I don't want Grizzlies spreading their range....There I said it

[Z71&Gun]

I'm pro grizz reintroduction. I just think they have the locations all wrong. They should start in Seattle.

 

[ndbuck09]

I'm not reading all the responses but frankly, with the way our populations have increased in the west, I think it's really stupid to think that the grizzly range should expand. People were and are so scared of a disease that kills .1% of the people it infects, yet sure, with more people than ever in the backcountry, lets put an upredictable beast in there that does what it wants, when it wants. Plus with no hunting seasons, they don't know to fear humans at all. If you think that's not true, you must really think animals are stupid and I question if you're opinion about anything to do with animals and biology really matters.

 

[Mule3006Elk]

I can appreciate the op perspective. Never really thought about it much to be honest. I do intentionally hunt areas that don't have grizzly bears. I commonly hunt with my son and that's a battle I'll avoid.

 

[timekiller13]

I wish they would drop a few in Asheville, NC and the surrounding areas and thin out a few hippies.

 

[goathunter]

They and Giz should be land locked into California

Or Texas

’ve spent a lot of time in grizz country in MT and have only ever seen a few.

Try the park boundary!

 

[ElGuapo]

grizzlies in colorado are next eventually they will be reintroduced there

I would way rather see Griz than the Wolves in Co. Certainly would change the dynamics at every trailhead

 

[Crowmangler]

I wish they would drop a few in Asheville, NC and the surrounding areas and thin out a few hippies.

Remember when someone put the Trump 2020 sticker on that bear's tracking collar? That was glorious!

 

[Q child]

People from the lower 48 are a funny breed.

 

[displacedtexan]

Is that why Texas is covered in high fence operations? Reshaping the landscape for comfort and profit. Maybe they should try Iowa as well.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

I hate those places and the entire captive cervid industry.

So your point is?

 

[49ereric]

Bears go where they want despite what people want.

 

[P Carter]

Very interesting thread. I wanted to comment back on page 1 but figured I had to read the rest of the responses first. It's easy to see that there are a lot of people commenting who have never lived in a grizzly dense area, but also a few who do and have come to terms with risk and adjusted lifestyle.
I have lived in Wyoming my whole life, but only 3 years of those were in a grizzly dense area. I thought the original question was worthy of some intelligent discussion having had perspective of the same type of environment and hunting both with and without griz, but immediately people were super defensive because the OP does not love grizzlies. Almost as bad as politics.
Anyways, here's my take. I grew up in western WY. At 13 I went and shot my own buck, gutted it l, and hauled it home on 4 wheeler. Carefree camping and hiking. At 25 I moved to grizzly capital at the top of the wind river range. Cool wild place, but it didn't take me long to learn I wasn't in Kansas anymore (only a 3 hour drive from where I grew up) After a rainstorm in June we went on a 4 wheeler ride and literally every puddle on the trail had fresh griz track. I took my wife scouting an area for elk (forgot my sidearm) and after seeing the 6th bear sign in only a 1/4 mile and very little elk sign I decided we should look somewhere else.
I still hunted a lot, but sneaking through the timber cow calling is not an option. A kid actually got maulled cow calling while I was there. Griz snuck up and jumped him from behind. I only bow hunted deer at the edges of clearing because I didn't think going into the timber after elk was worth it. The most nerve wracking thing I've ever done was shoot a rag horn at dusk at the top of the mountain 2 miles from the truck. (They do come to gunshots. Some even will wait for you to finish gutting a few yards away before they move in. The bear that killed the outfitter not to far from where I was did not wait). I sang as loud as I could and had it quartered and boned out in 30-40 minutes with the adrenaline pumping, loaded my pack and hauled the rest away from the carcass and talked to my wife on speaker the whole hike out.
These guys saying " if you're scared of bears, don't go in the woods" have never been in these situations. Grizzlies are one of my favorite animals, but if they don't scare you, you're nuts. After being around them for a few years and learning to be safe, that fear can turn into a healthy respect. I wish I saw more of these bears that avoid people at all cost. My house was in a hillside subdivision a mile from timber, and I was butchering a whitetail and throwing the bones out by my truck. 30 minutes into it I had a sow and 2 cubs tearing into the rib cage. When I opened a window to yell, she charged my HOUSE and only stopped at the window cause I yelled even louder.
My friend who lives up in the timber and knows and welcomes the bears is always packing around the house, and has been chased into his shed and fortunately got up in a tractor just in time. He and his family have also been hunted by a griz while elk hunting. They made themselves known when it was 200 yards away and it circled sneakily around the hill. They dove off the rocky hillside and when they got to the bottom the bear was right where they were sitting. His son's shot one a few years back that charged him when they stumbled on its kill that fell dead at his feet.
Another family I know has shot 2 in self defense. One was a charging sow while horn hunting. The other was trying to break into their camper door in the night, while camping with small children.
I wouldn't dream of having a multiple day backcountry camp without an electric fence. Hiking, camping, and hunting unsupervised as a kid would be out of the question. It's a cool place I still hunt and visit, but you don't behave the same way you do anywhere else and I try not to go anywhere alone.
I moved back home where there are "no griz" for now. There are loads of black bear and mountain lion, but I couldn't care less. Hunting and camping is carefree. I don't even carry a sidearm, I take my 2 year old, have food, etc without worry. I don't want a dense population of Grizzlies here. I like it how it is, and I know where to go if I want to see them
Sorry for the novel. I guess the bottom line is, grizzly bears are cool, but not in your back yard ( if you have small kids) and you better not treat actual Grizzly country like any other day in the woods.

^I’m with this guy. I don’t want them expanding into where I hunt; it’ll fundamentally change what it’s like to be in the woods.

 

[MTSasquatch]

Born, raised, and still hunting in grizzly country. Always interesting to hear opinions about the bears from folks who don’t live with grizzlies. I’m more worried about a snag falling on my tent than getting scratched up by a bear. YMMV

 

[cuerro viejo]

Or Texas


Try the park boundary!

They wouldn’t make it Texas, black bears are barely tolerated. Yotes are hunted year round from helo’s and state has unlimited open season on lions. Plus Texas doesn’t exactly have an anti hunting legislative mind set or a bear on the state flag.

First time a grizzly in TX messed something up the sky would be covered with Robinson helicopters with teams of guys strapped in and itching to light everything up.


I think it’s fair to say anti hunting fund raising in Texas is a speck of what Cali has and invests into Western states predator expansion and protection

 

[scattergun]

First time a grizzly in TX messed something up the sky would be covered with Robinson helicopters with teams of guys strapped in and itching to light everything up.

That genuinely seems like something a bunch of terrified pussies would do.

 

[z987k]

I'm deaf. If I ever go into grizzly country it would be with at least one large dog - let him deal with (eat) the dog and I'm headed out.

That's not how dog's and bears work. The dog just brings them straight to you, asking for help.

 

[cuerro viejo]

That genuinely seems like something a bunch of terrified pussies would do.

Na, fly around killing stuff or sitting in your pronoun class, pretty easy choice.

 

[scattergun]

Right, because mowing down a majestic grizzly from a helicopter is obviously super-manly, and definitely not something an insecure simpleton would do.

 

[cuerro viejo]

Right, because mowing down a majestic grizzly from a helicopter is obviously super-manly, and definitely not something an insecure simpleton would do.

Majestic is relative to it’s proximity to causing human issues. Only suitable habitat in TX would be Big Bend NP. Where as Half of California is protected public land with a much higher carrying capacity. If you want to protect grizzlies then protect them in the state that provides the most funding for their protection, it’s that simple.

There is a reason almost every state touching TX has a bear season, and TX doesn’t. But let’s not let facts cloud you pronoun class

 

[Where's Bruce?]

I ride a classic Harley Road King, I fear texting teens in cars more than bears. Doesn't stop me though. If there were not risks...I would not do many of the things I do.

 

[scattergun]

But let’s not let facts cloud you pronoun class

You seem a bit obsessed with “pronouns” for some reason.