I have a place in SW MT, dozen miles S of Ennis, Gravelly Range. I was out for the 3 weeks leading into mid September, between scouting and getting setup at the cabin. The bear activity out there is off the charts.
My neighbor at my place in Bozeman had a friend who had to donate his bull opening week to a Griz, about 20 minutes back from Ennis (Meadow) Lake. That was the only incident of the 5 I heard of that involved meat. The other 4 were just unprovoked attacks. 3 guys in 2 separate attacks in Cottonwood Creek (W side of the S Gravellys, up from the Ruby side) on the same day was probably the most publicized report. There are public hearings there now on the whole issue.
I only saw one a couple miles up behind the cabin, towards Virginia City, and 3 different days we could literally smell bear further S. Not to mention vast amounts of scat and grubbed up logs. The heaviest sign was in a BMA section on private, surrounded by sagebrush flats and bordered by a recreational lake and campgrounds less than a mile - halfway to Yellowstone from Ennis. I had thought that a pretty safe place to take my first time western hunt guys, but the bears have apparently had no problem crossing the open range, I assume from Yellowstone area. Beetlekill and burns offer a lot of grub opportunity, and we think they like the willows too.
Between that area and Ennis, there was a big cattle die off - they got into larkspur, poisoned themselves, and FWP closed off all trails into a big section due to bears feeding on the carcasses. Of course, where I had planned to hunt. Last year, fire, this year bear...my scouting away from the cabin hasn't been too productive... Anyway, climbing out of a drainage we stopped to chat with a CO on top, and he said they counted either 7 or 9 griz in a 2 hour flyover. (He knew the number, obviously, but I forget; lots of bear talk this season.)
Bulls were quiet for the most part, and even in areas of heavy elk (and bear, especially in this BMA) we saw few elk. Deemos, the butcher in Ennis, has a shop on the major highway corner, with a hanging/skinning shed on the side of the building. So whenever I drive by, I can see how folks are doing. Didn't see a critter hanging there ever, first 2 weeks of the season.
Everyone has their own system and mentality about the bear issue. I carry spray in a left pack waistband holster, and practice with both hands. Bear loads in a .44 in a chest rig under my bino harness. While I am actually selling my saddle setup now, the system and mentality we developed for the backcountry could easily be adapted to a system for setting and climbing the rig in bear country. All travel in bear country calls for situational awareness, constant observation, and practice. In our hunting group, we discussed strategies for not shooting each other. Everyone trained in on my InReach for emergencies, and we each carried QuikClot in our stripped down first aid kits.
For run-and-gun hunting, setting up posts, stopping to glass or rest, etc., we made sure that we had good footing, good visibility, pack/bow/quiver deployed not just for shooting elk but arranged for emergencies. Depending on the layout I usually brought my spray-side belt around to the side I was sitting or standing, propped up and slid a little out of the holster. While on post,resting, eating, etc.,I never took off the magnum, and usually released the velcro hammer strap on the MR holster.
So, while I am regrettably going to take a (hopefully temporary) hiatus from saddlehunting, if I were doing it in bear country I would modify my process so that I was never without a big handgun I can shoot and spray. I would have both always available while setting up, climbing, and hunting from my rig. In the duffel is no good.
Initiating my younger family guys into this, we went to the range, shot a lot, and practiced drawing and deploying the bear spray either hand. I kept spare spray in the truck and UTV. I attended a bear spray seminar at the P&Y conference in Omaha this spring, and while I thought I already knew effective use, I learned a lot.
Spray is correctly thought to be effective, but the bear has to get it in their face. Be wind aware. I used to discount the possibility of an attack from downwind, in the absence of meat - no longer; too many unprovoked 'meatless' attacks. The seminar speaker pointed out that what you want is a 'wall' of spray, down low, between you and the bear. He did not discourage firearms; upwind, sidewind, heavy brush or other location vagaries, and your team's array all matter and could render spray useless.
Flyfishing for steelhead and salmon, I spend time in bear country. Air travel, or the time I've had guides, prevented me carrying a handgun. My comfort level was much higher in AK, northern AB, or on the S Fork of the Flathead for example, than in SW MT this year. Perhaps it's archery season and the onset of hyperphagia, perhaps the bears around Yellowstone are getting too bold from familiarity, maybe the wilderness bears are just more sensitive to sound and scent. Whatever it is, at least in SW MT, the stakes are higher now and you can't be too careful - head on a swivel!
My neighbor at my place in Bozeman had a friend who had to donate his bull opening week to a Griz, about 20 minutes back from Ennis (Meadow) Lake. That was the only incident of the 5 I heard of that involved meat. The other 4 were just unprovoked attacks. 3 guys in 2 separate attacks in Cottonwood Creek (W side of the S Gravellys, up from the Ruby side) on the same day was probably the most publicized report. There are public hearings there now on the whole issue.
I only saw one a couple miles up behind the cabin, towards Virginia City, and 3 different days we could literally smell bear further S. Not to mention vast amounts of scat and grubbed up logs. The heaviest sign was in a BMA section on private, surrounded by sagebrush flats and bordered by a recreational lake and campgrounds less than a mile - halfway to Yellowstone from Ennis. I had thought that a pretty safe place to take my first time western hunt guys, but the bears have apparently had no problem crossing the open range, I assume from Yellowstone area. Beetlekill and burns offer a lot of grub opportunity, and we think they like the willows too.
Between that area and Ennis, there was a big cattle die off - they got into larkspur, poisoned themselves, and FWP closed off all trails into a big section due to bears feeding on the carcasses. Of course, where I had planned to hunt. Last year, fire, this year bear...my scouting away from the cabin hasn't been too productive... Anyway, climbing out of a drainage we stopped to chat with a CO on top, and he said they counted either 7 or 9 griz in a 2 hour flyover. (He knew the number, obviously, but I forget; lots of bear talk this season.)
Bulls were quiet for the most part, and even in areas of heavy elk (and bear, especially in this BMA) we saw few elk. Deemos, the butcher in Ennis, has a shop on the major highway corner, with a hanging/skinning shed on the side of the building. So whenever I drive by, I can see how folks are doing. Didn't see a critter hanging there ever, first 2 weeks of the season.
Everyone has their own system and mentality about the bear issue. I carry spray in a left pack waistband holster, and practice with both hands. Bear loads in a .44 in a chest rig under my bino harness. While I am actually selling my saddle setup now, the system and mentality we developed for the backcountry could easily be adapted to a system for setting and climbing the rig in bear country. All travel in bear country calls for situational awareness, constant observation, and practice. In our hunting group, we discussed strategies for not shooting each other. Everyone trained in on my InReach for emergencies, and we each carried QuikClot in our stripped down first aid kits.
For run-and-gun hunting, setting up posts, stopping to glass or rest, etc., we made sure that we had good footing, good visibility, pack/bow/quiver deployed not just for shooting elk but arranged for emergencies. Depending on the layout I usually brought my spray-side belt around to the side I was sitting or standing, propped up and slid a little out of the holster. While on post,resting, eating, etc.,I never took off the magnum, and usually released the velcro hammer strap on the MR holster.
So, while I am regrettably going to take a (hopefully temporary) hiatus from saddlehunting, if I were doing it in bear country I would modify my process so that I was never without a big handgun I can shoot and spray. I would have both always available while setting up, climbing, and hunting from my rig. In the duffel is no good.
Initiating my younger family guys into this, we went to the range, shot a lot, and practiced drawing and deploying the bear spray either hand. I kept spare spray in the truck and UTV. I attended a bear spray seminar at the P&Y conference in Omaha this spring, and while I thought I already knew effective use, I learned a lot.
Spray is correctly thought to be effective, but the bear has to get it in their face. Be wind aware. I used to discount the possibility of an attack from downwind, in the absence of meat - no longer; too many unprovoked 'meatless' attacks. The seminar speaker pointed out that what you want is a 'wall' of spray, down low, between you and the bear. He did not discourage firearms; upwind, sidewind, heavy brush or other location vagaries, and your team's array all matter and could render spray useless.
Flyfishing for steelhead and salmon, I spend time in bear country. Air travel, or the time I've had guides, prevented me carrying a handgun. My comfort level was much higher in AK, northern AB, or on the S Fork of the Flathead for example, than in SW MT this year. Perhaps it's archery season and the onset of hyperphagia, perhaps the bears around Yellowstone are getting too bold from familiarity, maybe the wilderness bears are just more sensitive to sound and scent. Whatever it is, at least in SW MT, the stakes are higher now and you can't be too careful - head on a swivel!
