Figured this might be worth its own thread in light of current and recent events.
I just finished an elk hunt in western WY not too far from Yellowstone. In short, the grizzly population here is so wildly out of balance that it is a real concern for anyone outdoors, specifically hunters.
A little background- I'm a commercial pilot and spent all summer flying in the backcountry of southecentral AK. I probably put in about a hundred backcountry miles between hiking, hunting and fishing with clients just in the past few months. I've also hunted Kodiak five times, and never had any concern with bears. Every interaction I've had with them has been totally manageable and honestly a cool part of the backcountry experience.
Got down here to hunt my elk tag, and started seeing a lot of sign right off the bat. Like, an uncomfortable amount for someone planning to hunt solo. Coincidentally, that dude from Georgia had gotten chewed on about a day before this, not too far away. So, I basically planned to follow my SOPs and keep SA on point, but I reassured myself it couldn't be too different than any of my previous time in bear country. As I got further into my basin, the terrain developed into a lot of high grass, dense timber and head high willows, which started to set off my ORM meter past where I was comfortable. At this point I started back towards my truck so I'd at least be hiking out during daylight. About ten minutes into the hike back, I saw movement maybe 50 or 60 yards away through the timber. Came out from behind the tree and sure enough, yearling grizz cub. Shit. Exact scenario that ended up with the dude from GA pulling the trigger with his Glock basically in the bear's ear, literally less than 72 hours before. As I'm starting to book it in the opposite direction, I see the second cub. By this point my sidearm is drawn and I'm getting as far away from them towards the most open area I can find, which is not a very good option. I hear a large branch snap and was starting to envision sending my first round single action and then picking how to use the remaining 5. Thankfully, I never saw mom. Rest of the hike back was, shall we say, reflective.
Fast forward two days, I punch my tag and am packing out. Quartered and loaded up, hung what I couldn't take, started back to the truck by maybe 2200 in total darkness. Starting my second trip maybe 0700 the next morning, I see a dude coming back down the trail looking kinda shook. "Big, pissed off boar ahead, dude. Chasing moose." Sure enough, big boar right where I had packed out in the dark the night before, which did not seem to care about the fact that there were clearly people nearby. We ended up getting to rest of the meat out no issues, but if dude man hadn't offered to battle buddy me for the recovery it would have been sketch. Also a good chance that thing was watching my headlamp on the way out the night before, which is pretty unsettling considering its demeanor and how helpless you'd be in the dark with 150 pounds of meat on your back.
TL;DR- the grizz population near the GYE is unique and downright dangerous. I have done many hundreds of miles in the Alaskan wilderness over the last 20 years without any issue, even watching bears from a stone's throw away. These bears are different. They are cantankerous, far beyond the carrying capacity of the region and have no apparent fear of humans. Every local I talked to shares the same opinion... it is a situation that will keep making the news.
If you're hunting out here, be very careful. Spray and gun, and keep your head on a swivel at all times. Hunting solo is honestly a stupid decision and I won't be doing it again.
Best of luck to everyone out there for a safe and successful rest of the season.
I just finished an elk hunt in western WY not too far from Yellowstone. In short, the grizzly population here is so wildly out of balance that it is a real concern for anyone outdoors, specifically hunters.
A little background- I'm a commercial pilot and spent all summer flying in the backcountry of southecentral AK. I probably put in about a hundred backcountry miles between hiking, hunting and fishing with clients just in the past few months. I've also hunted Kodiak five times, and never had any concern with bears. Every interaction I've had with them has been totally manageable and honestly a cool part of the backcountry experience.
Got down here to hunt my elk tag, and started seeing a lot of sign right off the bat. Like, an uncomfortable amount for someone planning to hunt solo. Coincidentally, that dude from Georgia had gotten chewed on about a day before this, not too far away. So, I basically planned to follow my SOPs and keep SA on point, but I reassured myself it couldn't be too different than any of my previous time in bear country. As I got further into my basin, the terrain developed into a lot of high grass, dense timber and head high willows, which started to set off my ORM meter past where I was comfortable. At this point I started back towards my truck so I'd at least be hiking out during daylight. About ten minutes into the hike back, I saw movement maybe 50 or 60 yards away through the timber. Came out from behind the tree and sure enough, yearling grizz cub. Shit. Exact scenario that ended up with the dude from GA pulling the trigger with his Glock basically in the bear's ear, literally less than 72 hours before. As I'm starting to book it in the opposite direction, I see the second cub. By this point my sidearm is drawn and I'm getting as far away from them towards the most open area I can find, which is not a very good option. I hear a large branch snap and was starting to envision sending my first round single action and then picking how to use the remaining 5. Thankfully, I never saw mom. Rest of the hike back was, shall we say, reflective.
Fast forward two days, I punch my tag and am packing out. Quartered and loaded up, hung what I couldn't take, started back to the truck by maybe 2200 in total darkness. Starting my second trip maybe 0700 the next morning, I see a dude coming back down the trail looking kinda shook. "Big, pissed off boar ahead, dude. Chasing moose." Sure enough, big boar right where I had packed out in the dark the night before, which did not seem to care about the fact that there were clearly people nearby. We ended up getting to rest of the meat out no issues, but if dude man hadn't offered to battle buddy me for the recovery it would have been sketch. Also a good chance that thing was watching my headlamp on the way out the night before, which is pretty unsettling considering its demeanor and how helpless you'd be in the dark with 150 pounds of meat on your back.
TL;DR- the grizz population near the GYE is unique and downright dangerous. I have done many hundreds of miles in the Alaskan wilderness over the last 20 years without any issue, even watching bears from a stone's throw away. These bears are different. They are cantankerous, far beyond the carrying capacity of the region and have no apparent fear of humans. Every local I talked to shares the same opinion... it is a situation that will keep making the news.
If you're hunting out here, be very careful. Spray and gun, and keep your head on a swivel at all times. Hunting solo is honestly a stupid decision and I won't be doing it again.
Best of luck to everyone out there for a safe and successful rest of the season.
