Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Grizzlies This Elk Season...

... good article in today's Chronicle:

http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/articles/2009/10/28/news/100mauling.txt

"The mauling is one of three reported bear-human encounters that have occurred since the general hunting season opened this past weekend, Frey said."

That's eye opening. A guy posted pics of his Mulie in the Big Game section, I think. He carries a 338 RUM, I scratched my head a little, but then read where he's hunting, Montana. Yup, I fairly sure he has the right idea in an area where your hunting scenario can go 180 degrees in a splitt second.

I shot a cow opening morning in the Gravellys. The area that I was hunting was so full of folks that I needed to use valet parking. Yet, in between pack outs, I had a little black bear snooping around the gut pile. CP

there was at least one more over by Cooke City during the backcountry season. the guys buddy accidently shot the victim in an attempt to kill the bear.

or so he sez...

I heard that on the radio today, while I was making plywood for The Man.


Remember their little fur traps, DNA population guessing thing they did a while back? They say my stomping grounds are one of the most grizz populated areas in the state.

I can't believe they're shutting an area down... We're obviously dealing with "Problem Bears" here again. So live trap them and turn them loose in my neighborhood (like they always do)

Or shoot them...

yea, when i lived at the base of the Crazies, i'd see the bear trap go up the road at 2 AM sometimes. they were dumping problem bears up there. i think those were blackies, tho.

the AB wilderness is full of griz, but the wolves will probably thin them (digging them out of the dens while hibernating, and taking cubs in the summer). i'd much rather have the bears.

There were no native black bears in So Cal. Up in the San Bernardino Nat Forest, they started dumping problem bears from Yosemite and other places. Guess what? We now have problem bears in So Cal....
go figure.

Dan, aren't the majority of problem bears from both Yellowstone and Glacier released right around you? I think I recall reading something about that before. If so, that's crazy. Have you seen many?

South fork or Swan Dan?

I am starting to see Grizzlies in spots they say there are no grizzlies......

I've seen more than my share of Griz... If its got an ear tag, I don't dick around going for a gun just "In Case"

Highridge... You remember the Griz and two cubs that made the paper 5-6 years ago out in the West Valley area (Lore Lake RD.) that eventually got tranquilized on Gene Dosey's place?? I was the guy that walked out the back door to "Run off the neighbor dogs in the trash again"

That was way too friggin close for comfort.... Pants were shat...

My other sightings of ear-tagged griz were all up the S Fork and N Fork. I've seen well over 3 dozen in the last 5-6 years.

Seeing signs of them ( thankfully no face-to-face deals yet) in places they didn't used to be...
Almost tripped on one fishing this fall...

But "almost" doesn't count....


Made a buttload of noise....and thankfully it worked..

Ingwe

Any chance of a grizzly season opening in Montana in the near future?
I've heard some noise about it, but not from any reliable sources.

Nope...

More folks getting chewed up this year though....maybe....?

Ingwe

If it happens, tags will be on a drawing that you'd have higher odds of winning the lottery.

I'll give you a hint though, if you ever do draw a Montana Grizz tag. The biggest concentration of Grizz in the state is the 3 BMUs that require validation of your spring tag there. Those 3 districts were also why MT State started requiring hunters pass a bear ID test. Too many Grizzlies were getting shot (yes there are COLOR PHASE Grizzlies too)

Thats also why I didn't shoot the biggest blond black bear I've ever seen in my life. During season, bears that are that dumb are usually Grizzlies. It wasn't until he turned broadside that I realized I was looking at a Blackie, by then he figured out the game and wised up...

So yeah, there's enough of them around here that when you see a blond Blackie the first thing you think is "Just another Grizzly"

I had sort the same thing happen just south of Glacier Park many years ago. Was hunting a big clearcut, walking the roads slowly near sunset, and came around a bend to find a big dark-blond bear walkng up the road in front of me, his butt toward me. It looked to be as big as a full-grown horse's. I couldn't the other end of the bear, but my companion, standing to one side, claimed it was a black bear. I didn't shoot, since even some grizzly researchers say that now and then they see a bear they're not sure about, and if it was a black bear it was the only 500-pound black bear I've ever seen in Montana!

At times I almost wonder if there's some "Cross Pollination" going on around this part of the country.

I'm not the only one whose seem this bear. A Millwright at work bumped into me in the same part of the country. I told him about the sighting... He's seen him too, on several occasions. He and I both compared notes and both made an effort to get after him after the 15th of September. We both think he got that big by looking so much like a Griz. Good thing my buddy is a bowhunting purist (I got better odds ) Anyhow, I put plenty of boots on ground in that country this early fall, and I'm going to hammer it hard this spring. Right now its Deer/Elk with a rifle (and I'd shoot a Blackie if I saw a good-un)

If you want to see tricky bears, take the MT Bear test 9-10 times on-line, there's a few pics in there that'll leave you wondering...

There should be a drawing for griz tags there are plenty of them.More griz up the southfork than they even have a clue about.Been going up there for 30 yrs and see more bear now than I ever did.

The biggest joke is relocation of problem bears.They seldom stay put and are usually back in the area they were taken from within a week or so,those that stay become problem bears in the new release area.

I hunted a drainage this year on horseback and a friend of mine killed an elk.On the way out at the trail head we ran into a couple wygf biologists who were getting ready to release a bear.This drainage is heavily used and by the time we got to the trailhead there was already a half dozen hunters standing around the trap.The biologists were about ready to cry.One guy was threatening to shoot the bear in the culvert and then in his words "shoot you two dumb [bleep] along with the bear".By the time I reached the pavement with the horse trailer,two game wardens were headed in to the trail head.I don't how it turned out.

This [bleep] is common.I know of one trailhead that is really close to a paved access road.WYGF was dumping bears and supposedly unknown to them,WYDOT was also dumping road kill near the entrance.Bears weren't going anywhere.