People backpack in Yellowstone all the time without problems. However, bears have learned that a gunshot means food. It draws them so hunting can be more dangerous than just hiking.
I read about a case in MT where 2 hunters were dragging a deer by the antlers. They were moving along talking when the deer hung up on something. They turned to see what the problem was and found a bear on the other end.
Now that would be a pretty interesting deer hunt...
Hunted mule deer near Cody a couple of years. Second year, very few mulies were down low. Went up higher, closer to Yellowstone, with my buddy. We had gone with typical open country deer rifles. I had a .25-06 and he had a .270 Win.
We came across grizzly sow and cub tracks on the ONLY trail into that canyon. Got two mulies out of there. Far enough back in that we de-boned them and packed them out on our backs. One buck we had to leave overnight after gutting it and skinning it... Going back in to retrieve it was an interesting experience.
We did NOT run into mama grizz, or any other grizzly, but we were certainly concerned. I decided to never hunt in grizzly country without a buddy, and with nothing less than a .30-06 and 180 grain Partitions.
Guy
