bear encounters during rifle season?

[huntfishcamp]

As a new elk hunter, I am curious why I really only hear of bowhunters encountering bears and not so much rifle hunters, as I am sure they outnumber bow hunters probably 10 to 1..cannot imagine bears are hibernating in late Oct when rifle season opens (in MT anyways), or are they?

 

[POk3s]

Because bow hunting is a quieter sport. Bears will leave an area after rifles start going off...just like many animals. Plus hunting elk is somewhat different when hunting with a rifle then with a bow. You really can't sit on a meadow and watch for elk with a bow for too long. Sure you can spot them but then you're off to get closer. A rifle hunter can sit there all day hoping for something to come within 500 yards. Not as many people in the dark timber. I personally have seen more bears rifle hunting then bow hunting though.

 

[belly-deep]

Bears will leave an area after rifles start going off...just like many animals.

Not the ones that are tearing up bowhunters in the Yellowstone area...they come RUNNING to gunshots.

Honestly, I think part of it is, as POK3s suggested, the differing hunting styles.

Another part of it...and this is just a guess...that more than a few bears charge rifle hunters every year and end up in a different kind of hole in the ground than a den.

Many bowhunters carry guns, but if a bear comes at you fast, its much easier to pull up with a rifle and shoot than it is to drop your bow and pull out a handgun. I think a rifle is also more likely to stop a bear on the first shot...and so when a bowhunter gets charged, he's more likely to get mauled a bit, and have to go to the ER...which means the F&G get to investigate, and the attack makes front page news, etc.

Meanwhile a rifle hunter gets charged back in some remote area, drops the bear, gets the hell out of the country, seals his lips, and everything is covered up with snow for the next 6 months.

 

[----]

Bears are our feeding 20 hours a day during late September and early October, building as much fat as they can. This is also when most guys are out bowhunting elk.

By November, the bears have already gotten up high, slowed down, and are hanging pretty low around their den site.