Well, we haven't had many bear stories...

[sirhrmechanic]

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/09/17/wyoming-hunting-guide-fatally-mauled-by-grizzly-bears.html

The lesson here is either: Carry a bigger gun.

Or

When your time's up, your time's up!

Sirhr

 

[lash]

I saw a bit of the interview with the surviving client. He is still obviously distraught over getting away after being initially attacked and leaving the guide behind. It's not something that I would like to have as a memory.

 

[P-Squared]

The best bear gun to carry is a .25 semi auto. One shot in your knee and I'm off the hook.

 

[Jefe's Dope]

Damn! Occupational hazards differ wildly. Being eaten to death may only be better than burned alive. I'd prefer not to find out on either.

 

[ArmyJerry]

I just slept in that neighborhood, in the woods.

 

[Marinevet1]

You don't have to be fast to outrun a bear, you just have to be faster than the guy you are with.........

 

[Supersubes]

I wonder if the bears had already eaten on it a bit after it was killed, but before the hunters found it the next day?

A bear guide and friend I’ve hunted with a few times in Canada ran brown bear hunts in BC for 20 years. He describes reaching downed animals and breaking them down and packing the parts on the horses as you take them off the animal, as opposed to laying them out then loading up. When the grizzly’s show up, you leave with what’s on the horses, the rest belongs to the bear. He’s been dragged out of his tent twice by grizzly’s. He bought the hide of one back from the province auction months after he killed it. Beautiful hide.


Man I’d love to do a Grizzly hunt!

 

[...]

Mcamerons rules for hunting.

1) do not unload your gun until you are IN the truck...not near it...not outside it...not on your way to it...not in camp...not ever.

2) have your gun within arms reach at all times.....when youre sleeping....when your taking a shit....when your skinning game.

3) when you are dealing with dead game...at least one person has a gun in hand and keeping a lookout.

 

[Nik H]

I just slept in that neighborhood, in the woods.

You didn't beat up a bear while you were there did you?

 

[Sean the Nailer]

Mcamerons rules for hunting.

1) do not unload your gun until you are IN the truck...not near it...not outside it...not on your way to it...not in camp...not ever.

2) have your gun within arms reach at all times.....when youre sleeping....when your taking a shit....when your skinning game.

3) when you are dealing with dead game...at least one person has a gun in hand and keeping a lookout.

All of these are good rules to use, when Griz hunting. Pretty much what I did, when I hunted them. It's always suggested that you bring someone else with you though, when Griz hunting. Not the best thing to do on your own, though it is possible.

In a tent.

Good times.

 

[ArmyJerry]

well I hope i am not the reason they dont like humans anymore.

You didn't beat up a bear while you were there did you?

 

[spaniel]

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/09/17/wyoming-hunting-guide-fatally-mauled-by-grizzly-bears.html

The lesson here is either: Carry a bigger gun.

Or

When your time's up, your time's up!

Sirhr

Actually I think a better lesson is when in bear country, ALWAYS have your gun on you. Not in your backpack feet away.

When I'm in grizz country my pistol rides on the waistband of my pack in a paddle holster in easy reach. If I drop the pack, that holster is immediately transferred to my waist.

I've had to go back in for elk the next day, and dreaded it. A shot is a dinner bell to grizz and there is documented radio tracking evidence from MT that they shadow hunters waiting for a kill.

This is awful for all involved.

 

[mdmp5]

What gun do you want to carry for taking down a bear? A big bore AR?

 

[XLR308]

I used to work with an old Marine Korean war vet that his favorite saying was " SOMETIMES YOU EAT THE BEAR, SOMETIMES THE BEAR EATS YOU "

 

[ArmyJerry]

I seen a lot of skinny black bears in Hyder Ak area this year on my ride, skinny bodies, big heads, would not run off the road like usual, very very hungry looking, when I got to the park where they usually snatch salmon out of the air as they swim up stream the ranger told us no salmon yet latest arrival he has seen in 30 years. We rode 500 miles that day to get to where they were eating berries instead on non existent salmon..

 

[mdmp5]

I used to work with an old Marine Korean war vet that his favorite saying was " SOMETIMES YOU EAT THE BEAR, SOMETIMES THE BEAR EATS YOU "

I thought it was the bar. At least that’s what Sam Elliot told the dude

 

[...]

What gun do you want to carry for taking down a bear? A big bore AR?

.375HH
.458 winmag
12G 3" hard cast magnum slug
.50 beowulf

when i carry a handgun its 300gr hard cast .44 mag

for large NA game, i like .375HH

 

[Srgt. Hulka]

Grizzly hunting.....uhhmmm....no.

 

[mdmp5]

.375HH
.458 winmag
12G 3" hard cast magnum slug
.50 beowulf

when i carry a handgun its 300gr hard cast .44 mag

My vote would be the beowulf or maybe one of them 45 raptors. I have to imagine you want a semi bc those bears must get fucking pissed when they get shot. Like when DiCaprio shot that bear, it spazzed out and fucked him him even more. And that was with a big bore muzzle loader

 

[...]

My vote would be the beowulf or maybe one of them 45 raptors. I have to imagine you want a semi bc those bears must get fucking pissed when they get shot. Like when DiCaprio shot that bear, it spazzed out and fucked him him even more. And that was with a big bore muzzle loader

or we can just shoot the fuckers with a 4 bore ...one and done.

 

[powdahound76]

My friend used to guide in AK before he got old and fat (hope he reads this!).

He used a 45-70 with hardcasts or 12g with 3” Breneke in the thick stuff. Now he uses a .338 win mag with 250 gr bullets for a long gun.
His current hand cannon is a 475 Linebaugh shooting 400 gr hardcasts at 1400 fps iirc (maybe 1500?). I shot a full cylinder of them. Not a joy but good to know its doable.

He went to a big pistol as well after leaning his rifle against a tree while fishing one day. A couple fish on the stringer later here comes the bear and his rifle is now 25 yds away.

I noticed Wyofox’s kit got an upgrade to a 10mm this year in the “Whats in your pack” thread in hunting. See his vid of having a squirt gun in your hand and a grizz close from last bow season.

I would be ok with that.
I carry a 460 rowland in a G21 running 200 gr extreme penetrator solids at 1450 fps. 14 in the gun and 13 more.
It lives on my pack belt in a gcode holster and swapped to a paddle when the pack is off.

Plus baby wipes for my arse if I make it!?

 

[mdmp5]

or we can just shoot the fuckers with a 4 bore ...one and done.

That’s a good way to amputate your arm at the shoulder

 

[7.62willdo]

My great uncles were millionaires They hunted every animal on the planet I think, but I remember the rule for when they were on a polar bear hunt, after you land a plane on the ice if you haven’t shot the polar bear in 15 minutes you get back in the plane and you leave because by that time that bears hunting you ....

 

[XLR308]

or we can just shoot the fuckers with a 4 bore ...one and done.

That gives me the impression that it would be only marginally better to be behind the rifle firing that beast than in front of it, but I guess the end game is survival and that would definitely take the piss out of anything.
I'm sure you guys remember the videos of the Suadis shooting the 700 T-Rex, that's the first thing that came to mind when I saw that cartridge.

 

[Supersubes]

 

[Snipe260]

I just slept in that neighborhood, in the woods.

and only when you left, did the bears decide it was ok to come back!

 

[RNWRKNP]

Not only no but hell no!

 

[thejeep]

I just slept in that neighborhood, in the woods.

Try backpacking with 3 kids under 8. Talk about not sleeping well.

 

[RNWRKNP]

One of the scariest sounds I’ve heard is what sounded like someone shooting a 22.......but it’s a griz snapping his teeth together. You can imagine how wide my eyes were after my dad laid that one on me along with a game plan for if the bear showed up. Only way to the area that we were building a cabin was by pontoon plane. Never went anywhere even relatively remote without a 44 mag minimum always handy. Pop was fish and game/state trooper in the Glennallen/Valdez area.

 

[thejeep]

^Pretty place to grow up!

Half way through our rockies trip this summer I realized, there's no bears here. In AK it was like you couldnt go piss without seeing a kill site. I was able to relax a little.

 

[ruebarb]

well I hope i am not the reason they dont like humans anymore.

 

[powdahound76]

thejeep

Just went camping a coupke weeknds ago in RMNP with the kids. They have had bears in the campground day and night all summer.

Coffee the next AM was key with the few short crummy naps I was able to get that night.
And still an awesome time with the kids (ages 5, 6, & 7). Its a constant question from them now about when we get to go again.

 

[Jefe's Dope]

W/ small children in the Rocky Mountains, I'd me much more concerned with mountain lions than bears. They'll stalk 'em and snatch one when you're not looking. Just the right size and oblivious to the dangers of nature.

 

[thejeep]

Only bear sign we saw. And my meager weapons cache.

 

[Crang]

Backpacking on a survival course in the Talkeetnas, AK we had had some weather and were running a few days behind to hit our next food air drop. Ended up hiking through the night a couple nights since the sun wasnt setting much. Pushed past exhaustion got lazy with our bear calls about 2am some morning. Bad bad fog with maybe 4-5 feet visibility. Started seeing bloody grizzly scat (it was blueberry season and this one was still eating meat). Came across a mauled caribou cache so it was clearly in the very near vicinity napping- we just couldnt see it. Wide eyed and banded together now intentionally not making our calls edging through the fog knowing if we saw it it would be all over. Had bear mace but not a comfort lol. Came across its day bed where it had been napping after the caribou kill- finally we could smell it , It was right near us. Not sure who ran first but oh shit did I outrun a few! Never ended up seeing it but close enough to smell- it was close enough.

And its true- the girl with the bad foot infection would have been the meal. She ended up falling behind in the fog.

 

[powdahound76]

Jefe,
Agree with that statement about big kittys while hiking, especially in CO. We keep together and “bracket” the kids with one in front and one in back. I keep the back and am ready.

Had heard about the bears in campgrounds and though I can control how I keep our camp, I cant with neighbors. Hence the ready.
We will go away from campground camping, though our first few trips as a new family unit the campground is nice.

 

[thejeep]

Jefe,
Agree with that statement about big kittys while hiking, especially in CO. We keep together and “bracket” the kids with one in front and one in back. I keep the back and am ready.

Had heard about the bears in campgrounds and though I can control how I keep our camp, I cant with neighbors. Hence the ready.
We will go away from campground camping, though our first few trips as a new family unit the campground is nice.

Just do it. Buy the biggest back pack and carry 95% of the stuff yourself. Look on the map and find the easiest terrain with what looks like the possibility for the fewest people, like a overlooked national forest bordering a major tourist trap.
Even if you still want to car camp head into the national forest and find a dispersed site.

The pic below was only about 3 mi from the road and maybe only 2 tents were 0.5 mi away.

 

[bogeybrown]

In the winter of 98 I got sent from South Louisiana to Kenai,AK as our Company's rep for a seismic oil exploration job on the Kenai Natl Wildlife refuge. It was the first new exploration allowed in probably 50 years and was the first time in my life I'd ever seen snow.

We were drilling holes, setting off dynamite, and flying helicopters low over the spread. The winter was relatively mild and in that part of AK the locals said it was uncommon for the Brown Bears to truly hibernate. Just before I got there we had a surveyor fall through the snow into a fucking den! The only thing that saved him was the GPS-surveying backpack which kept the bear from getting to anything vital.

My job was to walk the bush all day behind our heli-drills making sure we weren't leaking ATF on the ground and to be the safety/environmental/medic guy for the job and the tent camp. By mid February bunch of us were reporting bear activity across the spread and asked the Client to look into hiring bear guides as escorts for the crews since we weren't allowed weapons in camp. The Client reps were a couple of arrogant, douchebag Canadians (probably the only ones I've personally met) who said that as a coonass I had no idea what I was talking about and that all the bears were sleeping.

Welp, apparently one of those bears didn't get the "you're asleep" memo and killed one of the Client's employees. I have literally seen plane, train, auto, and motorcycle crashes and nothing but an IED strike compares to what that bear did to that poor guy. The sheer physical force transferred in that bear attack is still mind blowing.

I don't know if the Bear Attack files are detailed enough to pull up the incident, but the poor bastard who got rearranged was named Ardelio Luis Cortes. I can still see and smell what was left of him.

 

[powdahound76]

Thejeep,
I have the pack and more than enough gear to do it well. Already have the first 2 backpack sites picked out.

Those pics are gorgeous!

My stepkids had not been camping so we needed to get them a oriented a bit to how things go. It eased Momma’s mind to do it that way, so thats how we did it. No need making things stressful when its about fun.

 

[Crang]

The sheer physical force transferred in that bear attack is still mind blowing.

When they dig for ground squirrels up there they can displace 400 lbs of frozen dirt under the tundra in a single swipe. Thats the actual number. Its mind boggling how much force it takes to do that......

 

[RNWRKNP]

Most amazing bear story my pop told as a trooper and I don’t remember if it was Glennallen or outlying community but the jist of it was about a young mom. Young mom ( 4’ nothing, 90 nothing)and the little one are hanging clothes on the line in the backyard. Little one swaddled up in a crate I think. Anyway, mom runs into the house to get some more clothes to hang on the line and when she comes out a griz is in the yard and headed for the little one. This little 4’ nothing, 90# nothing, pulls a double headed ax that had been bladed in a stump and completely destroys this bear without a mark on her. Only thing she remembered was seeing the bear and my dad showing up. Pop said that folks were a lot more respectful of that little lady after the fact?

 

[Marinevet1]

Only bear sign we saw. And my meager weapons cache.

That will only piss them off..........large caliber........never been in bear country for any length of time, but minimum.......44 cal hand gun, 45/70......long gun, and I don't know shit about what it would be needed to take down a big bear.......

 

[Dewey7271]

when i carry a handgun its 300gr hard cast .44 mag

Tough to beat heavy hard cast for penetration.
I shoot a lot of water filled jugs to check out hunting bullets. An 350 gr Kodiak expanding bullet moving pretty well from the 45-70 at 20 yards goes six jugs, maybe 7. 405 Hard cast, same rifle; I haven't put together enough jugs to catch one yet.

 

[Sean the Nailer]

12 ga, 3" magnum, cylinder bore, slug/2 SSG's/slug/2 SSG's/slug. That's how you load and shoot it, when decisions need to be made. In Griz country.

 

[DetroitRearView]

Most folks do not understand how often we deal with this fiercely powerful and quick animal.

I am often in the wilderness of NW Wyoming alone in my tent.

I meet them on the trail at night on the way back to my tent. I wake in the morning to see fresh tracks around my site. I have had them rub my shoulder as they trip over my tent ropes. They have taken some of my meat.

However, they are beautiful beasts and I am thrilled everytime I see one in the wild.

They belong here.

They simply need to know that man is the top of the food chain and we carry fire sticks that hurt real bad.

As far as being attacked - even with all the common sense precautions, it certainly can happen - but I am willing to take that risk to experience this vast wild country.

 

[CMH]

Anytime you go back to meat from the night before in grizzly country, you bring a firearm, and one stands watch while the others gut and cut. Everybody that knows anything in this part of the world knows that's how it works. Not in the pack. Not bear spray. Not all hands working with none watching. That guide should have known better, and he paid with his life because he didn't.

 

[ALASKAPREDATOR]

In the winter of 98 I got sent from South Louisiana to Kenai,AK as our Company's rep for a seismic oil exploration job on the Kenai Natl Wildlife refuge. It was the first new exploration allowed in probably 50 years and was the first time in my life I'd ever seen snow.

We were drilling holes, setting off dynamite, and flying helicopters low over the spread. The winter was relatively mild and in that part of AK the locals said it was uncommon for the Brown Bears to truly hibernate. Just before I got there we had a surveyor fall through the snow into a fucking den! The only thing that saved him was the GPS-surveying backpack which kept the bear from getting to anything vital.

My job was to walk the bush all day behind our heli-drills making sure we weren't leaking ATF on the ground and to be the safety/environmental/medic guy for the job and the tent camp. By mid February bunch of us were reporting bear activity across the spread and asked the Client to look into hiring bear guides as escorts for the crews since we weren't allowed weapons in camp. The Client reps were a couple of arrogant, douchebag Canadians (probably the only ones I've personally met) who said that as a coonass I had no idea what I was talking about and that all the bears were sleeping.

Welp, apparently one of those bears didn't get the "you're asleep" memo and killed one of the Client's employees. I have literally seen plane, train, auto, and motorcycle crashes and nothing but an IED strike compares to what that bear did to that poor guy. The sheer physical force transferred in that bear attack is still mind blowing.

I don't know if the Bear Attack files are detailed enough to pull up the incident, but the poor bastard who got rearranged was named Ardelio Luis Cortes. I can still see and smell what was left of him.

In the winter of 98 I got sent from South Louisiana to Kenai,AK as our Company's rep for a seismic oil exploration job on the Kenai Natl Wildlife refuge. It was the first new exploration allowed in probably 50 years and was the first time in my life I'd ever seen snow.

We were drilling holes, setting off dynamite, and flying helicopters low over the spread. The winter was relatively mild and in that part of AK the locals said it was uncommon for the Brown Bears to truly hibernate. Just before I got there we had a surveyor fall through the snow into a fucking den! The only thing that saved him was the GPS-surveying backpack which kept the bear from getting to anything vital.

My job was to walk the bush all day behind our heli-drills making sure we weren't leaking ATF on the ground and to be the safety/environmental/medic guy for the job and the tent camp. By mid February bunch of us were reporting bear activity across the spread and asked the Client to look into hiring bear guides as escorts for the crews since we weren't allowed weapons in camp. The Client reps were a couple of arrogant, douchebag Canadians (probably the only ones I've personally met) who said that as a coonass I had no idea what I was talking about and that all the bears were sleeping.

Welp, apparently one of those bears didn't get the "you're asleep" memo and killed one of the Client's employees. I have literally seen plane, train, auto, and motorcycle crashes and nothing but an IED strike compares to what that bear did to that poor guy. The sheer physical force transferred in that bear attack is still mind blowing.

I don't know if the Bear Attack files are detailed enough to pull up the incident, but the poor bastard who got rearranged was named Ardelio Luis Cortes. I can still see and smell what was left of him.

I remember this incident as I live about 10 miles from where this happened. They finally allowed some hunting of brown bears in the last few years which helped a lot in getting rid of the Bears that had no fear of humans. You still have to always be aware but no longer mow the lawn with a 12 gauge in my lap.

 

[tnichols]

Now boarding the one way train to Flinchville.

 

[bogeybrown]

I remember this incident as I live about 10 miles from where this happened. They finally allowed some hunting of brown bears in the last few years which helped a lot in getting rid of the Bears that had no fear of humans. You still have to always be aware but no longer mow the lawn with a 12 gauge in my lap.

It was a shit show. I remember being kind of amazed at how many different govt entities got involved in it. I figured that a bear attack was pretty common up there, but apparently it was the first fatal attack during the winter in many many decades.

 

[Barneybdb]

Colorado?