Still Hunting for deer in grizz territory

308BAR

308BAR

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Not trying be to paranoid (and I'm not try to troll) but the area I hunt has a ever increasing Griz population so there's a higher potential of see one. Which is good thing IMO if you stay in I'm in my truck and keeping my distance:redface:.

I however like to still hunt and like to hike into the bush when I hunt for deer. Lets say I set up early in the morning and plan to still hunt an area. A Grizz starts feeding into the area I'm hunting. I'd like to avoid conflict if I could and rather not kill something unnecessarily.

So what would be the action plan? Stay still? Crawl out undetected? Pray the wind doesn't shift? Serious thoughts and advice please.

This is a non-charge situation but the Grizz bear is feeding towards my location.
 
308BAR said:
Not trying be to paranoid (and I'm not try to troll) but the area I hunt has a ever increasing Griz population so there's a higher potential of see one. Which is good thing IMO if you stay in I'm in my truck and keeping my distance:redface:.

I however like to still hunt and like to hike into the bush when I hunt for deer. Lets say I set up early in the morning and plan to still hunt an area. A Grizz starts feeding into the area I'm hunting. I'd like to avoid conflict if I could and rather not kill something unnecessarily.

So what would be the action plan? Stay still? Crawl out undetected? Pray the wind doesn't shift? Serious thoughts and advice please.

This is a non-charge situation but the Grizz bear is feeding towards my location.
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My thought is to always make sure the bear has an escape route and then let him know you are there by hollering at him. I've had a couple very close encounters while moose hunting including stumbling on a grizz that was sound asleep and every time I've let them know I was there after quickly surveying the area to ensure they had an escape route and all has worked out fine so far. Last fall, we were packing a ram out and the wind was very heavy and we suddenly found ourselves less than 20 yards from a sow and cub that had not seen us. We yelled at them and she stoood up to take a quick look at us and then nudged her cub and went on her way. My thought is that no bear wants to attack unless defending a kill, so as long as he has an escape route, he'll take it.
 
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Great advice

If you are still hunting for deer and the griz shows up, let him know you are there. No sense waiting it out or trying to hide, etc....

Just gotta keep in mind "Just how important is that deer anyways....lol"
 
huntinstuff said:
Great advice

If you are still hunting for deer and the griz shows up, let him know you are there. No sense waiting it out or trying to hide, etc....

Just gotta keep in mind "Just how important is that deer anyways....lol"
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Not important enough for me.

I've never contacted a grizz, but one morning the second year I lived in the West my son and I set up a watch over a small cutline looking for deer. We were hoping to get my son his first shot at a deer(her was 13). Being from Ontario the whole predator thing didn't occur to me until we left the spot and saw cougar tracks, thankfully not fresh. It occurred to me that all the things we were doing to be a predator to the deer, the wind etc was making us prey to the cougar.
 
martinbns said:
Not important enough for me.

I've never contacted a grizz, but one morning the second year I lived in the West my son and I set up a watch over a small cutline looking for deer. We were hoping to get my son his first shot at a deer(her was 13). Being from Ontario the whole predator thing didn't occur to me until we left the spot and saw cougar tracks, thankfully not fresh. It occurred to me that all the things we were doing to be a predator to the deer, the wind etc was making us prey to the cougar.
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Human/cougar encouters are pretty rare and I think people would be shocked to know how many times they've been in close proximity to a cougar and never known it. Not saying there is no threat but I'm sure you are 100x more likely to ke killed in a car accident driving to your hunting location rather than being attacked by a cougar. The same can be said of bears. Just as a defensive driver can increae his odds of survival on the highway, an aware hunter is pretty safe in bear/cougar country.
 
Sheephunter, you have given some excellent advice. I will also go along with your thought of being 100 times more likely of a vehicle accident getting to your hunting area, than you are of an animal attack.
However, I think the cougar danger may be a bit more than you say. There seems to be more attacks lately, than there used to be.
 
H4831 said:
Sheephunter, you have given some excellent advice. I will also go along with your thought of being 100 times more likely of a vehicle accident getting to your hunting area, than you are of an animal attack.
However, I think the cougar danger may be a bit more than you say. There seems to be more attacks lately, than there used to be.
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I hear people say that attacks are on the increase and it may be so but I haven't seen any evidence to support it but if you look at the documented grizzly and cougar attacks, very few are against hunters (yes there are a few but the percentage is low). Most are on joggers and mountain bike riders and occasionally equestrian riders. I think the vast majority of attacks by grizz and cougar are a result of a fast-moving human startling these large predators and giving them no escape route.
 
sheephunter said:
I hear people say that attacks are on the increase and it may be so but I haven't seen any evidence to support it but if you look at the documented grizzly and cougar attacks, very few are against hunters (yes there are a few but the percentage is low). Most are on joggers and mountain bike riders and occasionally equestrian riders. I think the vast majority of attacks by grizz and cougar are a result of a fast-moving human startling these large predators and giving them no escape route.
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The only time I ever hear about grizz attacks on humans seem to be the BC early moose hunters. I wonder how much of the lack of attacks on hunters by bears is the time of year we tend to be in the woods, Oct/Nov.
 
martinbns said:
The only time I ever hear about grizz attacks on humans seem to be the BC early moose hunters. I wonder how much of the lack of attacks on hunters by bears is the time of year we tend to be in the woods, Oct/Nov.
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Old Ephram is usually out until early November but ya, time of year may have something to do with it for sure. There was a particularly brutal attack in SE BC about 10 years ago on a couple elk hunters and I know there have been a couple more in SE BC but for the number of days that hunters spend in bear country either around dead game or sneaking silently through the woods, the number of grizz or cougar/human conflicts is incredibly low and when you consider the number of recreational users in the backcountry these days.....these toothy critters are alot more frightening in our imagination than real life.

Taking off for a three-day backpack into the heart of grizz country this week and hadn't even really given it a second thought. More worried about the crazy long-weekend drivers!
 
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I don't think you're paranoid at all.
Just be sure you bring bear spray and some dingle bells.
So when people go to find you they will be able to tell who you are by the bells in the grizz poop.:D
 
seriously, your best bet would be to hire Camp Cook to idle his ATV 50 meters behind you with a loaded 45/70 guide gun.












:D
 
When I made the original statement, "a bit more than there used to be," I was not thinking only of cougar attacks on hunters.
I was thinking of cougars attacking people, and those numbers are higher (a bit) than they once were.
Fortuneatly, the number of hunters shooting each other has gone down in recent years, at least in the west, where I am more familiar with it.
The most hunting accidents appeared to be maybe in the 1960s, which also coincided with the greatest number of hunters in BC.
Also, I believe the vigorous hunting training, now compulsory in most provinces, has helped considerably in reducing hunting accidents.
 
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