Anyways.....Stumbling across a buried animal or near one, is probably how most people get beat up by a grizzly, as opposed to a predatory attack.
My friend who lives near me was walking around above his house, he smelled something dead, briefly looked around, then he saw a grizzly walking around in the thick bush, within 100ft of him lol. He got out of there quick and didn't think the grizzly saw/smelled him.
There must of been a buried carcass around there somewhere.
Maybe not - could have been the bear itself after being on a rotting carcass.
I was taking my wife and boys out on a spring walk to one of my moose-hunting areas, with my carry rifle - '94 in .30-30.
50 yards off the road we got the smell, just as Mr. Bear (Brownies in this area, usually) went crashing off through the second growth, while we went back to the truck, post haste. A few days later I poked my nose in there again VERY cautiously! No smell, no carcass, no bear.
Killed a cow caribou up near the top of a ridge, once, after sunset, 2 miles from the truck. Gutted her, spread the rib cage open with granite shards and left. Over the top, and down in a big cirque, I got jumped in the half-dark at maybe 50 feet by a young 2 or 3 year old brownie coming out of a sunken, grass-lined stream bed. Bear was likely thinking I was a meal on the hoof of some sort. I certainly smelled like it after the hasty dressing job. After a brief stare down, a stand-up look at me, and loud - um- "conversation", it realized what I was and left muy pronto - up the way I'd come down.
Next morning I found it on the gut pile, which had rolled 50 yards or so down the steep slope from the cow. More "conversation" followed , only this time I had a fully loaded magazine and chamber in the '98 .280, instead of only 2 rounds in the mag as per the night before, after shooting the cow and not topping out again. Dumb!
The bear left, not without looking back a few times.
The bear had eaten the liver, took a little off the brisket, bitten into the heart, and crapped all over the place.
I kept the rifle within reach as I skinned and parcelled the cow, and had it in my hands before you could say "Oh, chit!" after I caught movement out of the corner of my eye.
I have never before nor since been puckered by a big batch of yellow and blue party balloons come drifting over the ridge line just above me.....
I'm with T Inman - bearanoia is over-rated, but pay attention!
