WY Grizzlies

[OXN939]

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.

 

[Blowdowner]

Grizzlies are disgusting monsters.

 

[eddielasvegas]

Wow and thanks for your post. Glad you made it out safely.

You certainly do not seem like the type to overstate a problem so all shoudl heed your post and proceed with extreme caution.


Eddie

 

[7RemMag]

Grizzlies are disgusting monsters.

While I’m as big an advocate for sensible management of griz, even including hunting if applicable, it saddens me to hear them described in this way. Like all the flora and fauna on this Earth, The Lord put grizzlies on the Earth for a reason.

I am a lifelong outdoorsman and live in Wyoming. I read local news headlines about these bears multiple times a week. Despite this, I wouldn’t want to be without them on the landscape.

To the OP, Excellent post and you touch on a few great points and “rules” to follow to try and avoid problems. Unfortunately, due to the ever-growing densities of these bears and the lack of proper management, it seems encounters are more or less a fact of life in these areas.

Glad you got your elk. Sounds like you’re packing a wheel gun. What are you running?

 

[OXN939]

While I’m as big an advocate for sensible management of griz, even including hunting if applicable, it saddens me to hear them described in this way.

Same. This is an important point I omitted initially- bears of all varities are incredible and beautiful animals, without which our ecosystems would be a shell of themselves. There are just too many of them here with very little effort at management.

. Sounds like you’re packing a wheel gun. What are you running?

GP 100 in .357. Powerful, controllable, can't end up with a paperweight with the slide out of battery due to physical contact with a bear, as has happened in several of these

 

[Indian Summer]

Grizzlies are disgusting monsters.

lol Rockslider with all due respect you should have a little more respect for wildlife. Bears don’t wake up and say let’s go ruin a human’s day. They are just being bears doing what bears do. If you want to blame anyone it’s the disgusting anti hunters who are largely to blame for mismanagement. First they push for the re-introduction of apex predators, and then they tie the hands of the states to manage them.

 

[go_deep]

@OXN939 when you have time, please forward what you posted on to several people in the WGFD, please. I know they likely already know, I get it, but the more and more they hear, the more of a leg they have to stand on to fight for state managed grizzlies.
Happy to hear your safe!

 

[dreamingWest]

I agree with OP. I just got back from an archery hunt near Dubois. We saw grizzlies every day (seven the first day) with sign on every trail. WY has to implement some sort of griz season.

 

[Backpackeb]

I do see alot of grizzlies in the area. I know of two dudes that got chewed on in the area that I hunt. I always have my pepper spray but I have never had a problem. I don't call elk very much, as I feel it has the potential to call in bears. I have called in a few bears that way.

 

[Smfigari]

I just got back from a hunt in the Snowcrests in SW Montana, only about 40 miles form the park as the crow flies. We saw four grizzlies during our six day hunt. One of these was about 15 minutes before dark on an evening my hunting partner and I had split up. The bear was walking down the trail I was headed toward. Luckily, I saw him from 350 yards out. It made for a heart pounding two and a half mile hike to camp in the dark.

Loved that there were grizzles on the landscape and that we had the privilege to saw a few. Hated that they seemed to be without fear of humans and had such high population densities.

 

[Crowmangler]

Agree with the OP. Not sure why we just don't proceed with a season. Whenever the liberal judge says no just pretend like she doesn't exist. Ignore what she says like the gov't ignores immigration laws, etc.

 

[SWOHTR]

Agree with the OP. Not sure why we just don't proceed with a season. Whenever the liberal judge says no just pretend like she doesn't exist. Ignore what she says like the gov't ignores immigration laws, etc.

The question to pose here is, "Or, what?" As in...

State has a season and is told to stop because they're being litigated.

State: "Or what?"

Then out come the reasons of money, bleeding hearts, etc. The hard part is convincing the masses to sift through all of that information and find the parts that are actually relevant and have an educated conversation not based solely on feelings about what true management is.

---------

To the OP, thanks for the story!

 

[mike.adams.467]

Same thing here in Island Park, on the west side of YNP. Hunters attacked, cattle kills in the dozens within sight of the golf course and a resort, people getting pics of them on security cameras every night, from one of the city to the other, 10 miles away. They are way overpopulated. I just saw fresh tracks behind my cabin 30 minutes ago while taking the dog out for a run.

 

[bridgerbenson]

Same here. We must have been close to the same area. New griz sign almost daily. Ran into a local that had just had to kill a big charging griz a couple days prior and another hunter that had to kill a charging griz a few years prior. Luckily both got the bear stopped at their feet and didn’t get chewed up. Don’t think either case made the news.
Know of another hunter that got charged by a sow and three adult cubs and got them stopped within feet with bear spray. Ended up with it in his own eyes as well. That would have been exciting. Don’t think he left camp the rest of their trip.


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[Scorpion]

The grizzly situation is wild in Western WY. Hunted in a very remote wilderness area last month that is known for the wolves and bears. He went back in after I left and they had lots of bear action.

Four years ago, I got split up from my buddy and killed an archery bull solo. It was sketchy quartering him up alone, especially since I had seen three bears in that drainage earlier in the day and after being ran off a kill site three days prior by another boar.

In most cases, we won’t hunt without someone carrying a 45/70 and being on guard duty once a critter is down.

We have a lot of bears in PA, but I see more grizzlies in a week in WY than I do in 5+ years at home. The population is out of control and well beyond the recovery objective.

I love that the bears are on the landscape, but they need to be managed properly.

 

[Hoosker Doo]

OP, I appreciate your insight, having had a lot of experience in a wide variety of bear country. I lived in the same region for 3 years a few years back. Even had a sow and cubs come to the yard after a deer I was in the process of butchering and I lived less than 1/2 mile from "town".

I tried to share the same sentiment in a different thread, and that I thought it was foolish to hunt solo out here, and some of the rough n tough roksliders let me know that it was "too bad that I was too afraid to get out in the woods". Glad to hear others with experience share my perspective.

 

[jkilburg]

OP, I appreciate your insight, having had a lot of experience in a wide variety of bear country. I lived in the same region for 3 years a few years back. Even had a sow and cubs come to the yard after a deer I was in the process of butchering and I lived less than 1/2 mile from "town".

I tried to share the same sentiment in a different thread, and that I thought it was foolish to hunt solo out here, and some of the rough n tough roksliders let me know that it was "too bad that I was too afraid to get out in the woods". Glad to hear others with experience share my perspective.

I’ve never hunted Grizz country, but have some Wyoming points that’ll get used at some point. I also have a friend who’s hunted Island Park 3yrs straight and has some interesting stories to share and invited us this year to join their camp.

Call me weak, but I’ve got zero interest in Grizz country. I’m objectively looking at it from the fact I have a young family. But I’m also humble in knowing g my own fears. Outside of Grizz country my head is still on a swivel for the simple fact that as soon as you let your guard down something of any nature can happen.

I know there’s a lot of great elk habitat in Grizz country, but the upside has no sway for me.


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[Hoosker Doo]

I’ve never hunted Grizz country, but have some Wyoming points that’ll get used at some point. I also have a friend who’s hunted Island Park 3yrs straight and has some interesting stories to share and invited us this year to join their camp.

Call me weak, but I’ve got zero interest in Grizz country. I’m objectively looking at it from the fact I have a young family. But I’m also humble in knowing g my own fears. Outside of Grizz country my head is still on a swivel for the simple fact that as soon as you let your guard down something of any nature can happen.

I know there’s a lot of great elk habitat in Grizz country, but the upside has no sway for me.


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I hear you. I still live in WY but griz sightings are rare here. All I carry is my rifle when hunting and have no reservations about backcountry camping with my children. Next week I'll be back up in grizzly central for hunting camp and will carry spray, sidearm and have a partner at all times.