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View Full Version : Stumbled Onto a Griz on a Gutpile



Ron.C
10-29-2019, 11:43 AM
Last week while deer hunting in 4-25, my partner and I were walking out of our hunting spots in the timber. It was too dark to shoot in the timber but a bit of light left in the open. As we walked down the skidder rd toward the truck BS'ng, a griz walk out about 25 yards infront of us. We stop, the bear stops turns towards us for a second. I had my lab pup with me and she saw the bear too. She was about 5 yards infront. The bear paused for a second and ran in the bush.

We gave a few loud "hey bears" and waited a few minutes. My partner and I put about 15 feet of distance between us in case the bear charged from the bush and we walked through the are the bear was in, searching the bush with flashlights as we went. Turns out the bear was feeding on a gut pile.

In any case, it all turned out ok for us and the bear.

Really glad it decided to F'off instead of charge. And super happy my pup listened to my commands. We had very little light left and it was my partners first encounter with a grizzly. For what its worth, I carry bear spray as well as my hunting rifle"7mm-08" in this case. Never gave any consideration to the spray and the rifle was up on aim.

Bugle M In
10-29-2019, 11:48 AM
Not fun,

Hey, while up hunting elk, we got a black bear and decided to gut in another area away from our hunting spot.
Pull out the bear from truck, grab the knife, and suddenly a ton of commotion to our right, just yards away.
Turns out we pulled up to a Grizz to gut our bear!! and didn't even see him....lol.

Lots of bears up there this season.

Always scary when one walks into a gut pile.
Have had it happen to me as well, and the ravens usually sit a ways off when a bear is on it, so it is not always that easy to know there is
something going on in the area like a carcass/gut pile.

boxhitch
10-29-2019, 12:43 PM
And super happy my pup listened to my commandsI bet

Have ridden up to a GBear feedpile while on a horse, not a good feeling, with 4 on the ground it felt like we were another menu item

srupp
10-29-2019, 12:51 PM
Hmmm glad it worked out for you 3 ammigos..
stay safe
Cheers
Steven

huntingfamily
10-29-2019, 12:59 PM
Glad to hear it went well Ron.
I was standing on the edge of a trail cow calling for elk. The trail beyond me dropped off and weaved its way down hill.
Every once in a while I can hear sounds like small branches breaking. Hey this might be good, something might come here.
Its starting to get darkish and I notice the sounds are getting closer. I'm looking at the trail beyond me and notice two heads starting to rise above the trail. Well i'll be damned if it isn't a grizz sow and 2 year old cub no less than 30 yards away walking towards me!
Think quick! I take the safety off and walk sideways across the trail with one eye on them so they know what I am.
Thankfully the sow booked it off the trail and up the hillside with the cub in tow.
That was too close for comfort!

mpotzold
10-29-2019, 01:54 PM
Last week while deer hunting in 4-25, my partner and I were walking out of our hunting spots in the timber. It was too dark to shoot in the timber but a bit of light left in the open. As we walked down the skidder rd toward the truck BS'ng, a griz walk out about 25 yards infront of us. We stop, the bear stops turns towards us for a second. I had my lab pup with me and she saw the bear too. She was about 5 yards infront. The bear paused for a second and ran in the bush.

We gave a few loud "hey bears" and waited a few minutes. My partner and I put about 15 feet of distance between us in case the bear charged from the bush and we walked through the are the bear was in, searching the bush with flashlights as we went. Turns out the bear was feeding on a gut pile.

In any case, it all turned out ok for us and the bear.

Really glad it decided to F'off instead of charge. And super happy my pup listened to my commands. We had very little light left and it was my partners first encounter with a grizzly. For what its worth, I carry bear spray as well as my hunting rifle"7mm-08" in this case. Never gave any consideration to the spray and the rifle was up on aim.

Best outcome in a dire situation.:biggrin:
"Hey bear" is what Eve & I yelled in unison at the top of our lungs that changed a huge grizzly's mind only feet away while charging.

wideopenthrottle
10-29-2019, 02:18 PM
ive been close to many bears over the years and "hey bear" would be the G rated version of what I am yelling at them...heheheh

dodge456
10-29-2019, 03:09 PM
4-25 is where a grizz helped itself to a deer on the meat pole in my camp in 2016, a couple days after doing the same thing to some other hunter's deer further up the road. This year we stumbled onto one in 7-2 in a spot where we've never seen even a track in the past ( I grew up there and spend a fair bit of time there ). This one was 2 minutes up the road from our camp but at least I learned my lesson and had taken my deer into town to a buddy's garage. Certainly no shortage of bears around these days. I suspect as the ban goes on we'll start seeing them in more places where there weren't bears before as well.

Wild one
10-29-2019, 04:04 PM
That is one of the situations that can be tense good to hear it went well

Stubbled onto a Grizz feeding on a kill about 14years ago bow hunting in souther Alberta and was lucky enough to be able to sneak out without it noticing me. Bears don’t bother me but I am smart enough to know I don’t want to be within 40yards of a grizz on a kill with just a bow. I think I put more effort into not snapping a twig backing out of there then I have on any stalk

There is only two situations I really feel uneasy with bears getting way too close when they have young cubs or when they are on a kill.

Bugle M In
10-30-2019, 11:36 AM
That is one of the situations that can be tense good to hear it went well

Stubbled onto a Grizz feeding on a kill about 14years ago bow hunting in souther Alberta and was lucky enough to be able to sneak out without it noticing me. Bears don’t bother me but I am smart enough to know I don’t want to be within 40yards of a grizz on a kill with just a bow. I think I put more effort into not snapping a twig backing out of there then I have on any stalk

There is only two situations I really feel uneasy with bears getting way too close when they have young cubs or when they are on a kill.

Yup.

Running into a kill can happen but is fortunately on the rare side.
But, my biggest concern and what I almost experience more times is running into a sow with cubs.
One area I hunt, I don't feel good walking around in it due to the timber getting taller now, but for years during the replant stage, we
always saw a GBear sow with cubs, year after year.
Always on my mind when I sneak around in that area.

Razor84
10-30-2019, 01:19 PM
Dogs have to be kept on a leash when hunting big game

Ron.C
10-30-2019, 01:24 PM
Dogs have to be kept on a leash when hunting big game
Not cougar or bear. And she is a bird dog brought along for an afternoon sit. I believe the rules say dogs on a leash when used to hunt deer. Dont know of many guys using year old labs for deer hunts.

Besides, we were walking out of the bush back to the truck after it was too dark to sit any longer.

swampthing
10-30-2019, 06:41 PM
Cool encounter!

LBM
10-31-2019, 01:44 PM
4-25 is where a grizz helped itself to a deer on the meat pole in my camp in 2016, a couple days after doing the same thing to some other hunter's deer further up the road. This year we stumbled onto one in 7-2 in a spot where we've never seen even a track in the past ( I grew up there and spend a fair bit of time there ). This one was 2 minutes up the road from our camp but at least I learned my lesson and had taken my deer into town to a buddy's garage. Certainly no shortage of bears around these days. I suspect as the ban goes on we'll start seeing them in more places where there weren't bears before as well.

Lots of bait stations out in various parts of the EK a few different ones in 4-25 and unfortunately some are very close to camp grounds so habituating bears. If you pull into a camp spot as well that all ready has a meat pole you can pretty much bet there has been a bear there some time. Also lots of un clean camps in the summer, may not affect them well there but can cause problems for the next campers.
There is some talk about change to bait stations on when they can be put out and they may have to be cleaned up after trapping season.