Elkhorns Grizzly

[FlatlanderAZ]

After the fatality in Ovando and spending the last couple weeks here in Clancy, I got to wondering, is it time to start carrying bear spray in the elkhorns?

I’m not sure if the bear aware signs have always been at the trailheads and I didn’t notice or if they are new but they are at almost every trailhead I’ve been to in the elkhorns this year.

I know that Grizzlies have been spotted in the elkhorns but is there a consensus on whether or not they are resident in this range and if so what the population is?

 

[Nameless Range]

The consensus is that the Griz in the Elkhorns have been passing through, and that there are not resident Griz in the Elkhorns, though I always carry bear spray in the Elkhorns and Boulder Mountains to the west, because there are more Griz in those places all the time, and when a Griz transitions from a passerby to a resident isn't a defined moment.

 

[jejack26]

I come to carry it ever where
Attached to my packs so I don't forget it. It works on people also without the legal consequences of lethal force.

 

[Sioux33]

I'd be prepared for griz anywhere from the ID border to the Snowies in Central MT. There are definitely resident grizzlies just west of the interstate in the Boulder Mountains, so it won't be long if not already. That area is turning into a spillway from the Bob, to Ovando/Avon, to the Little Blackfoot/Boulders.

 

[Ben Lamb]

I'd be prepared for griz anywhere from the ID border to the Snowies in Central MT. There are definitely resident grizzlies just west of the interstate in the Boulder Mountains, so it won't be long if not already. That area is turning into a spillway from the Bob, to Ovando/Avon, to the Little Blackfoot/Boulders.

it's the genetic interchange highway for the NCDE & Yellowstone populations.

Spray is a lightweight insurance option. No harm in packing it.

 

[Nameless Range]

it's the genetic interchange highway for the NCDE & Yellowstone populations.

Spray is a lightweight insurance option. No harm in packing it.

In a talk I heard him give once, the former district ranger for the Butte District on the B-D referred to Elk Park as a “Grizzly Bear Love Nest” for the GYE and Crown of the Continent Griz.

Ever since, when I drive through Elk Park I smile thinking about it. Hell of a nest

 

[MT Bound]

I carry spray with me almost everywhere in MT now, especially during bow season. Rifle season I'm not as anal about it unless I'm in an area that is thick w/them, but it's nice to have on my hip if I'm kneeling down cutting up an elk or deer just as security

 

[diamond hitch]

I've lived over 30 years west of the freeway. Only seen one little black bear cub in that time. I've never cut a grizz track or seen a bear and I cover a lot of country. I think the ranger was on drugs. We are long on kitties though.

 

[Nameless Range]

I've lived over 30 years west of the freeway. Only seen one little black bear cub in that time. I've never cut a grizz track or seen a bear and I cover a lot of country. I think the ranger was on drugs. We are long on kitties though.

I believe his statement was based on modeling that shows Elk Park as critical potential habitat for griz as they proliferate from the north and south.

That said, there have been griz in the Basin Creek drainage twice in the last 5 years or so that I am aware of, and I believe they have got griz presence in hair traps just north of you in the upper Boulder country.

Very cool that you live there. Elk Park is a unique place.

 

[brockel]

Mine hangs from my bino harness when in the mountains. Find no inconvenience of it hanging there so it stays there all the time except here in eastern Montana

 

[diamond hitch]

Not a good place for people with an aversion to long underwear but very unique. Old stills in most of the drainages from the 30s. Had some friends of mine caught USFWS planting grizz in the Boulder. Later they showed up in the Park - briefly. I would think if they are around , we would hear about them from the Continental Divide walkers.

I'll keep an eye out for them and let you know if I see sign or bear.

We haven't seen any of the USFWS trucks since they planted the wolves and then hung around to track them - for two years.

 

[FlatlanderAZ]

There was a report of a grizzly passing through the pole yard in Clancy last summer. It makes sense that being smashed between two ecosystems they would be there.

I’m generally only here in the summer for a few weeks and was curious about trail runs and hikes with the kids. I should probably buy a can and clip it on, it just feels strange when there are so many folks out and about and bears don’t seem to be on their radar at all despite all the signage put out by USFS and FWP.

 

[Andrew Posewitz]

I'm west of the interstate as well. I know they had one up at Park Lake last year (or maybe two years ago), so if they aren't in the Elkhorns yet (I haven't seen any, but carry spray every time), they will be.

 

[Finnman]

I've seen one two evenings in a row feeding on berries in an opening. Watched it for over an hour both times with a spotter. East side of Big Belts, Mule creek drainage. This was around 4 or 5 years ago. FWP then came out with trail cam pics the following spring of one in same general area.

 

[Griztrax]

Grizzlies are few and far between in the Elkhorns and certainly haven't become established. If it gives you comfort to have spray on you, then by all means carry it. In all my years in the Elkhorns I have only seen grizzly bear sign one time - 2014 in the Tizer Basin area. There were multiple reports that year from the same area. I have also never captured a grizzly on trail camera or know anyone to capture one on camera in the Elkhorns. Plenty of black bears but no grizzlies. All that said, grizzly bears are starting to show up in lots of places they usually don't occur so its always best to be prepared.

 

[hooseratc]

They've been seen in the Big Belts, Little Belts, the Crazies and the Snowies no reason to think they would be in the Elkhorns.