Grizzlies while moose hunting AK/BC

[Panhandler80]

I always find myself thinking about bears before a hunt. Two things help me: our minds have a horrible habit of dreaming up these worst-case scenarios and then we go through the “thing” and it’s never even half as bad as we thought it would be. That, and by the end of each day I’m usually too beat to give a shit and sleep like a baby.

Thinking through worst case scenario’s have saved my ass over a few times over the years, though. It’s a balance.

 

[AKDoc]

It's understandable that one would be thinking about bears on a remote drop-hunting trip to Alaska...it's a possible reality up here.

The possibility of an unintended bear encounter...or really miserable wx...or delayed pick-up in the field for days...or accidental physical injury, etc., etc. are all part of mentally planning a remote Alaska drop-off adventure. The challenge is always to keep one's focus on being mentally ready and prepared for those possibilities without dwelling or worrying about them, which is easier said than done for many of us, i.e., remembering the difference between possibility vs probability and prevention.

I have had more than a couple of unintended bear encounters in the field, and they all ended well for me and the bear, e.g., from seeing new grizzly tracks on the ground within a handful of steps from my tent the next morning to being bluff-charged by a grizzly that stopped just as I was beginning to pull the trigger of my pistol at about 10yds...and other experiences in between. That said, the absolute vast majority of my field adventures have been without any unintended bear encounters whatsoever.

Speaking just for myself, it's all about remaining and keeping mindful of the possible realities when I am in the field remotely, while also soaking in every minute of the experience and being thankful that I am even there.

 

[Panhandler80]

It's understandable that one would be thinking about bears on a remote drop-hunting trip to Alaska...it's a possible reality up here.

The possibility of an unintended bear encounter...or really miserable wx...or delayed pick-up in the field for days...or accidental physical injury, etc., etc. are all part of mentally planning a remote Alaska drop-off adventure. The challenge is always to keep one's focus on being mentally ready and prepared for those possibilities without dwelling or worrying about them, which is easier said than done for many of us, i.e., remembering the difference between possibility vs probability and prevention.

I have had more than a couple of unintended bear encounters in the field, and they all ended well for me and the bear, e.g., from seeing new grizzly tracks on the ground within a handful of steps from my tent the next morning to being bluff-charged by a grizzly that stopped just as I was beginning to pull the trigger of my pistol at about 10yds...and other experiences in between. That said, the absolute vast majority of my field adventures have been without any unintended bear encounters whatsoever.

Speaking just for myself, it's all about remaining and keeping mindful of the possible realities when I am in the field remotely, while also soaking in every minute of the experience and being thankful that I am even there.

Yep.

And like I said, or tried to, I’m not nearly as stressed about the bear itself as i am the process of establishing a game plan to keep us as safe as possible. If I know I’m doing everything right, I’m completely fine with the odds of a bad situation. Unlike an airplane issue or weather or bear’s actual behavior and desire.... the bear awareness and plan, gear, not breaking a bone or bad knife wound, etc... are all within my control.

knowing that is what’s scary. Easy to put head in sand, cross fingers and hop on a strangers airplane and fly into tricky spots.

I’ve run slow single engine boats up to 175 miles straight off the hill for 3 days of fishing. I HAVE a system for that so I go with confidence and let the chips fall where they may. I don’t have a system for dealing with bear nor a system for good clothing.

Will get there, though. I do think I’m going to knock the scope of my 44 and take it. Have gone back and forth. When in a situation that feels like potential bear threat we would of course have rifles and on the ready. I know sure as shit, that things will happen when you’re doing something seemingly ordinary and benign and that rifle is on the ground somewhere. Having some fire power all the time might not be a bad idea. Not a macho thing, or a pacifier, just kinda makes sense to me. Need to do some open site practice with it. I can kill a whitetail all day long at 100 with that scope and a rest, but I’ve never shot it quickly freehand with open sites. She ain’t light though. Damn weight gonna add up quick.

 

[Kevin Dill]

Fear and Worry.....2 partners I always try to leave behind.

The harder part is knowing what the reality is when you’ve never experienced something previously. I think of my wife’s fear and anxiety the first time we went whitewater rafting in the early years of our marriage. She literally couldn’t eat breakfast that day. She couldn’t escape the thoughts of flipped boats or drowning in rapids. One long trip down the river dispelled her wild anxieties and made her a veteran. Many trips later, she laughs at the memories but will also tell you there is always risk in adventures.

I recall a trip to the Yukon where my superb cowboy/wrangler/guide/philosopher went out to check the horses one evening after dinner and didn’t come back. It got black dark and toward midnight I was basically fighting the thoughts of his possible injury or death....not to mention my own. Small wall tent....his rifle....and a splitting axe were all I had for survival. I sat with the axe in my hands waiting for the grizzly to arrive. I’m not exaggerating. I was ready to fight or die. Exhaustion took hold and I fell asleep. Around 3:00 am I awoke to the sound of coarse breathing and snuffling sounds. “This is it”.....and then I heard the faintest tinkle of a bell. The horses and Rod were back. He’d been chasing them all night. I told him everything was cool in camp and no big deal.....

 

[Panhandler80]

Fear and Worry.....2 partners I always try to leave behind.

The harder part is knowing what the reality is when you’ve never experienced something previously. I think of my wife’s fear and anxiety the first time we went whitewater rafting in the early years of our marriage. She literally couldn’t eat breakfast that day. She couldn’t escape the thoughts of flipped boats or drowning in rapids. One long trip down the river dispelled her wild anxieties and made her a veteran. Many trips later, she laughs at the memories but will also tell you there is always risk in adventures.

I recall a trip to the Yukon where my superb cowboy/wrangler/guide/philosopher went out to check the horses one evening after dinner and didn’t come back. It got black dark and toward midnight I was basically fighting the thoughts of his possible injury or death....not to mention my own. Small wall tent....his rifle....and a splitting axe were all I had for survival. I sat with the axe in my hands waiting for the grizzly to arrive. I’m not exaggerating. I was ready to fight or die. Exhaustion took hold and I fell asleep. Around 3:00 am I awoke to the sound of coarse breathing and snuffling sounds. “This is it”.....and then I heard the faintest tinkle of a bell. The horses and Rod were back. He’d been chasing them all night. I told him everything was cool in camp and no big deal.....

Haha. I bet that was quite a night!

 

[Kevin Dill]

Haha. I bet that was quite a night!

I was running contingencies through my head. The trail I would hike to get back to the main camp. What supplies I might need. What to do if I found Rod injured or dead on the way. How to handle a bear attack if it came.

It turned out the horses escaped the area of our spike camp and instinctively began working their way back to the main camp. Rod caught up to them in the dark but couldn’t catch and manage all 10 of them. He caught one and rode it bareback....driving the rest of the horses down to the main camp....10 miles. Once there, he corralled them and fed them, then strung them together for the return trip. He saddled and rode the lead horse another 10 miles back to spike camp....and all by 3 am. When he told me the story I was doubtful of it. That was proven otherwise when we rode back in a week later. We found a skoal can, some gloves, and one of Rod’s handkerchiefs on the trail leading out.

Stuff happens.

 

[Beendare]

Good story Kevin.

Stuff happens.

Yeah, and more often than not...its with horses....

_

 

[william schmaltz]

I sleep better in bear country than I do in snake country

Back in my badlands hunting days I would rather walk an extra few miles a day to sleep in the vehicle than tent out most times.

 

[NWONhunter]

Just be aware, but if you have to shoot, you will have a gun capable of taking a moose so a bear will be no issue

 

[hornchaser2011]

Great advice on here. My only comment is to always be aware and not be complacent which are different than being scared. On my last trip to Alaska I was busting through alders on day one and popped out into a big open flat (thank god for this last part). Stopped to catch my breath and noticed something moving in the alders about 130 yards away. It was a large lone grizzly that walked out into the flat basically walking right to us which I think was random. When I saw the bear it saw me and stood up on its rear legs sniffing the wind to try and make out what me and my dad were, there was a 30mph cross wind which I’m sure prevented the bear from smelling us. Realizing there was no way to avoid an encounter I cambered a round and popped my scope covers open and made myself as tall as I could while waving and yelling “hey bear!!” Well when I did that something in that bears brain triggered and he dropped to all fours and came in a dead charge. You hear stories about how fast they are but seeing one coming at you so hard it’s slinging mud and dirt behind it is something you don’t forget. The bear closed from 130 yards to 50 yards in the blink of an eye and I shot my 375 about a foot over his head. He skidded to a stop and told my dad if he takes one more step to shoot to kill. My reasoning behind a warning shot is I knew my dad was backing me up and I figured I had time to get one more shot off if he kept coming.
I yelled again and the bear turned and left with the same incredible speed that he came with.
We’ll never know if this was a bluff charge or if the bear was planning on hitting me like dick Butkus when he got to us or if he could have smelled us and realized we were humans would he have ran away. Although bears behave in a general way they are highly unpredictable animals so carry a big gun and stay alert. On a side note pepper spray would have been useless in this encounter because of the cross wind.

 

[Kevin Dill]

Sow grizz running in my general direction:

Here she's checking out my camp:

Track in the sand near my moose camp:

Big boar which forced me into a decision to haze and hope:

What's lurking near your camp?

Big silvertip was on this carcass mere hours after the last meat load.

 

[USMC2602]

Great pictures, Kevin, brings it right into the proper perspective.

 

[SliverShooter]

Some great advise, thanks for sharing.

Kevin, hope you and Jeff have a safe and successful hunt this fall. Maybe we will cross paths in AK. I think you will be in the bush before I get there late on the 10th.

My thoughts. I live and do most of my elk hunting north of Yellowstone, in the middle of grizzly country. In my experience, the grizzlies in AK and MT are two completely different critters. The bears in MT are mostly habituated to humans and tend not to fear us. I found
AK grizzly along floated rivers and the coast to be exceptionally wary of man. In the remote AK backcountry, my experiences are generally the same as KD’s.

 

[Kevin Dill]

@SliverShooter .....Is that you Walt?

 

[VernAK]

Kevin,
That old boar in the dark is a real trophy. He's sure fattened up for the winter ahead.

 

[Kevin Dill]

Kevin,
That old boar in the dark is a real trophy. He's sure fattened up for the winter ahead.

No kidding Vern. Believe it or not, I had that very bear just across a big creek from me a year earlier. I got a wide open look at him from 60 yards and he was huge....easily over 750. He had no clue to my presence, but I had the piss-ant .44 Mag in my hand just in case things got western.

 

[SliverShooter]

@SliverShooter .....Is that you Walt?

Yep,
Hope you are doing good.

 

[Kevin Dill]

Yep,
Hope you are doing good.

Well so far I've dodged the grizzlies, lol. Miss you buddy. Hope your upcoming moose hunt ends heavy.

 

[SliverShooter]

Well so far I've dodged the grizzlies, lol. Miss you buddy. Hope your upcoming moose hunt ends heavy.

I’ve been lucky with the grizzlies, haven’t had to pull the gun on one since 94.

It would be good to see you and Jeff. If we cross paths in AK, I’ll pick up the tab at Pikes or the Pump House.

I’m going solo again this year, hopefully your hunt ends twice as heavy as mine.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

Great advice on here. My only comment is to always be aware and not be complacent which are different than being scared. On my last trip to Alaska I was busting through alders on day one and popped out into a big open flat (thank god for this last part). Stopped to catch my breath and noticed something moving in the alders about 130 yards away. It was a large lone grizzly that walked out into the flat basically walking right to us which I think was random. When I saw the bear it saw me and stood up on its rear legs sniffing the wind to try and make out what me and my dad were, there was a 30mph cross wind which I’m sure prevented the bear from smelling us. Realizing there was no way to avoid an encounter I cambered a round and popped my scope covers open and made myself as tall as I could while waving and yelling “hey bear!!” Well when I did that something in that bears brain triggered and he dropped to all fours and came in a dead charge. You hear stories about how fast they are but seeing one coming at you so hard it’s slinging mud and dirt behind it is something you don’t forget. The bear closed from 130 yards to 50 yards in the blink of an eye and I shot my 375 about a foot over his head. He skidded to a stop and told my dad if he takes one more step to shoot to kill. My reasoning behind a warning shot is I knew my dad was backing me up and I figured I had time to get one more shot off if he kept coming.
I yelled again and the bear turned and left with the same incredible speed that he came with.
We’ll never know if this was a bluff charge or if the bear was planning on hitting me like dick Butkus when he got to us or if he could have smelled us and realized we were humans would he have ran away. Although bears behave in a general way they are highly unpredictable animals so carry a big gun and stay alert. On a side note pepper spray would have been useless in this encounter because of the cross wind.

It’s good to be with people but I probably would have dumped that bear. I’m an AK resident (don’t know if you are) and bears are open season for residents during the moose season where I hunt. Me and my hunting buddy have gotten to the point where if a bear does anything other than run away, we shoot it. Sort of a pain in the ass but we don’t want them in camp at night.

Good choice on the 375 too, I know the 30-06 is just fine for moose and bears but the 375s make me feel better.