Help with hunting in grizzly country

[Sawtooth Hunter]

We are already planning our elk hunting trip for next year. The new area we are going in is in grizzly central according to the biologist I talked to. This is our first time in grizzly country I am looking for any helpful info on camp setup, bear spray, sidearms, hunting tactics etc. We are planning on running two camps one for sleeping and one for gear and eating but I am wondering if thats over kill and I know getting your meat packed out asap is also important. I'm looking for more details what people do hunting in grizzly

 

[Maxhunter]

Go to Bass pro, Cabelas, etc and buy the big pepper spray. I have Counter Assault. The main thing is keep a clean camp. Have your food away in a tree or in bear proof boxes. I would recommend having it at least 100yds from my sleeping camp. If your real nervous you can get a electric fence. Hope this helps.

 

[tim]

what do you do with your food thing, is an interesting one. in the lower 48 sure hang it, you are never more than a day away from food. in alaska. i slept with it. Especialy on remote fly out hunts where getting resupplied was not really going to happen any time soon.

 

[Daubs]

Fly out caribou hunt north of Dillingham, Alaska in 2005. No sat phones or InReach at the time. Four of us in camp. We stored food 50+ yards away from camp, as well as the caribou we harvested. No trees in the area.

Didn't even take bear spray. Had 7mmMAG and 30-06 rifles in camp, loaded at all times, and two 44 magnum handguns.

 

[kidoggy]

only hunt with folks you can outrun.

 

[JEandAsGuide]

I have only hunted around them once but never had an encounter. May have been different if we had killed an elk. They were around. Found a lot of tracks some of which were in our tracks from the day before. I carried bear spray and always walked in front. My buddies had side arms behind me in case I couldn't turn one around with the spray. We hung our food at least 100 yards down from our camps. We usually ate breakfast there and hung it back up then carried lunch with us while we hunted. Would eat dinner that evening when we returned and hang it back up. NEVER ate around our tents or even brought food to them. We played it safe at first, waiting until it was just getting light to hike to our glassing spots and hiked back just before dark. This probably cost us and I will do more hiking before/after daylight next time I go there.

 

[AKaviator]

If you're nervous about them, I would invest in an electric fence or two. One for your sleeping area and another for your food storage area. Many of the guides that I know use them and say they work. I have never used one but bought one recently.

The fence will probably stop any curious bear, maybe not a bear that's really dedicated to getting thru it, but I don't think spray will stop a dedicated bear either.

If you're rifle hunting, you already have all the fire-power needed if things got dicey. I wouldn't bother with a handgun.

Have a good hunt.

 

[Sawtooth Hunter]

Thanks for the input we've been considering the electric fence for peace of mind like I said the whole grizzly thing is new to us. I have had people tell me don't let the bears dictate your hunt but the close encounter stories seem to stick in my head

 

[480/277]

only hunt with folks you can outrun.

A Classic!!!!!

The Problem with Grizzly areas is what other people have done to educate the Bears . You can run the cleanest camp in The forest, but if the Bears last experience was finding food in camp, you may still have trouble.

You follow all hunting in bear country rules , i.e. Keep a clean camp, keep food/meat inaccessible and a min 100 yards away, no food in the sleeping tent not even a wrapper, no bloody clothes in your sleep tent. And if you see a bear near your camp/drainage, shack him the hell out of there. When all else fails, fall back to kidoggy's post... Lol

 

[mntnguide]

What time of year are you planning on hunting? Im a lot more worried about camping in grizzly country in October after snow has fallen than I am in early September in my experiences. Once the snow falls and the temps start dropping, the grizzlies around here in western WY in my experience become far more dangerous and curious. They are constantly actively searching for food and thinking of hibernation. I would highly recommend a bear fence for at the very least your sleeping area. It will give you far more peace of mind. You can get a good one for a couple hundred bucks, and the charger runs on batteries and will run continuously for weeks, so you dont have to worry. You will be miserable if you run into bears then are unable to sleep because every stick that cracks, leaf the falls, etc through the night will wake you up and make you wonder. It would be well worth the investment IMO.

 

[Sawtooth Hunter]

Mntnguide our season starts Oct. 1st it's good to hear guys recommend the bear fence I was was wondering if it's acgimmick. The area we are going my dad had hunted once 20 yrs ago so we kind of know what drainage we are going to hunt he's said that they camped out of the timber in the open so we might try that don't know if it even matters. If you do have a sighting is it best to shoot its general direction to chase it off or just let them move on on their own

 

[JimP]

I wouldn't shoot at a bear unless I intended to kill it, shooting my just condition it to the fact that gunshots don't hurt.

Check on the Wyoming G&F web site I am sure that they have recommendations on what to do and for that matter I would also look at the Alaskan G&F site for some information.

If you are going to camp in the open what do you plan on doing with your food if there are no trees to hang it from? You'll have to look into bear proof containers it you are really are out in the open.

 

[mnhoundman]

We hunted 2 years in grizzly country, I definitely would get a fence. We planned on camping in a wall tent and bringing a fence, but ended up just pulling the ice castle fish house out again. Much safer in there, Lol!
They are getting way too brave, I think a fence would be a dam great idea. I know if I didn't have one and stayed in a tent I would be miserable.

 

[ScottR]

Give Stephen Rosso's piece a read on the blog. Covers a lot of what you are wanting to know and he did a lot of time in bear country.

Mike Eastman's Elk Hunting the West book also covers this in depth in one chapter.

 

[THelms]

Solid info on here. Listen to all of it. But if I had to break it down..

Bear Fence = Yes
Bear Spray = Yes
Handgun if archery hunting = Yes
Food in bear proof containers and kept away from sleeping area or hung in trees; NO FOOD IN CAMP! = Yes
Hunting with buddies = Yes

Respect = Yes
Fear = No

 

[tim]

one thing that I have not seen really talked about is garbage. In the past I have used a 3 bag system for my garbage. Duck deckoy bag to keep it all together, garbage bags inside of trash compactor bags. The idea is to minimize the smell. Granted this has been used on multi day river trips more than backpacking trips, but you get the idea. The last thing I need is for a bear to poke a hole in my raft.

 

[bux4brainz]

My suggestion is to have bear spray where you can get to it quickly. I put mine on the chest strap of my pack. Practice once or twice using it. I would suggest the UDAP & get a decent size bottle, the $50 size. Also have a good pistol on your side & obviously sleep with the pistol next to you. They say bear spray is usually more effective than a firearm but, I've heard a couple stories where the bear ran right through the bear spray. Don't spray until the bear is about 30 yards away.

As far as hunting, don't hunt any different than you would in country without bears. I would suggest trying not to harvest an elk after about 3 pm. The goal is to get it all out before dark. If you have to leave it overnight get the meat at least 100 yards away from the carcass & hang it in a tree out of bear's reach in a clearing so that when you approach the next day you can view the area for bears. When you're cutting up the elk try having one guy on the lookout for bears while the other(s) cut it up.

I know a guy who hunts solo with horses in grizz country. He will stay up all night stoking a fire. Then, he'll hunt in the mornings & take a nap mid day. Not sure that is the wisest way to hunt but, it seems to work for him.



Hope that helps & good luck.