Grizzly Precautions.

[GotDraw?]

REGARDING HANGING BEAR BAGS FROM A TREE...

FYI- If you are are high elevation, the evergreen trees will have short, thick limbs that all angle down. The limbs will generally be a thick, jumbled mess, making it tough to toss a weighted line cleanly through. Trees in high altitudes are a far cry from the oaks, ash, sycamore, etc that are so easy to toss a line up and into.

It can be challenging (as in a real PITA) to find a decent limb to hang a bear bag 4 feet from the trunk. If your food weighs 2 1/4 - 2 1/2 lbs/day, that bag can get large and heavy quickly.

I carry an ultra light portable electric fence (2 lbs or so for all of it) and put it around my food stash. All stored food is vacuum sealed. I leave zero open food around. I never even cook in camp.

Best of luck!
JL

 

[Tod osier]

toughest part of arch elk hunting in Grizz country....
you are moving quietly along the trail or thru timber, wind IN your face, come around a corner and THERE is GRIZZ.
Happened to me 3x in NW Montana. Personal note: Grizz move incredibly FAST.
First turned and ran off, for 3 seconds that was a sight!
Next was a bluff charge, that was scary enough. Tough to use spray with wind in your direction. I think the noise of deploying spray deterred it more.
3rd charge, coming in, head low, ears back; pull Glock, bang-bang-bang...
10mm F-ing impressive!
let me tell you about being totally scared...Pissed my pants.

Never been back to MT.

Disappointing as it's easier draw for regular elk license there for non resident....or used to be.

It would be great if you could share the details of the third charge, including the incident and aftermath.

 

[Dos Perros]

Do folks travel at night in grizzly country? If so, lights on, making lots of noise? It's pretty normal for me to be on the glassing tit till last light, and then move to camp in the dark. Also common to be up moving to glass or calling in the dark in the morning. Would you alter this plan in grizzly country?

 

[jmez]

We do. Definately a light so you can see what is ahead of you. I don't make any extra noise but make no effort to be quiet as if I was hunting. Also a good idea to avoid walking trails in the dark. Bears use those trails just like the other animals. Less chance of bumping into one bushwhacking than walking down a trail.

 

[Teaman1]

Gotta ask. Do you guys always hang your food in a tree? My last two hunts, I really struggled to find a tree that I could hang anything in

 

[Dos Perros]

It should be SOP to hang food. In black bear country sometimes I do sometimes I don't. If there are no trees you can try a Ursack Major.

This article might be worth a read.
https://andrewskurka.com/argument-against-hanging-bear-bag/

 

[Mike7]

Doing a decent bear hang (i.e. good for rodents and undetermined bears, and keeps food out of your tent while you are away hunting) is really fast & easy, even in subalpine areas with the right setup.

I like having a small cuben rock bag with about 40 ft of dyneema cord in it, and two quality tiny carabiners. One carabiner gets clipped to a knot at the end of the hanging line and then to the food bag for convenience and speed, while the other carabiner gets clipped to the food bag and then around the adjacent/other hanging line.

This way you can both adjust how far below the limb your food bag hangs, but also pull the food bag away directly away from the trunk of the hanging tree.

 

[Midwest.Bushlore]

Gotta ask. Do you guys always hang your food in a tree? My last two hunts, I really struggled to find a tree that I could hang anything in

Out of curiosity what are you trying to keep out of your food? There's nothing bigger than a dog or coyote for a hundred miles? Are you trying to keep stuff from the coons?

 

[Teaman1]

I was on the Wyoming border of Idaho one year, then flipped and was close to the Idaho border but in Wyoming. Bears of any color were my concern

 

[Midwest.Bushlore]

Ah, I gotcha!