Nice photos, Top Jimmy.

Last fall I went to check my trail cameras two weeks before black bear season started. I had a very close encounter with a large boar who was not impressed with me. Our paths crossed at less than 10 yards. During our standoff several thoughts were going through my head. Will he charge? How fast can he close this distance? Can I even get my firearm in shooting position before he got on me? Can I tell the difference between a real charge and a bluff charge at this distance? My conclusion: it's going to get ugly if the bear decides to charge.

Having a firearm and/or bear spray is nice. Be realistic and know that you may not be able to deploy them in time. You cannot be "ready to deploy" 100% of the time. A grizzly can cover 50 yards in 3 seconds. How quickly can most people identify the risk, assess the risk, and deploy in that time period? Bears are damn stealthy even when running. Even tougher when there is some cover.

We do not know the full truth of what happened since we are mostly relying up the hunter's testimony. The typical situation is the guide does the dirty work and the hunter is told to stand guard.

Speculation: Guide said he'd break the elk down and the hunter is to stand guard, at some point during the two hours the hunter let his guard down (tough to stay focused that length of time), the hunter did not react well once the sow showed up, the guide did not have time to react (relying on the hunter to sound the alarm/provide preliminary protection), the hunter continued to react poorly to the ongoing situation, and the guide did things right once he had time to assess and react (deploy bear spray to save the client).

I won't say anything negative about the hunter since none of us know how we will react under a similar situation 100% of the time.

Major kudos to the guide for saving his client.

It is obvious that not every reasonable precaution was taken. But that’s true of what I would guess are many if not most situations where a potential encounter may occur in grizzly country.

I believe that the publicity this tragedy has received will save lives going forward. I spend quite a bit of time in grizzly country (hunting, fishing, hiking, camping) and I know I’m going to be more aware/prepared.

Took me a while to dig it up, but here is the picture of the one on my fathers wall. We were sitting on a knoll overlooking a pond where we moose hunt. About a week earlier another of our group had shot a moose near the pond and there was a gut pile, head, and some bones there. This sow came along the hill side above the pond and right at us through the brush. She broke out about 20 yards away and we spotted her as soon as she spotted us. She stood up to look us over and we hopped up with rifles up and ready. As she started to come down, we shot and she took a 7mm Rem Mag and a 300 Win Mag straight to the chest and came at us at a dead run. We just started shooting. She got to within about 20 feet of us and then turned back to her original starting spot and we kept shooting and had fully unloaded our guns. She stopped there for a second and we each got two rounds into our guns before she came again and we finally dropped her about half way from where she started and where we were. 10 shots, 9 hits, with the first two straight in the middle of her chest. It is amazing the damage they can take and keep coming. Without a hit to the central nervous system, they can go a while. You can see the ear tag in there and she was 19 years old and had been studied by F&G over the years.



We think she was the same one that charged us 2 years earlier with two small cubs. We were butchering my youngest brothers first moose and it was toward the end of the day when he shot it. We were just getting done bagging the meat and looked up at the rose sunset over the hill and there is a big hump with two small humps, one on each side, and the big hump moved. We scrambled for our rifles propped up close by and she came down the hill charging at us with nothing but a field of tussocks between us and her. Pulled up my rifle and all I saw was fur in the scope. Luckily she stopped about 20 yards out after bluff charging, and snapped her jaws at us for a while before going back up the hill and collecting her cubs and heading off in the direction of our camp. We finished up and by then it was pitch dark. Covered in blood, with a pack of bloody meat on our backs on pack frames, we headed on the 2.5 mile hike back to camp. Between us and camp, and the way the momma grizzly and her two little cubs went, are two gut piles/heads from two previous kills that we have to pass to get back. It was a very nervous and tense hike back to camp with nothing but head lamps to light the way and not knowing where that bear and her cubs were. Luckily, we never saw them again that year.

-TJ

Wow. Great story and write up, Top Jimmy. That is definitely NOT on my bucket list. I'll leave the bears for guys like you.

Hey guys,

I am new to the forum but would like to know why they would not allow guides to carry bigger calibre rifle's when they hunt areas like this where there is a possibility that you can be charged by something as big and aggresive as a grizzly.... I hunt in Africa and you will never see me leave my truck without my 470NE or .416 Ruger if I hunt areas that has any of the Big 5 in it.... It is simply not worth the risk in my opinion. After all our work as guides are to keep our clients save and how can they expect a guide to do that with a can of spray and a 10mm Glock? I feel real sorry for the family and the guide, I truly believe that if they could have been more prepared with the correct equipment this bear could have been stopped....

Thank you and it is just out of curiosity that I am asking as I am not familiar with all the laws etc in the US.

All my best,

Jacques

Great story sir!

i think it is up to the guide what weapon he/she carries..

No limit on rifle caliber for the area. I would not depend on a pistol or spray can either. 12 gage double ott buckshot would be my go to if I was guiding.
The problem with this type of incident is being limited with what you can carry up and down mountains. Guys try to get lighter on gear and guns. And they don’t stay vigilant watching out for animals that will eat you. They get too comfortable.

I will tell you that it sucks to try and pack a long gun with you when you are also packing out 100-150 pounds of meat on your back. Most places you just can't drive up to the dead animal and load it into the truck, so it is going out on your back at some point. A pistol is much easier in those instances. When fishing in bear country, a long gun can also get in the way, but some will pack a pump shotgun with pistol grip and shortened barrel, but that can also get int he way and I have seen guys with them having them with the sling across their chest and the gun on their back. That can be pretty hard to get to if charged unaware. I pack a .454 Casull in a chest holster when packing meat or fishing and leave the rifle at camp.

The preferred set up for guys doing bear guard work on remote jobs is a pump shotgun with alternating buck shot then slug loads in the gun.

-TJ

Thanks for the real info Top Jimmy