’t see, and in a lifetime of existing in snake country have only had one snake strike at me, but luckily he was a little short to reach me. If I were packing a gun or carrying a shovel would I change any of my avoidance techniques? Heck no, that would be stupid. I do know a guy who has been bitten multiple times who just pushes his luck when he shouldn’t.

Likewise, in bear country don’t think bear spray or a gun allows you to ignore common sense avoidance techniques. It’s basic risk management. Read details of a bunch of bear encounters and the themes repeat. “I can around some trees and there it was. . . “ Sounds a lot like,”I reached into the brush to pick something up and the snake got me. . . “ That doesn’t mean you can’t hunt in trees, simply avoid some stands with limited visibility, pick travel routes in your favor, and just condition yourself to make common sense decisions throughout the day. Some blind corners aren’t avoidable, but if you’ve avoided just half of all blind corners you’ve reduced the odds of running into a bear by half.

Teenage bears that know you’re there and are testing limits are another large source of encounters, so stay aware of your surroundings.

At some point you develop a feel for where bears cause more problems. I’ve always said a great source of information are the folks that manage the forest - if there are bear issues the Ranger for that area knows about it. I check every year. One popular trail I hiked as a kid had a teenage bear causing problems being aggressive and chasing city kids off trails. A hiker disappeared that summer. It wouldn’t surprise anyone if he freaked out seeing the bear and got into some big rocks he couldn’t handle and is still wedged in there somewhere. Had he asked anyone, they would have let him know a bear has been harassing people in that drainage.

 

[rking17]

A lot of folks take a dog with them into bear country as another set of eyes and ears. Just an idea.

 

[MTHunt]

Part of it here, honestly. Curious about the area you’re calling dense near Bozeman. I’ve only consistently heard about encounters in a couple spots (won’t put that info here). I often hunt solo also. There’s peacefulness in it but comes with reality of danger here, and not just griz.

In addition to Garmin, make sure someone has your general location and if possible know a 2nd exit route in case of an issue…ended up sliding down the wrong coulee with a muley last fall in knee deep snow and had to cross a waist-deep stream multiple times to get out. Frustrating mistakes can turn into life-threatening situations quickly here.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[mtnbound]

Hey fellas,

Always read this forum, but it wasn’t until I moved out to Bozeman for work and diving into western big game hunting when I felt the need to pose this question.

I have been scouting for archery elk—solo, and I can’t help but to admit that I have nervousness being in these mountains by myself—especially at dark hours where it will matter the most to play the thermals for this upcoming archery elk season.

I’m hunting a heavily dense grizzly area, and even with a 10mm, bear spray, Garmin and acute senses of what’s going around me stemming from the Marine Corps, this first season is going to be interesting.

I understand that this question has likely been posed quite a bit on this forum, but looking for a fresh and respectful perspective to ease the nervousness of this midwesterner.

I do have precautions that I will likely set in place, such as: walking in when the light starts to break, not hunting last light and not going 10 miles back for the sake of my wife’s sanity.

But because of these precautions, I’m now limiting my chances to harvest an elk, whether it be a cow or bull, by 50%.

I understand that this is mostly a mental game, but having been through a few nervous moments in my life in the dark—whether it was humans or predators, was enough to keep me on my toes for the foreseeable future.

Anyone have any tips they could provide that helped them in this scenario?

Thanks in advance

I wouldn't worry about the bear spray; keep the pistol, but I would say drop the 10mm and carry a 9mm, unless you have done a lot of practice with it and can shoot fast and accurately with it.
Not sure if you are hunting from a basecamp or backpacking, but regardless, follow the standard food storage guidelines in bear country.
For walking in or out in the dark, get a good, bright red LED headlamp. The red really makes animal eyes shine. I've easily seen animal eyes from 100+ meters. I have found the Peax Duo to be the brightest IMO.
You're solo hunting, so you shouldn't be 10 miles in the backcountry anyway, because that's practically not feasible for 1 guy to deal with getting meat out.
Running into a mom and babies can be problematic with black bears and moose as well. Really tough to plan for that. I recently had a long conversation with a cow moose and her calf on a trail with no good escape route. I just kept my pistol in my hand and talked really loudly. I didn't want to shoot her unless I had to; she eventually wandered off.
If you have an animal down, keep the meat away from the carcass and exercise caution as you move back into the meat area. I would bring a long gun for subsequent meat load-outs. While packing meat, choose a route with better visibility whenever possible and be loud in areas with reduced visibility.
Grizzlies can be a problem, and I have had some sleepless nights because of them, but you are more likely to be killed in a car accident. Be prepared, keep aware, and have fun.