How many grizzlies have you been seeing in AB?

crazy_davey

crazy_davey

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So far this hunting season and before, almost every time out, we have been running into grizzlies. It is not that uncommon in the areas we hunt, but it seems we have been seing more than usuall. We have been all over from south of Crowsnest all the way to Slave Lake.

Has anyone else noticed a good population of grizz in Alberta?

Not looking to start a bear deffense thread, just curious as to what everyone else has been seeing and some more opinions on the closing of the grizzly hunt in AB.

I know the population has not doubled(obviously), but in the past few years we have been seeing far more than in the past.
 
My freind has just returned from Grand Cash and Wow did he get a great bunch of photos of a great Grizz along the road not twenty feet from him. It had a collar but you can hardy see it with the great coat the bear had.
 
hunt365 said:
My freind has just returned from Grand Cash and Wow did he get a great bunch of photos of a great Grizz along the road not twenty feet from him. It had a collar but you can hardy see it with the great coat the bear had.
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Post em up :).

With my digital a huge grizzly at 100 yards looks like a baby or a brown lump, time for a new camera soon I think.
 
I spend a lot of time fishing in the Castle River area and in Kananaskis, and yes, there seems to be more bears around than ever. I've also talked to a couple of COs about the bear populations, and they both indicated that there certainly are a lot of bears out these days. It seems that the decision to close the grizz season for 3 years was a political one, not one based on science. Unfortunately I think it will be difficult for the government to re-open the season after the 3 year closure.
 
You know Scott they closed our spring Black Bear hunt in Ontario simply motivated by political gain and by a strong Anti movement and even with strong evidence of the ecological imbalance and the higher costs involved with bear human conflicts there doesn't seem to be any light at the end of the tunnell to get the spring bear hunt reinstated. We just keep getting the political babble that our politicians are so good at feeding us. I hope that in Alberta they reopen it in the future.
 
Dave, when we were on our Moose hunt, we bumped into a couple guys who have hunted the area for 15 years. When we told them we were in a wall tent they both burst out laughing and told us we were nuts! Apparently the Grizzly are thick up in those parts, which we had heard before.
We came across one big Black Bear track on top of the mountain, saw a little bit of scat but that was it.
I haven't seen a Grizzly bear yet, anywhere.
Heck, I never even got to see the one that killed one of our calves when I was twelve. Grandpa did tho, right when it killed the calf. He didn't have his glasses on, it stood up right across the yard fence from him and give him a huff, Grandpa obliged and headed back to the house! That's a long time back tho.

Noel
 
Was having breakfast at a little diner in Pincher Creek. Just opposite the table from the wife & I ... a whole team of Alberta F & W folks !
Discussion : (hard not to overhear) capture guns, tranq loads, drug efficacy, collars, etc. They were staying in the area because of the Grizzly density in the Castle River area south of the Crow and all the way down the east slope to Waterton ( and into Glacier).

The Y to Y ( Yukon to Yellowstone ) habitat corridor has a lot of momentum behind it, political & otherwise. Problematic to be sure, but nice to see Grizz makin' a bit of a comeback.
 
The Y to Y ( Yukon to Yellowstone ) habitat corridor has a lot of momentum behind it, political & otherwise. Problematic to be sure, but nice to see Grizz makin' a bit of a comeback.
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Nice to see someone has been doing a bit of research ;) I find it funny how many people have never even heard of "Y to Y". And yes Berreta boy, it does have a lot of momentum behind it. I have seen it effect other things than hunting allready.
 
Heck, grizzlies have been sited in all the areas I hunt in, this year and in past years...it seems the norm. 312, 305 and 440. :)
 
Noel said:
Dave, when we were on our Moose hunt, we bumped into a couple guys who have hunted the area for 15 years. When we told them we were in a wall tent they both burst out laughing and told us we were nuts! Apparently the Grizzly are thick up in those parts, which we had heard before.
We came across one big Black Bear track on top of the mountain, saw a little bit of scat but that was it.
I haven't seen a Grizzly bear yet, anywhere.
Heck, I never even got to see the one that killed one of our calves when I was twelve. Grandpa did tho, right when it killed the calf. He didn't have his glasses on, it stood up right across the yard fence from him and give him a huff, Grandpa obliged and headed back to the house! That's a long time back tho.

Noel
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Hey Noel,

Where abouts were you for the moose hunt? We are going first week of November 100 KM south of Grande Prarie and I know there are plenty of Grizz in that area. And yes we sleep in a wall tent:eek: :eek: :eek: .
 
I hunt in the Swan Hills, which should be a core grizzly area in Alberta. In my opinion there is less sign this year then in the past but it's kinda hard to be sure cuz the summer ended up so dry they wouldn't leave tracks. Even the muskegs dried right up.

In the spring I saw a set of really big grizz tracks in an area where I hunt moose and black bear, but then it was still really wet. They were like 8" wide tracks. BIG BEAR.

When we were on the way out from moose camp we saw a nice set of grizz tracks of a bear that would be a 7-7.5' bear.

A major problem in the Swan Hills (in my opinion) is they are over-logging. The timber companies do not seem to give a rats ass about the size of cutblocks or the habitat they are destroying. In years past the forestry/logging companies seemed to be more careful; the cutblocks were much smaller. The stands of timber left between blocks were bigger etc...
I don't like the way they are going about it. I don't think it's good for the bears.

As far as whether or not the Alberta Gov't will re-introduce the grizzly hunt that is another issue. I do not think the Ontario experience will affect what Alberta does, but I could be wrong. I am quite sure that guys like that David Schindler will be loud and the wildlife groups will also protest. Time will tell.

Meanwhile I hope Ursus Horribilis ####ing thrives. There is no greater thrill for me then seeing fresh grizzly sign and knowing he is walking the same ground as me.
 
I've spent around 20 days this year chasing around in sheep country and haven't seen one yet. On the other hand, my Uncle ran into one last week while he was hauling a ewe off the mountain.

As to the whole political pressure as a reason for shutting down the hunt - I don't know. I've spoken to two guys from the Grizzly Bear recovery project.

Both of them hunt.

Both of them thought that suspending the hunt was the only option.

(Actually, I guess I've talked to 3 guys who hunt from the recovery project, and the guy from the AFGA thought that the hunt should continue in certain areas. Full disclosure and all)

Now, bear in mind that they all DID think that there are huntable populations in Alberta - but without reliable numbers (and the numbers we have now, except between highways 16 and 1, are unusable) that it wouldn't be responsible to continue the hunt.

Basically it's the government's fault - if they'd been doing their job and keeping the population estimates current, there would definitely be a hunt near GP, and quite possibly one down in Pincher as well.
 
Demonical said:
As far as whether or not the Alberta Gov't will re-introduce the grizzly hunt that is another issue. I do not think the Ontario experience will affect what Alberta does, but I could be wrong. I am quite sure that guys like that David Schindler will be loud and the wildlife groups will also protest. Time will tell.
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I dont think we have to worry about the "Ontario experiance" either. We have our own issues in Alberta. We are talking about grizzlies here, not black bears, totally different issue.

Once something is closed or put on a three year halt, it is much harder to have it opened again. We are dealing with government here, and most things they do are for agendas that we the public never see.

They could have done a study without halting the hunt. Look at the numbers of grizz taken each year in AB. The numbers taken would have had no effect on a population study etc..

Dont get me wrong, I love seeing grizz just like everyone else. I have just been seeing many more than in previous years and it seems the population is very good, and getting better.

Your right Demonical, time will tell....
 
The reg's have tightened in BC as well. Griz are limited entery only as of the last 5 yrs or so. I went about 20 years without seeing one, this year we have seen six so far. One was a sow with two cubs and that got a bit tense. We use a wall tent too. I have a theory; there should be something in camp that smells better to a bear than what is in the tent. The food gets stashed but the pots and other cooking stuff, like the stove etc stay in the cook shelter at night, so that if a bear starts banging around in that stuff we will be able to hear it. We used to take our german shepard but she is getting a little old for that sort of stuff. Every time some one says their 7-08 is a good moose gun I shake my head. When we do our gutting there is always one guy holding a rifle and its usually a 338.
 
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