Hunting alone in Grizzly country

[bazza]

Does anyone hunt alone in Grizzly country? If so can we share some advice for novices and pros alike? Strategies & tactics to stay safe???? Protective gear etc?

Thanks

[mpotzold]

My take on staying safe & best protection when in grizz country
-carry a rifle that's capable of penetrating the dense muscle, bone, fur, fat & beyond & be proficient with it. Use larger diameter bullets with a Sectional Density greater than 0.300
-if using a shotgun use non soft slugs such as Brenneke. The buckshot may or may not work depending how close the grizz is.
-carry a large knife along with a folding one.
-flag the kill area in a circle about 2 ft. high if you need to come back & make a lot of noise when coming back & checking for disturbed flagging
-if more than 1 hunter have one protect & be ready while the other field dresses
-if by yourself have the gun fully loaded & chambered within easy reach & continuously watch & listen to the surroundings

If charged
-aim for the body centre in a frontal charge.
-they can run at more than 45 fps so I would start shooting at around 30 yards+.

What to watch for
-watch for birds such as ravens & listen to rodents noise
-look for fresh droppings & tracks
-smelling something rotten turn around
-if tenting electric fence may help

Finally
NEVER LET YOUR GUARD DOWN WHEN IN GRIZZ COUNTRY.
I WOULD NEVER RELY ON BEAR SPRAY IN STOPPING A DETERMINED BEAR THAT WANTS YOU AS HIS NEXT MEAL.(Spray better than bullets is totally based on a bogus study supported by the anti gun, anti hunting groups that value bears life above ours)
DON'T PLAY DEAD WITH ANY BEAR.

[mastercaller]

My take on staying safe & best protection when in grizz country
-carry a rifle that's capable of penetrating the dense muscle, bone, fur, fat & beyond & be proficient with it. Use larger diameter bullets with a Sectional Density greater than 0.300
-if using a shotgun use non soft slugs such as Brenneke. The buckshot may or may not work depending how close the grizz is.
-carry a large knife along with a folding one.
-flag the kill area in a circle about 2 ft. high if you need to come back & make a lot of noise when coming back & checking for disturbed flagging
-if more than 1 hunter have one protect & be ready while the other field dresses
-if by yourself have the gun fully loaded & chambered within easy reach & continuously watch & listen to the surroundings

If charged
-aim for the body centre in a frontal charge.
-they can run at more than 45 fps so I would start shooting at around 30 yards+.

What to watch for
-watch for birds such as ravens & listen to rodents noise
-look for fresh droppings & tracks
-smelling something rotten turn around
-if tenting electric fence may help

Finally
NEVER LET YOUR GUARD DOWN WHEN IN GRIZZ COUNTRY.
I WOULD NEVER RELY ON BEAR SPRAY IN STOPPING A DETERMINED BEAR THAT WANTS YOU AS HIS NEXT MEAL.(Spray better than bullets is totally based on a bogus study supported by the anti gun, anti hunting groups that value bears life above ours)
DON'T PLAY DEAD WITH ANY BEAR.

Well said...especially the point about never let your guard down

I carry an air horn, bear spray and a 12g defender.

[stoneramhunter]

Im an avid sheep hunter and hunted most of northern b.c. with my pack horses and by foot mostly solo. Ive had several encounters over 50 years with grizzly. There are several rules I follow. i never shoot at a grizzly unless my life is in imminent danger not a good thing to have a wounded grizzly for no reason . At night when i set up a camp I place a string around my camp area and hang ripped up white plastic shopping bags off it. The movement of the white plastic bag strips disturb and confuse the bears and they retreat. if i shoot something I cut about a 10 ft stick tie a piece of flagging to it and jam it in the carcass. when i return with my horses or to retrieve another load by back pack, I look to see if the stick is moving or still standing. over 40 years of doing this it has let me know on several occasions that a bear was on the kill. Best of luck and success hunting

[Arctic Lake]

[QUOTE=stoneramhunter;2112899]Im an avid sheep hunter and hunted most of northern b.c. with my pack horses and by foot mostly solo. Ive had several encounters over 50 years with grizzly. There are several rules I follow. i never shoot at a grizzly unless my life is in imminent danger not a good thing to have a wounded grizzly for no reason . At night when i set up a camp I place a string around my camp area and hang ripped up white plastic shopping bags off it. The movement of the white plastic bag strips disturb and confuse the bears and they retreat. if i shoot something I cut about a 10 ft stick tie a piece of flagging to it and jam it in the carcass. when i return with my horses or to retrieve another load by back pack, I look to see if the stick is moving or still standing. over 40 years of doing this it has let me know on several occasions that a bear was on the kill. Best of luck and success hunting[/QUOT

I have heard of the stick trick before , sounds like a good idea !
Arctic Lake

[Ron.C]

Use the search function and you'll find countless pages of discussion on this topic.

In my opinion, probably the best thing you can do that is rarely talked about it try to observe bears. Learn about them, gain some respect for them but you will find you will get more comfortable with them the more you see them. Funny how many panic about grizzlies, but are perfectly comfortable in around black bears.

I do allot of hunting on my own including backpack hunts.

As hunters, you break allot of bear safety rules by always trying to move with the wind in your face, game calling, being quiet, being around animal carcasses.

You have to be alert and aware of your surroundings, but I for one dont move throught the bush/mountains like there is a bear waiting behind every tree to attack me. I also dont carry anything more than my 7mm-08 while hunting. I'm not going to carry a big magnum rifle just in case. My rifle is also not in my hands ready to fire. Most of the time its on my pack. I'll admit, my last run in with a griz was close, and luckily for me he ran after a breif bluff. I never had time to get my rifle off my pack.

I do however carry a pack alarm and have strung it up when I am dressing game, and always set it up around my camp. Dressed out an elk shot solo a t sunset one year. It was warm and had to get it done. Worked till well past midnight to get it dressed and packed out. Only had a bow. I made a ton of noise and got the quarters/straps off and away from the guts as quick as I could.

I also carry a 4" fixed blade knife on the belt of my pack and bear spray.

Not going to get into the bear spray debate, been done to death on here.

[jtred]

I live in the central Kootenays so everywhere I go, whether it be hiking, backpacking, hunting, fishing etc it is all grizzly country. Cougar, black bear, and wolf as well. I mainly hunt solo, day hunts and multi-day backpack trips. First off in on pack trips I keep a tidy camp, food hung as high as possible down wind of camp, no food or toiletries in the tent, tent is not pitched near cooking area. I carry bear spray and my rifle(270win, 7mm-08, or 25-06 no magnums here). I'm very aware of the fact that I'm in bear country, but actually don't let it worry me too much. You have to put it in perspective(not counting if you've killed something) think of how many thousands of people spend how many thousands of hours in the bush recreating and how many bear attacks are there? Admittedly hunters put themselves in somewhat more danger just by the nature of what we are doing. Once you have an animal on the ground the risk does ramp up. While I'm dealing with the carcass(also solo usually) I always reload the magazine and have the rifle loaded with safety on and within reach). I find I have to remind myself to stop and look around once in a while as I get kind of singleminded when I'm dealing with an animal.

I see bears, even right in camp(a black bear sauntered through one time) but so far have never had an issue. I'm 50 and have been fooling around in the bush alone since I was ten on our farm in n. Alberta. So that's 40 years. You have to be vigilant and aware of your surroundings but there really isn't a crazed grizzly behind every tree.

[Wild one]

If you are hunting anywhere in BC crossing paths with grizzly is possible and run ins with black bears are a high possibility most days

I hunt solo often and in areas with good numbers of both black and grizzly. In my opinion there is no reason to stress about bears but you should use your head and be observant( your hunting you should be paying attention to sounds, sign, and animals already ). Outside of that pay attention where you set up your camp. Don’t pitch your tent on top of bear turds or in the middle of active feeding areas. Only other thing I recommend if you are sleeping in a tent in heavy bear areas sleep with a fixed blade knife under your pillow. If you are one of the truly unlucky and a bear hits your tent you are not likely to find the zipper so being able to cut your way out would come in handy. KEEP A CLEAN CAMP I can’t keep track of how many hunters have told me about bear problems as they dump bacon grease or throw scrap food on the edge of their camp

Use your brains and being observant will limit the possibility of bear problems more than anything

[caddisguy]

Don’t pitch your tent on top of bear turds or in the middle of active feeding areas.

Pffft... nonsense

You gotta show those bears you own the place.

Find an area with fresh bear sign all over and set up in the most obvious path of travel. This creates an obstruction and demonstrates your confidence.

Next you want to walk around the area looking for scent markers or freshly broken saplings and pee on them. And in the case of freshly broken saplings, cut off the broken tips and throw them off into a distance. This is particularly effective during the spring when boars are self conscious during mating season.

As for fresh scat, you gotta do some dirty work. If you find a big pile, grab a stick and flick and disburse it by sweeping and flinging, then pee there too. This shows them you are pretty sick, twisted and unpredictable. And you're going to be doing quite a bit of peeing, so be sure to be drinking a lot of beer throughout the whole process. A 12 pack should do.

Then go back to your tent. One last task before settling in is to make sure all your food is safe inside the tent and spray the area around your tent with bear spray.

After all this, if you do by whatever slight chance happen to hear a bear outside the tent, this is where the fawn distress call comes in handy. Start blowing the crap out of it so it sounds like a fawn getting absolutely wrecked. This should intimidate the bear so you can sleep soundly.

If the unthinkable happens and a bear gets aggressive with you, the most effective tactic is the same as breaking up a dog fight (google it) except you want to use at least 3 fingers.

Or you could take your chances listen to Wild One Actually for legal reasons, I have to acknowledge his assessments are effective and proven.

[Wild one]

Pffft... nonsense

You gotta show those bears you own the place.

Find an area with fresh bear sign all over and set up in the most obvious path of travel. This creates an obstruction and demonstrates your confidence.

Next you want to walk around the area looking for scent markers or freshly broken saplings and pee on them. And in the case of freshly broken saplings, cut off the broken tips and throw them off into a distance. This is particularly effective during the spring when boars are self conscious during mating season.

As for fresh scat, you gotta do some dirty work. If you find a big pile, grab a stick and flick and disburse it by sweeping and flinging, then pee there too. This shows them you are pretty sick, twisted and unpredictable. And you're going to be doing quite a bit of peeing, so be sure to be drinking a lot of beer throughout the whole process. A 12 pack should do.

Then go back to your tent. One last task before settling in is to make sure all your food is safe inside the tent and spray the area around your tent with bear spray.

After all this, if you do by whatever slight chance happen to hear a bear outside the tent, this is where the fawn distress call comes in handy. Start blowing the crap out of it so it sounds like a fawn getting absolutely wrecked. This should intimidate the bear so you can sleep soundly.

If the unthinkable happens and a bear gets aggressive with you, the most effective tactic is the same as breaking up a dog fight (google it) except you want to use at least 3 fingers.

Or you could take your chances listen to Wild One Actually for legal reasons, I have to acknowledge his assessments are effective and proven.

But you’re way sounds way more entertaining lol