Grizzlies after the kill

[matechakeric]

I drew a general WY elk tag and I am strongly considering a unit in the heart of bear range. My wife & I spent a week out there and also a unit with almost no grizz presence hiking around last week. We ended up seeing 5 grizzlies in 2.5 days.

We are not so much concerned with bears coming to the campsite or even while hunting but since we will be there with a rifle, our major concern is after shots are fired. Obviously the timeframe varies each time but does anyone have any experience rifle hunting in grizz country and about how long it takes a bear to move in on the kill?

eventually a grizzly will be on the carcass. Just wondering if the average time on kill is minutes, hours, or longer.

I really want to hunt this unit as it's beautiful terrain, great dates, and we saw some game. I just want to make sure I'm not putting my wife in a dangerous situation unneccessarily

 

[matechakeric]

They should be there between 5 minutes and 5 days.
Just pay attention at all times. Don't kid yourself.

i've archery hunted in grizz territory before but I know rifle hunts are a bit different since the actual gunshot turns over that hourglass.

 

[MTTW]

If someone has an answer for you they are full of shit. Just take them seriously and pay attention to your surroundings at all times.
You can't avoid bears with a clock.

 

[trb]

Just get the job done and move the meat away from the carcass and into a tree that you can see from a distance as you approach it with no thick brush nearby if possible.

 

[Bambistew]

When leaving meat, put a game bag on a "flag pole" that ypy can see well tie it to the meat, or somewhere way of knowing if something has been at your kill site. Make lots of noise coming in. I've had bears come up on kills/meat within hours, but almost never see one.

 

[JF35]

I've been told by buddies to keep a radio playing In camp while gone. And starting about 500 yards of returning to the kill for another trip start talking loudly. Hey Bear, Nice Bear, And try your best to get your full game bags away from the carcass within hours. I've never hunted around those brown critters but I would definitely keep track of the dinner bell theory.

 

[Bambistew]

The dinner bell thing is a myth. No way in hell a bear could pinpoint the kill location from the sound, sorry. That would also mean they'd need to be conditioned to the response/reward. Think about that, how many times does it take you to teach a dog a trick? A smart dog a half dozen times, an average dog a dozen. What are the odds that a bear is close, and puts two and two together half a dozen times? It's beara-noia.

Also of it works so well why don't we just shoot in the air and wait for them to show and punch a tag?

I know, I know. Lessor 48 bears are mythical and since they aren't hunted they are super smart and not weary and can kill you with their gaze. Almost every single attack ia a surprised bear not one stalking a kill site. They come to a kill because they smell it. I've seen bears with their nose in the air 2 miles from my kill site and show up there not long after. It wasn't the gunshot that brought them in.

Be smart about your surroundings and assume you will run into a bear and there will be one when you come back to a kill.

 

[roughpasture243]

I drew a general WY elk tag and I am strongly considering a unit in the heart of bear range. My wife & I spent a week out there and also a unit with almost no grizz presence hiking around last week. We ended up seeing 5 grizzlies in 2.5 days.

We are not so much concerned with bears coming to the campsite or even while hunting but since we will be there with a rifle, our major concern is after shots are fired. Obviously the timeframe varies each time but does anyone have any experience rifle hunting in grizz country and about how long it takes a bear to move in on the kill?

eventually a grizzly will be on the carcass. Just wondering if the average time on kill is minutes, hours, or longer.

I really want to hunt this unit as it's beautiful terrain, great dates, and we saw some game. I just want to make sure I'm not putting my wife in a dangerous situation unneccessarily

Thanks for the post, I am in NH no only black bears

 

[bwanakubwa]

I've had one show up within 10 minutes of killing an elk. He definitely heard the gunshots. I had my rifle leaning against a tree 10 yards away. Luckily he ran the other way when I shit myself and screamed like a girl

 

[buffybr]

I've lived and hunted in grizzly country since 1975. When Montana sold grizzly tags for $25 I would buy one every year just hoping that when I returned to my elk kill sites there would be a bear on it. That happened to one of my co-workers when I lived in NW Montana, but it never happened to me.

In all of these years I've packed dozens of elk, 3 bighorn sheep, and 3 Shiras moose out of grizzly country and I've only had one grizzly encounter. That was one year near West Yellowstone when we had the quarters of two elk and a moose hanging from the stock rack in the back of my truck. We were several mliles from the kill sites, and we had spent several days packing the meat out. We were camped at the end of a Forest Service road, and one night before turning in I went out of the tent to check my horses and a grizzly woofed and clicked his teeth at me from the top of the cut bank on the side of the road. I had my .44 with me and shot once over his head and he didn't blink. I then shot the tree trunk next to him and again he didn't even blink. So I picked up a lemon size rock which I threw and hit him. He then ran off.

There is not a grizzly bear hiding behind every tree waiting on pounce on you. Keep a clean camp, hang your food away from your tent, be aware of your surroundings, and approach your kill site carefully.

 

[Flyfish4ever]

2020 NW MT I had a couple close calls. no griz sign when scouting in august, archery opener I was on a mountain and cut tracks going the same direction as me, it was real dry so they were tough to age. I got to an open clearing and let out a couple cow calls. 40 yards ahead of me I saw a bear peel out of the timber trying to find dinner, pulled my bear spray, he saw me, and left, I saw the bear and I also left because I was alone. I’m comfortable in bear country, but risk/reward was not worth it after having an encounter alone.

After that encounter, I realized that being aware of bears is just as important as anything you can do on that mountain. An elk is worth a lot of risk, but not the risk of my life.

When I got my bull in the end of September, I went back the next day to get the antlers, and the last quarter. I got them and was coming down the mountain, this time on horseback and with another, a younger grizzly was coming up on the trail down. He didn’t mind us, I picked up a rock and threw it near him, he just walked off. When we made it down another 1/2 mile or so, I stopped and picked up my glass to where I could see the kill site, there he was.

The sooner you can get the animal off the mountain the better. I think the gut pile has a stronger odor than the meat, whether it’s fact or not, I keep the meat several hundred yards from the kill site, even if it puts me into the dark moving them for peace of mind.

Good luck this fall, and be safe.

 

[DanWyo]

Two is better than one, as one can always be a lookout. I live and hunt Nw Wyoming, and there are elk kills by hunters that are lost to bears annually. The gunshot/smell, etc do attract them. Part of the risk. Just don’t fight the bear for the carcass.

 

[mxracer317]

I've lived and hunted in grizzly country since 1975. When Montana sold grizzly tags for $25 I would buy one every year just hoping that when I returned to my elk kill sites there would be a bear on it. That happened to one of my co-workers when I lived in NW Montana, but it never happened to me.

In all of these years I've packed dozens of elk, 3 bighorn sheep, and 3 Shiras moose out of grizzly country and I've only had one grizzly encounter. That was one year near West Yellowstone when we had the quarters of two elk and a moose hanging from the stock rack in the back of my truck. We were several mliles from the kill sites, and we had spent several days packing the meat out. We were camped at the end of a Forest Service road, and one night before turning in I went out of the tent to check my horses and a grizzly woofed and clicked his teeth at me from the top of the cut bank on the side of the road. I had my .44 with me and shot once over his head and he didn't blink. I then shot the tree trunk next to him and again he didn't even blink. So I picked up a lemon size rock which I threw and hit him. He then ran off.

There is not a grizzly bear hiding behind every tree waiting on pounce on you. Keep a clean camp, hang your food away from your tent, be aware of your surroundings, and approach your kill site carefully.

Let’s just say you move the meat couple hundred yards away from your kill site…

Would you still feel comfortable knowing there’s a grizzly in the area on your kill site, but still going back for the meet a couple hundred yards away with the grizzly still in the area?

 

[406dn]

Let’s just say you move the meat couple hundred yards away from your kill site…

Would you still feel comfortable knowing there’s a grizzly in the area on your kill site, but still going back for the meet a couple hundred yards away with the grizzly still in the area?

I would.

If the bear is sitting on the gut pile or the remaining carcass from the gutless method, why would it go two hundred yards away from it and leave it undefended from another bear?

There is a better than small chance when hunting in Grizzly country that you are closer than two hundred yards from one more than you might want to know.

If two hundred yards apart is not enough to make you comfortable, move the meat a distance away that does make you comfortable. But realize the bear might have moved the remains to a spot more to its liking. The last elk my brother killed, we dragged the carcass from the edge of timber, to fifty yards or so into a clearing. That was so other hunters could see it from a distance, and if a bear was on it. Well, two days after that, a bear decided it was better to dine in the timber. So he moved it ten feet or so inside the edge of timber.

 

[Salmonchaser]

I find it interesting that the dinner bell theory proves that grizzly will leave us alone if we issue tags and hunt them.
I’ve either lived in or visited Alaska every year since 1958. Between 1958 and 2021 I’ve been involved in 4 dip shootings. I guided, just retired, for the last 20 years. I literally saw grizz every day. In the last 20 years 1 DlP shooting. Most of the reputation the bears have was earned in Alaska long before Montana got bears back. All grizzlies are dangerous, like Bambistew I’ve had bears come from two miles away following their nose. That’s what brought them to you. They almost certainly heard the gunshot, think about how far away you can hear a gunshot. Be alert at all times particularly on a kill site. Lots of good advice otherwise, in my mind they are always nearby.
Yes I carried a gun and bear spray every day. Actually have sprayed quite a few bears. It has worked so far.

 

[TheTone]

I find it interesting that the dinner bell theory proves that grizzly will leave us alone if we issue tags and hunt them.

I’ve always wondered about that as well. Are we to believe that somehow if we were hunting them in the lower 48 that hunters would magically be picking out problem bears to harvest?

 

[brockel]

I’ve always wondered about that as well. Are we to believe that somehow if we were hunting them in the lower 48 that hunters would magically be picking out problem bears to harvest?

Maybe not the problem bears but maybe the less timid ones. Naturally they’d be the easiest to fill your tag on

 

[Salmonchaser]

The problem with the theory is they are grizz. They are smarter than a Labrador and absolutely unpredictable. I routinely guided in areas hunted by Phil Shoemaker and other famous bear hunting guides. Some bears ran like hell before the float plane landed, others headed to the LZ to check us out.

 

[Ben Lamb]

Listen to the guys who live & hunt every season in grizzly country & take all advice with a grain of salt.

And if you feel like a fool saying "hey bear, nice bear," then sing this:

 

[buffybr]

Let’s just say you move the meat couple hundred yards away from your kill site…

Would you still feel comfortable knowing there’s a grizzly in the area on your kill site, but still going back for the meet a couple hundred yards away with the grizzly still in the area?

Yes. Like I posted above, in the past 45+ years I've packed between two and three dozen elk, bighorn sheep, and moose out of grilzzly country on my horses. Some of those pack outs were up to two days after the animals were killed. Many times, and especially if I had packed a camp into the wilderness, I packed the animals from the kill site to my camp, than later packed everything out to my truck.

In the case where I hit the grizzly with a rock, there was another hunter camp about 1/4 mile from ours on a different logging road and they also had an elk hanging. After the bear left our camp he went to that other camp and we heard six or so quick shots, lilke forn a pistol, then about an hour later we saw the headlights of those hunters leaving.

The next morning, I saddled one of my horses and tracked the grizzly. He went from our camp to the other camp where I then saw drops of blood in the snow by his tracks, then he ran up to the end of the timber clear cut there, and went back near our camp. We never saw him again and we went home a day or so later.

FYI that grizzly wore a radio collar and ear tag as he had been trapped in the Cooke City area and re-located to the area we were hunting near West Yellowstone. I reported the incident to FWP when we came back to Bozeman.

I worked for almost 40 years for the US Forest Service on forests in Colorado, northern and southern Montana. One of my jobs while working on the Gallatin NF was to remove dead horses from the backcountry where they would attract grizzlies and possibly result in conflicts with people there. That resulted in me blowing up 12 horses and one elk carcass.

One of those horse cases was a horse that had broken his leg the previous fall and had to be put down just off the trail on the divide between the Main Boulder River and Hellroaring Cr in the Absaroka Wilderness. The next spring when the horse thawed out a grizzly found it and he would charge outfitter pack trains on the trail there. The Big Timber District Ranger then called me to get rid of the horse. One or two of the District personnel went in with me, and when we got the the dead horse the grizzly was on it. As soon as he saw us he ran off into the surrounding timber.

After I would blow up a horse, there was usually nothing left larger than a Big Mac and any birds, coyotes and bears in the area would finish off that in a day or two. We never saw or heard from that grizzly again.

Since 1978 I've lived off a county road outside of Bozeman and less than 100 miles from Yellowstone NP. I've had deer, elk, moose, and black bears go through my property. A coulpe of years ago, one of my neighbors let a bow hunter hunt elk on their land. He put up a tree stand along a hayfield about 1/4 mile below my house. While he was hunting, he filmed a grizzly walking by his tree stand. I saw the film. A couple of days later, my neighbor on the other side saw grizzly tracks in the snow on the hill about 300 yards above our houses. The grizzlies are here, I respect them, but I don't live in fear of them.