An interesting article about bears responding to game calls. Anyone here ever had it happen to them?

Nerf

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Moose call brings on grizzly attacks
Vancouver Sun
Published: Monday, May 08, 2006

When a hunter uses a moose call, a couple of things could happen.

One, he gets a moose.
Two, he gets something that wants to eat a moose.

Freedom of information documents obtained by The Vancouver Sun are littered with hair-raising tales of hunters who got more than they bargained for during their seasonal hunts.

The B.C. Environment Ministry documents contain conservation officers' reports into the ways grizzly bears were killed in defence of people and property last year in the province.

A husband and wife were calling moose on Sept. 25 about 100 metres off the Thunderbird Forest Service Road in the Terrace region when a grizzly snuck up on them.

The wife handed her husband a 30.06 rifle and takes up the story: "He took the safety off, aimed and fired. At this point, the bear was only 25 feet (7.6 metres) away, crouched down on its belly, stalking up towards us with its ears laid back on its head and the lips were curled back away from the teeth, nostrils flared, mouth partly open."

One shot to the face stopped the bear, but not the lingering human drama.

"I must have been in some shock because I felt nauseous, my chest felt really tight, my heart was pounding like crazy and I had a lot of pressure in my head -- I just felt sick and shaken."

On Sept. 20 last year, two hunters were calling elk on the shoreline of Williston Lake, a reservoir behind the W.A.C. Bennett dam northeast of Prince George. As they stood in a clearing, a large male grizzly charged them from thick underbrush at a distance of 10 metres, according to a conservation officer's account.

The unarmed hunter was knocked to the ground and mauled, while his partner shot the bear in the hind quarters at a distance of four metres. The bear released its victim, and the hunter fired again, finally killing it with a third shot to the head.

The victim suffered minor abrasions, deep bruising and a canine puncture wound to the upper thigh. He was treated in hospital in Dawson Creek the next day.

The ministry documents speculate that the bear thought it was attacking an elk because of the calls; the bear's upwind location meant it could not detect the humans by its keen sense of smell.

Another hunter was knocked over by an older female grizzly while calling for elk Sept. 21 at Meadow Creek in the Nelson region, close to a spawning side channel at a distance three metres.

The rattled hunter fired a shot but missed. The blast momentarily scared the bear off, but it soon returned for more.

"At no more than 15 yards, I shot it and it rolled butt over head," the hunter wrote. "As it tried to get up, I shot for the shoulder area and hit it and the bear went down again. As it tried to get up once more, the bear's spine was centred to me. I put a bullet in that area, dropping the bear. I reloaded again and shot two more times as the bear twitched."

The bear's cub was in the bushes "growling and woofing," so the hunter backed away from the area quickly.

Bill Stalker, senior conservation officer for the Cranbrook region, said hunters must be aware of the potential presence of grizzlies when calling game such as elk.

Yep, they will come. Suggest someone you trust to watch the backside. Some of them that will come DO NOT like to be fooled.

If you do not want to tag the bear, have an alternative to extract yourself. Some will stalk you also, even after you've think they have left. Most will leave when realize what you are, BUT SOME WILL NOT.

BE VERY VIGILANT, it is 100% adrenaline RUSH!

Probably should add, there ain't no APPLICATION for so-so calibers here either, just in case situation.

I know that Black bears and Mountain lions will often come in when a varmit call is used.

Varmit hunters learn to watch their backs, around these parts.

L.W.

I've called in quite a few (up in the mid 60's is the last count I believe), so it can be done for sure.

If you do a search you'll find some of my writings on this subject.

Mark D

And those are just the ones that are reported. The SSS rule often prevails, as the headache of being guilty until proven innocent is not worth it to many hunters, especially when dealing with animals such as grizzlies.

As for game calls, calf elk mews are deadly on black bear up close. Keep your back to a tree if you plan on calling alone and pay close attention to your surroundings.

RO

we have had good luck calling in bears but we do it with the caller as a back up with a slug gun and riot tube with 8 rounds just in case yogi needed more persuasion to leave

Called in a 350 lb. ursus americanus, dark chocolate brown colored last fall. I was using a cow and calf elk in distress series of calls. I was hoping to interest a herd of cows, and the bull that was most likely with them. Got the bear instead.

We couldn't kill him because we had no tag. We spooked him away when he got to 20 yards and was still coming at a trot.

I won't ever use that calling sequence when I'm alone and probably won't use it with just bows for weapons again.

Went out to Washington's Olympic National Forest for 10 days last year at the beginning of August to call in bear with a friend of mine that lives near there. Saw lots of bear sign, but didn't have luck calling one in.... at least not that we know of! The clear-cuts were 7 years old, and they had grown where it was tough to get good visual.

Going back this year in mid Sept. and plan on using some tree stands and electronic callers in addition to the hand calls.

Vidos I've watched, and talking with those who have called them in.... sounds awesome and exciting!

It is a rush! Gotta love it when they come in swatting brush and drooling.

Here is one that I called in last spring.