In griz or brown bear country it pays to keep alert for signs of feeding. Things like scavenger birds and turned up dirt are big clues. I came around a bend in a brushy creek bottom once and was confronted with alot of freshly churned up dirt. The rifle instantly went to a muzzle forward high ready with finger on the safety, eyes and ears hard at work. After a couple uneventful, full alert minutes I looked around. Evidence indicated one brown bear had killed another and had eaten everything just a day or two prior to my arrival. The killer had made his bed on a slight rise about 25 or 30 yards downwind from the prevailing wind direction.
I've found a bunch of brown bear kill/cache sites before, but that was the freshest one and it gave me a start.
