What would you do.. and what's that smell??

Hi all,

I just got back from an exciting hunt in southern kamloops. We had one missed opportunity on a beautiful 3x3 and saw three moose including a beautiful bull courting a cow.

Now my questions - we were hunting some mule deer in a very dense forest.. as we pushed through the bush we encountered a very wet dog like smell (what I always assumed to be bear). After about 5 minutes we took a rest in an area with only about ten feet of visibility. Shortly after catching our breath we heard loud stomping .. shortly after this we heard loud grunting. It was clear we had a frazzled bear within about 20-30 feet of us (that we could not see). We decided to slowly leave the area and continue our hunt elsewhere. We had bear tags but were not overly interested in taking one at this point in the trip.

Would you have continued to hunt the area.. investigated the bear.. or left the area?

Second question is what was the smell? Shortly after we found ourselves in an amazing moose habitat and smelled the same exact aroma that we encountered when we bumped into the bear. Do they smell the same or could we have coincidentally smelled moose near the bear? It smelled exactly like a stinky wet dog..

Thanks for any feedback!

Sounds all to squatchy for my liking.

Smell was likely classic moose stank and was likely a bull grunting at you and not a bear. Likely rutted up and thinking you guys were maybe a cow needing some loving. Sounds more like moose behaviour than bear to me. Good to exercise some caution tho if unsure.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Jc12

Hi all,

I just got back from an exciting hunt in southern kamloops. We had one missed opportunity on a beautiful 3x3 and saw three moose including a beautiful bull courting a cow.

Now my questions - we were hunting some mule deer in a very dense forest.. as we pushed through the bush we encountered a very wet dog like smell (what I always assumed to be bear). After about 5 minutes we took a rest in an area with only about ten feet of visibility. Shortly after catching our breath we heard loud stomping .. shortly after this we heard loud grunting. It was clear we had a frazzled bear within about 20-30 feet of us (that we could not see). We decided to slowly leave the area and continue our hunt elsewhere. We had bear tags but were not overly interested in taking one at this point in the trip.

Would you have continued to hunt the area.. investigated the bear.. or left the area?

Second question is what was the smell? Shortly after we found ourselves in an amazing moose habitat and smelled the same exact aroma that we encountered when we bumped into the bear. Do they smell the same or could we have coincidentally smelled moose near the bear? It smelled exactly like a stinky wet dog..

Thanks for any feedback!

---

Can't guess if it was a bear or a moose. Bears can smell like wet dog sometimes, but so can other animals. I find bears more difficult to smell in the fall months. In the spring, there is no mistaking it. They smell like a cross between a hippy and composted lawn mower shavings.

As bears that are 20-30 feet away that I can't see and they are giving me heck (which has only ever happened when I'm hunting them, not other animals) I prefer to pass on by. I don't want to be "forced" to shoot anything that I didn't have time to evaluate. I definitely would have kept hunting the area, just further than 20-30 feet away from a cranky bear. That said, if there was any doubt it was a bear, I might have spent more time trying to determine that.

Thanks all - I should add we found bear tracks in the area and it was a pretty low growl noise .. different than any moose grunt I’ve heard.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Jc12

Thanks all - I should add we found bear tracks in the area and it was a pretty low growl noise .. different than any moose grunt I’ve heard.

---

Was more of a growl, or a grawl? The wet critter smell have hints of ever green, or swampy moss? Now when it ran away, was it more of of a thump thump thump, or a crash crunch crunch? Moosin

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Jc12

Thanks all - I should add we found bear tracks in the area and it was a pretty low growl noise .. different than any moose grunt I’ve heard.

---

In that case it seems like a bear.

Bears have a lot of different ways of communicating they aren't happy with you being close and I have been fortunate enough to experience several of them without major incident.

Jaw clacking is the first one. I don't worry to much about that. It's just the bear telling you "I'm here and I know your there... just so ya know... lets not make this situation any more uncomfortable, keep your distance bro" ... funny enough I had a sow do this for about an hour while I was boning out a boar. I'd just yell back "hey calm down, I did you a solid... happy mothers day" ... she was about 20 yards away in the timber and as of the night before had two cubs. This is about the only time telling any living being to calm down actually worked a bit LOL.

Growling I find is a little more tense. Not exactly sure what we walked into (rut was in full swing though) but it sounded like there were 3 mature bears. Spooked them at a treeline about 15 yards away, they went opposite directions and one went the same direction we were going. Well I guess one stopped in the treeline along the path we were walking. It started out as a pretty quiet growl... not too intimidating but we stopped to get ready for a potential charge. I think my brother (hasn't hunted much) wanted to hang around for the charge so he could get a bear (as mentioned I never wanted to shoot in a forced situation) ... growl got progressively louder and more intimidating, so I said we can either go back the way we came or we can keep going but we shouldn't stay here. Kept going... after walking about 15 yards away the growling stopped.

And then there's charges that come with all sorts of huffing and stomping. All sorts of reasons that could happen. I've only had the honor once and never figured out what set it off.

I appreciate bears that give off warning. I don't like them telling me what's what and sometimes I wonder if giving them space is good or bad for conditioning / learning behavior.

Good on you for moving along, but keep in mind it was probably fine to stay in the area and hunt. I'd just give enough distance that any growling or huffing stops. And just because there is bear around doesn't mean there aren't ungulates. I remember walking into a spot once and saw a deer standing there looking at me and thought "no way in heck there's gonna be a bear in this pocket" ... took another 20 paces or so and what do you know... tank of a bear right there. In hind sight I laugh about that deer... sure it knew 100% the bear was there and watched us walk in... makes me think of the MEME of the deer eating popcorn. "Well lets see how this plays out"

Hmm wasnt there..could be just rotting forest smells ? However..bears smell completely different to me unmistakable. .imo..
I have smelled moose..that smelled like wet dog. .all examples were female..cows are more likely to stomp the ground..bulls either retreat..or become aggressive..think run all over you..
Thinking back. .being feet away..I also think a bear would be teeth clacking if that upset..dont know the forest floor but moose stomping is much more hearable than a bear bouncing on front pads. .not a good sign either way.
It shows you were being stealthy. .which resulted in too close to whateverthehellwasthere.
I agree that backing out was the prudent thing to do.
Cant rightly remember being 20..30 feet from a bear or moose and not knowing which it was..but I can believe it did happen
You were still hunting effectively. .found big game..then in light of the circumstances edged on back out..all well done.
Next time be playing a Dewalt Jobsight music player cranked with Nana Mosouri singing Whitesnake da da problem avoided. .lol
Steven

My ex wife lives up that way

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by srupp

It shows you were being stealthy. .which resulted in too close to whateverthehellwasthere.


Next time be playing Nana Mosouri singing Whitesnake da da problem avoided. .lol
Steven

---

My first ever deer hunt (Hurley black tail) ended in me leaving the group (who might as well have had the ghetto blaster cranking) and finding bedding sites etc. Being ultra stealthy, I bumped a cow moose out of her day bed. Thankfully she ran the other way! I knew there was an animal in the thicket, and was trying to see what it was. I nearly jumped out of my skin when she exploded out of there!

And thanks for the Nana Mouskouri flashback. There’s 40 years of therapy down the drain!!