Grizzly Experiences

[LuketheDog]

I saw a grizzly sow and two cubs once at about 1,000yds, in Yellowstone...yeah...I was touristing, that was as exciting as it got.

Also, have had excited hikers in Colorado tell me multiple times they just saw a grizzly up the trail, but by the time I got there I only found a black bear, guess I always juuuust miss the griz.

 

[appaloosa]

I've had two close encounters, both ended with us going our separate ways, mutually concerned about the other's presence.
I've also helped trap a few. Scariest encounter I ever had was trying to distract a large boar while they hit him with a jab stick. When we made eye contact at six feet he came at me so hard I thought he was going to go right through the door on the trap.

 

[BigHornRam]

I've seen about 15 over the years, none close. Tracks and sign fairly often. Closest call was on a trip to Canada. Camped overnight once in Stewart BC when the salmon were spawning. Went on that trip with my parents and I would usually wake up earlier than they did and I would take their dog out for a morning walk. Trail on the edge of town down by the creek seemed like good place to go. Pretty soon the dog, Abby, didn't want to go any further. I drug her around the corner, and there was a giant steaming pile of half digested salmon laying in middle of the trail. We cut the walk short that morning!

 

[Arrowbuck]

I’ve seen a couple in the GYE. Never close. Closest I’ve come was one working it’s way down the bank across from where I was fishing at Grebe Lake in Yellowstone.

Both times I saw one it was obvious that I was in the presence of greatness. I’m certain I’d fill my pants were I ever bluff charged, but it’s not enough to deter me from hunting an area known to have grizzlies.

I've seen 2 Grizzlies, both in Yellowstone in 2007. Awesome, awesome animals! On another trip to Yellowstone, my brother and I hiked in and camped at Grebe Lake so kind of interesting (and unsettling) to hear about the first responding posters sighting there. But more unsettling than that is that on that same trip we also camped at the Soda Butte camp site and in July 2010 a mother with cubs attacked and killed a camper there and also attacked and injured a couple of other campers.

 

[Otto Matic]

Too much information.

Wow! I'm sorry, dude!
Didn't mean to strain your brain! !

I HAVE NOT SEEN A GRIZZLY IN THE WILD!

Better?

 

[Deleted member 20812]

It has always amazed me how reclusive the great bears really are. I have logged hundreds of miles in the Bob Marshall wilderness, and have not seen many bears in those miles. We used to camp in the upper Blackfoot drainage in the Scapegoat during the early rifle hunt. We would see fresh bear tracks daily, and every side drainage we would ride up hunting elk, we would see grizzly tracks. Of all those days, very few actual bear sightings.

All told, I have probably seen a dozen of the great bear. We’ve had a couple of somewhat hair raising experiences over the years. On one occasion, a sow and yearling tried to pirate an elk head and cape out of camp at 2 AM. It was a rather tense and close standoff, but ended with no one worse for the wear.

On another occasion, we bumped a grizzly off a carcass in the southern Gravelly Range. That was one that kind of scared the shit out of me because of our close proximity to the bear, the fact we were downwind from him, and the a that kill was involved.

Ol’ Ephraim has my utmost admiration and respect.

 

[Straight Arrow]

I HAVE NOT SEEN A GRIZZLY IN THE WILD!

That is an appropriate post ... albeit not a grizzly experience.

Interest in hunting a Kodiak brown is irrelevant to the thread.

'Sorry; my small brain is easily "stained".

 

[mtmuley]

That is an appropriate post ... albeit not a grizzly experience.

Interest in hunting a Kodiak brown is irrelevant to the thread.

'Sorry; my small brain is easily "stained".

Jeez SA, mellow out. Same stuff happens on every thread usually. mtmuley

 

[Straight Arrow]

Jeez SA, mellow out. Same stuff happens on every thread usually. mtmuley

Jeez, Muley ... if ya got nothing to contribute ... then just listen and learn! Cyberspace is so full of superfluous static it's hard to sort the chaff.

BTW there are some good stories and pics on this thread of actual griz experiences.

 

[mtmuley]

Jeez, Muley ... if ya got nothing to contribute ... then just listen and learn! Cyberspace is so full of superfluous static it's hard to sort the chaff.

BTW there are some good stories and pics on this thread of actual griz experiences.

Otto just rubs you the wrong way. Not hard to see. Funny. mtmuley

 

[Dave N]

Couple in Alaska. Never any in the Rockies.

 

[LopeHunter]

That is an appropriate post ... albeit not a grizzly experience.

Interest in hunting a Kodiak brown is irrelevant to the thread.

'Sorry; my small brain is easily "stained".

Those bears are about alike as Iowa whitetail and Kentucky whitetail.

The Difference Between Brown and Grizzly Bears

Both brown bears and grizzly bears exist, but the differences between them aren’t what I had long assumed.

fitznaturalist.com

 

[Straight Arrow]

Those bears are about alike as Iowa whitetail and Kentucky whitetail.

The Difference Between Brown and Grizzly Bears

Both brown bears and grizzly bears exist, but the differences between them aren’t what I had long assumed.

fitznaturalist.com

Understood ... and if your thread was all about actual hunting experiences whitetail hunting in Iowa and I expressed a desire to hunt whitetail in Kentucky, you would consider that a relevant and informative post.
Right?

 

[Flatbrimmer]

I average seeing a few every year, this year I’ve seen a lot. Probably 90% of the bear and elk hunting I’ve done has been in good bear habitat in the GYE, and I’ve had a few close encounters. On two occasions I’ve had spray/guns pointed at a bear at very close range.

Dude! That’s nuts you’ve got brass balls.. where you hunting?? Taylor fork!?

 

[BuzzH]

It has always amazed me how reclusive the great bears really are. I have logged hundreds of miles in the Bob Marshall wilderness, and have not seen many bears in those miles. We used to camp in the upper Blackfoot drainage in the Scapegoat during the early rifle hunt. We would see fresh bear tracks daily, and every side drainage we would ride up hunting elk, we would see grizzly tracks. Of all those days, very few actual bear sightings.

All told, I have probably seen a dozen of the great bear. We’ve had a couple of somewhat hair raising experiences over the years. On one occasion, a sow and yearling tried to pirate an elk head and cape out of camp at 2 AM. It was a rather tense and close standoff, but ended with no one worse for the wear.

On another occasion, we bumped a grizzly off a carcass in the southern Gravelly Range. That was one that kind of scared the shit out of me because of our close proximity to the bear, the fact we were downwind from him, and the a that kill was involved.

Ol’ Ephraim has my utmost admiration and respect.

We've had to change up how we hunt West of HWY 83...have seen grizzly tracks in the snow just about every year for the last 6-8 years.

Not a huge population, but enough that we take deer back to town rather than hang them near camp, a lot more bear aware walking in the dark, carrying bear spray, etc.

They're filling in remaining suitable habitat.

 

[Otto Matic]

That is an appropriate post ... albeit not a grizzly experience.

Interest in hunting a Kodiak brown is irrelevant to the thread.

'Sorry; my small brain is easily "stained".

So was post #10.

Hunting a Kodiak brown is relevant to me. They're just magnificent creatures, as are grizzlies.

 

[TrumpkinTheDwarf]

None of the vote options above quite fits me. I've never seen one, but I've heard one pacing in the willows at thirty yards while I stared in slowly dawning comprehension at a freshly mauled cow moose. That was on a river floodplain in Alaska. Thankfully that bear decided it didn't want to fight me and my companion. It could have gotten ugly very quickly.

 

[Deleted member 20812]

We've had to change up how we hunt West of HWY 83...have seen grizzly tracks in the snow just about every year for the last 6-8 years.

Not a huge population, but enough that we take deer back to town rather than hang them near camp, a lot more bear aware walking in the dark, carrying bear spray, etc.

They're filling in remaining suitable habitat.

Interestingly enough, two week long trips in our upper camp never yielded even a bear sighting. One trip I had an elk hanging for five days. Bear tracks above camp every single morning when we kicked horses out to graze.

Our trip to the east was where we had problems, largely of our own fault.

There are a LOT of bears in the Scapegoat.

 

[MTLabrador]

Dude! That’s nuts you’ve got brass balls.. where you hunting?? Taylor fork!?

Those encounters have all been in the Absaroka-Beartooth and the Madison Range.

 

[mtmuley]

Those encounters have all been in the Absaroka-Beartooth and the Madison Range.

Right now, you better be prepared to see a grizzly anywhere in Montana. My family has a farm North of Shelby. Not exactly classic bear habitat, but they are there. mtmuley