Grizzly encounter x3
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I was off hunting sheep on the Alberta/BC border last Tuesday. Standing quietly glassing for sheep, rifle still in the drag bag laying in the junipers with my quad helmet. I look over to my right and about 80yds out, a grizzly comes walking in. Thinking to myself, ok that's not that bad. Then another comes walking in, and then, momma. My god, 2-300 lb cubs and around a 900 lb sow. Somehow they had no idea I was there. If I turned north on the great canadian divide trail rather then quadding into this pond, I would have run head on into them! I snuck back to the quad and abandoned everything on the ground, fired up the quad and started putting distance between me and momma. She charged around 40 yds and realized I wasn't a threat, and went back to watching her cubs. Between going for my rifle, putting on my quad helmet, or just getting away, I think I made the right choice. She would have been on top of me before I could have ever gotten my rifle out of the drag bag. When things calmed down a bit, I was able to snap some photos and get some video.
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wow...great pictures and story. I have never had an encounter like that and I'm alright with that lol. How did the rest of the hunt go so far?
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Wow, that is crazy!
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Whew! Cool pics and story.
There's not much in my territory that can eat ya. That's alright by me.
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@irish I shut it down right after that. One of the cubs kept walking in my direction probably curious what I was. These things have no fear when they get that big. Some of the rams were in the direction the grizzlies went, so it would have been a risk going after anything that day.
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Scary stuff, wasn’t it just a month ago a guide was killed from a charging grizzly.
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@rhyno said in Grizzly encounter x3:
Scary stuff, wasn’t it just a month ago a guide was killed from a charging grizzly.
Debbie Downer
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Yes, I forget where I had read a thread related to this story from WY.http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/09/17/wyoming-hunting-guide-fatally-mauled-by-grizzly-bears.html
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Who makes the best bear spray?
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Smith & Wesson
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Brings reality to that one joke... I'm sad for the guy and his family, but for real, if you're in bear country you better pack something more than pepper spray.
The National Park Rangers are advising hikers in Glacier National Park and other Rocky Mountain parks to be alert for bears and take extra precautions to avoid an encounter.
They advise park visitors to wear little bells on their clothes so they make noise when hiking. The bell noise allows bears to hear them coming from a distance and not be startled by a hiker accidentally sneaking up on them. This might cause a bear to charge.
Visitors should also carry a pepper spray can just in case a bear is encountered. Spraying the pepper into the air will irritate the bear's sensitive nose and it will run away.
It is also a good idea to keep an eye out for fresh bear scat so you have an idea if bears are in the area. People should be able to recognize the difference between black bear and grizzly bear scat.
Black bear droppings are smaller and often contain berries, leaves, and possibly bits of fur. Grizzly bear droppings tend to contain small bells and smell of pepper.
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They had a pistol (a Glock so 10mm maybe? I’d want a 500s&w) but the one guy didn’t know how to use it, and supposedly threw it to the guide.
The guide is probably the only reason that one guy got away.
Terrible deal all around.
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@rhyno Yeah... really sad deal. My heart goes out to that guy's family. ... and you're right, he's probably the only reason his client is alive.
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@orkan I wouldn’t even know what a grizzly looks like, i was up to Dakota Archery in Yankton the other day and they have a black bear. I thought “wow I thought those things were bigger” still bigger than I am.
And Grizzlies are bigger, I think I’ll stay out of bear country as much as I can, I’m not even a fan of the coyotes, mountain lions and bobcats.
If I went hunting out west I’d probably end up dead, something I’ve never really thought about.
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@rhyno Want to envision a grizzly? Look at your average cow. I know you have those around. ;)
Now give the cow a head three times as wide, 6" claws, massive jaws with huge teeth, and the speed of a horse. That's basically a grizzly. A coastal grizzly can get upwards of 1500lbs. They are crazy huge and insanely powerful. Like a giant raccoon.
I've only been next to one in a zoo, and that was as close as I'd ever want to be. The things are absolutely monstrous. Black bears are little baby's by comparison.
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A 500 s&w might work for bear. Problem is that it is difficult to conquer itself. One would need to shoot it quite a bit and on a regular basis in order to be able to hit anything with it. The recoil is so great (especially with the 440’s and up) that it tends to double tap. I have gotten to where I can keep it from double tapping now, but it requires quite a bit of concentration and hitting the target is still difficult.
I also have an airlift 44 mag which is much easier to handle, but still requires a lot of shooting to be able to consistently hit with it. The recoil of the 44 doesn’t bruise your hand quite as bad, but it still hurts after 6 rounds if you are not wearing a glove.
I don’t view 10mm’s as large enough for beat, but that is my opinion.
If I knew I was going to be in bear country, I would want a benelli with slugs.
I did carry pepper spray when hiking in Yellowstone. Thankfully never got to use it. Bear spray works great on pit bulls though. We have been using it on the local dogs that chase us when we run and they learn quite quickly not to chase. Just don’t rub the sweat out of your eyes after you spray a dog. Also, a 100lb pit bull is a far cry from a 1500lb grizzly.
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We ended up looking for moose around Boundary ranch in kananaskis country the Wednesday after. This time i brought a partner. No sign of anything, but we did find a fresh pile of bear scat. The logs were about as round as pop cans. Imagine the size of whatever laid that! No bells or pepper spray though lol. Lots of berries and shredded meat throughout the scat.
Most grizzly I've encountered are fairly docile creatures. The teenagers can be little arseholes, but the adults aren't bad, especially if they have advance warning that you are near. Who knows, we may get to a point where they open grizzly to hunting draws again here in alberta. There are getting to be so many of them, I've seen more grizz than black bears in the last few years.
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@donnie They just shut down grizzly bear hunting in the states, pretty ridiculous.
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@rhyno hopefully there's some logical reasoning to it, not just the government conforming to the bleeding hearts. People don't realize just how vast our country's are, and how much they aren't affected by the small number of hunters and recreationists.
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I have unfortunately had only one encounter with a griz in Wyoming while field dressing my bull elk. I thank god everyday that my guide knew what to do. It was a lone bear never got more than than a 100 yards from us but guide literally went running straight at it screaming with a 12 gauge. The bear tucked tail and ran the other direction. When my returned he had my basically stand guard with my head on a swivel. I will never forget that experience.
My guide told me to not even bother with with a 10mm unless you just want to piss it off.
He had been guiding for 10 years and he said that was only the second time he had to run one off.
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@donnie sounds like it’s purely anti-trump BS reasons.
