Grizzly sow with cubs at 15'

[shoot2kill]

What would you have done?
Buddy and me were up north of Cranbrook in the hills hunting for white tail and mulie, and on the last morning of our hunt we set up on the side of an abandoned logging road over looking a fresh cut block that had lots of deer walking through in the am and pm.

We had got settled in around 6am and were waiting for legal light when just as its getting light I see a bear come around a corner on the old road walking towards us from the right at about 30 yards.

My hunting partner is 20' to left of me with a 30-30 and I have a 7mm mag. Our track for crossing the road is directly in front of my pal.
Well it turns out the bear is a grizzly sow with 2 good sized cubs in tow.

She's still walking towards us so I aim at her head and follow her in. As shes walking in I decide the best thing to do is to stop her before she gets to the scent of where we crossed the road.

At this point my buddy does not see what I see. He thinks I am aiming at a buck in the clearing so he's looking out in the clearing. As she gets in front of me I click off my safety and she stops in her tracks and turns and looks straight at me. My buddy glances over at me to see what the heck I'm doing cause he only sees 3 does in the clearing and now he see's we have a problem!

The sow and me are staring at each other and I'm thinking "Oh Sh** I don't want to shoot, please don't make any agressive moves or noises or your getting one in the face!" After a few seconds I move my head over cause I can't see her real well through the scope. At this point she turns to her cubs grunts and they all run back down the road where they came from!

It took a few minits for my heart to stop pounding and calm down!
So, what would you have done?

[BlacktailStalker]

All you can do is call the situation like you did.
If it comes down to them or you, obviously...

Happens all the time.
Just be happy they werent the same ones that wanted to snuggle with Brambles and Rattler.

[darrin6109]

would have done the same thing you did.

[steelhead68]

Hopefully before I would have hoped to be a calm as you. No promises.

After I changed my pants. :-?

[shoot2kill]

Hopefully before I would have hoped to be a calm as you. No promises.

After change my pants. :-?

I thought I had handeled it pretty well till a big bodied 2 point wt came out on the clearing at 200 Yards 2-3 min after the grizz meeting. Took my time from a seated position and missed! Twice!
A shot I should of made with ease:(
Maybe it was the lump of fresh crap I was sittin on! LOL

[pete_k]

Just be happy they werent the same ones that wanted to snuggle with Brambles and Rattler.

ROFL!!...http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/images/icons/icon14.gif...

[d6dan]

You played it right in that situation and it worked out fine.:)

[Mik]

Exactly what you did. As for the buck, well shit happens.

[MIL720]

good on ya for not shooting....the only other thing ya could have done was to not give her a chance to get that close..Let her know you guys are there when you first see her...IMO

[bigdiggerman]

I think I would have made noise right from the start to get her and the cubs away. You'd wreck that bit of hunting for a half hour or so, but if she's lying dead on the road or you are getting chewed up, you've lost more than a bit of hunting.

[boxhitch]

A good time to start showing off that you are a human would have ben as soon as you saw her/him/it. No delay, no surprises.
And it doesn't take yelling and screeaming, stand up and talk .....

all the while keeping the crosshairs steady on center of mass and safety off!

[Glassman]

What would I have done? Before, or after I pooped my pants.

[hunter1947]

I had a similar thing happen a few years ago in the EK when I was hunting elk by myself.
What I did was let the sow know that I was there that was the first thing I did.

I then started to yell and wave my arms calling out get out of here bear ,get out of here bear then the rifle safety came off and I had the rifle in the up ready position ,the sow with the two cubs then turned and run down the old road away from me.

[shoot2kill]

Thanks for the responses. It was a situation I had'nt mentally prepared for and when it happened it seemed to happen so fast. My first thoughts were to let her pass by but as she got close I realized that when she comes to our track shes gonna stop, then what?
Next time, if it ever happens again, I'll take some of the advice here and make the bear aware of our presence and hopfully scare it away before it gets so close.
Good advice for everyone. Grizzlys are so fast when they decide to go into attack mode that even at 15' with a gun pointed right at it may not be enought to ensure a persons saftey.
Thanks

[Rattler]

Just be happy they werent the same ones that wanted to snuggle with Brambles and Rattler.


Too bloody funny:-D. All kidding aside, you did exactly what I would have done. I would would have pulled the trigger, if she moved one more inch towards me at that range.

[Rattler]

Opps! Yeah I would have let her know I was there before she got to 15'. Yikes, that is way too close......

[bsa30-06]

I agree with others here, i would have let her know i was there as soon as i saw her, but you obviously made the right decision, your still here to tell the story.

[Andy83]

I had that happen last year. Came back to the truck at last light, my buddy was 10' beside me and some trees in the regen to the right were moving like crazy. I was hoping it was a nice immy but then out walked a huge grizzly. He stared at us from 35 yards, I had the 7mm aimed at his face and my buddy had his 300 WM on his head. I prayed that he wouldnt charge us. Just then he raised his nose, sniffed, and began walking towards us!!! I I flinched my arm and the bear turned and took off like a flash. He must have been 500lbs plus. Huge. Cool experience though.

[Brambles]

Naturally I'd offer myself as a snack to her and her cub.

[North Star]

You did right in not jumping the gun, no pun intended, and start pulling the trigger. In any dire situation not panicking is the key to survival.

Only thing I would have done different would be is to stand up right away and start talking to your buddy in a normal voice as though she wasn't there. Don't look directly at her, just keep her in your peripheral. If she charges then it's up to you to decide if it's on or not.

[6616]

I thought I had handeled it pretty well till a big bodied 2 point wt came out on the clearing at 200 Yards 2-3 min after the grizz meeting. Took my time from a seated position and missed! Twice!
A shot I should of made with ease:(

Maybe it's just as well you missed the deer. Think how nervous you would have been dressing and packing out that deer with that grizz family nearby. The EK grizzlies seen to think a rifle shot is a dinner bell.

[5 spike]

my reaction in that situation would have been the same. my crosshairs would not have left that bears nugget for one second. and it is a good thing you did not have to shoot.

[hunter1947]

Naturally I'd offer myself as a snack to her and her cub.


I hope not Brambles ,you will be missed big time on this site http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/images/icons/icon12.gif.

[thunderheart]

Naturally I'd offer myself as a snack to her and her cub.


lol you are a good man ..lol how is that arm healing up?

[crazysheephunter]

Im glad that you did not need to let the gun bark at the bear,but wow, 15' is way to close for comfort, you should take a tape measure and see exactly how close that is.You did the right thing, but i would have made her well aware of your presence at alot further out.As for the deer there will be plenty more chances.

[tomahawk]

You played it right in that situation and it worked out fine.:)

I agree and would have done the same, they were no threat, just happened to be in the same place at the same time.

[Brambles]

lol you are a good man ..lol how is that arm healing up?


Its healing up Pretty well, I don't have to keep a bandage on it anymore, its stopped weeping. Didn't get any infection, which was the biggest concern. Thanks for asking

[hunter1947]

Its healing up Pretty well, I don't have to keep a bandage on it anymore, its stopped weeping. Didn't get any infection, which was the biggest concern. Thanks for asking


Glad to hear that everything is healing up for you Brambles http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/images/icons/icon14.gif.

This ordeal you had with the bear no hunter can imagine how horrifying it would be unless it happened to them.

[ALPINE]

I would say you did right. You stayed calm. As for letting her know where you were is a gamble too. She may of ran or charged you, the cubs may have ran or even charged you. There is no one right way in this situation other than staying calm with your rifle ready. You came out in one piece! Good job man.

[Deer_Slayer]

I would have started talking to the bear in a childish/feminine voice...saying hello bear, I love you bear, now you be a good bear, I love you....worked well for Timothy Treadwell.

[REMINGTON JIM]

I would have started talking to the bear in a childish/feminine voice...saying hello bear, I love you bear, now you be a good bear, I love you....worked well for Timothy Treadwell.

Hmm ! Yea NOT so good ! BUT he was a Idiot and Deserved to get Eaten by the Bears ! jmo RJ

[mpotzold]

Its healing up Pretty well, I don't have to keep a bandage on it anymore, its stopped weeping. Didn't get any infection, which was the biggest concern. Thanks for asking

You were lucky.:D

Here’s a case report!
A 49-year-old hunter was attacked by a grizzly bear while hunting elk in the foothills of the Canadian Rocky Mountains.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC446265/

[Jagermeister]

I think you have great big balls. A stud monkey and I mean that with no disrespect although I think that you allowed the encounter to get much too close. At 15', the chances of a non fatal shot is quite high and that distance can be covered in the blink of an eye. And let's not forget to mention that the two "cubs" would have entered into the fray as well. Probably the moment you spotted her at 30 yards would have been a good time to give notice of your presence, that's definitely 10 yards inside my safe zone. They can cover that distance in a couple of heartbeats, slightly longer than the blink.
You should also be aware that they have a tendency to go full circle in spite of the apparent retreat. I personally would have left the area.
And I have to mention that GOD prevailed on your behalf causing you to miss the deer. Otherwise that bear and her protege would have come a calling. This time of year is extremely bad for bear interventions. They are looking for that last minute food top-up before going for a short slumber and they would have wrestled you for it. You know what that outcome would be, they like to eat undisturbed and things flopping around on the ground would be a disturbance.
Oh yeah. Buy a Lotto Max this week.

[quarterman]

I would have made some noise while doing exactly as you did, glad u and your partner came back safe

[Ron.C]

You walked away from it and so did the bears. So I say you did right in that situation.

I had a similar encounter and when I gave a holler the bear got very aggressive. You never know. Each situation is unique. Glad you are ok.
And the fact that you didn't shoot says a hell of allot about your self control. Hats off to you.

[tigrr]

Now that there is no more shooting grizzly's we will have a lot more close calls. That's if the farmers and ranchers let it get out of hand.

[murph83]

I would have done like you did..hope like hell the sow doesn't do anything aggressive...pull the trigger as an last resort. head back to truck for clean britches afterwards...

[Jagermeister]

I wonder, if someone were to suffer serious injuries or perhaps death due to a grizzly attack, do you suppose that the government could be sued? I am thinking sooner or later this will come to pass as the grizzly population increases and their fear of man decreases.
I think that the Grouse Grind would be a likely place for it to happen. I know I know. That already happened out in never never land beyond hope but we don’t count.

[butthead]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hURgA_BNSGc
just a short little video to give you an idea just how fast a grizz
really is. hopefully it hasn't already been posted

[butthead]

ive seen 3 grizzly in last 3 years
never seen them before that

[GEF]

this post is from 2009 !

[MichelD]

My buddy got bored sitting with me calling moose in my lookout spot in September and went to check out our other stake-out. He had a mother griz with three adult cubs spot him from about 60 yards away, then approach to within 17 yards and stand up for a good look at him (we went back and measured it later with the rangefinder). He stood up, held his rifle in the air to look big and backed away slowly. He said he felt amazingly calm throughout the whole thing, thinking "If this it it, well then, this is it."