Montana grizzlies?

[stevelyn]

I'm more worried about black bear than the brownies, but griz are different from the coastal brown bears around these parts. Some of them have a mean streak a mile wide and unlike the much larger brown bear they have been known to attack seemingly for the heck of it.

I have to agree with Cosmoline on this. Encounters with black bears are much more common (especially in the Interior) than with grizzlies/coastal browns unless of course like me you live in coastal brown country. Black bear encounters tend to be a bit more unpredictable as their aggressiveness is often underestimated.
There is also a lot to be said about the differences in disposition of coastal browns vs interior grizzlies. Having to deal with dumpster-diving browns on a near daily basis, I can say that I would never attempt to do a lot of the same things to an interior grizzly that I do to the local browns. There is also a significant size difference between the two with the grizzlies being smaller in sized compared to their coastal counterparts. This is likely due to food sources.
The grizzlies of the interior and Brooks Range have a nasty disposition and seem to always be looking for a fight. The browns are a little more laid back either ignoring humans or running away.

 

[silverlance]

eh, really?

i dunno. they seemed pretty serious. and i tend to believe forest rangers giving national park tours.

then again, could be they just want to keep us city slickers out of the woods. they also told me some pretty crazy stories about polar bears waiting outside houses for kids to come out during the lean months so they could eat them as they depart for school. therefore, she added, schoolchildren up north are bused 3 blocks to school, with an adult carrying (yup you guessed it) a .357 magnum or shotgun as chaperone.

bs? don't know. you guys who live in the northern territories, you tell me.

 

[gunner03]

I don't recemend it but as kids we shot a black bear in the back (top) of the head with a 22 long, he just slumped and quivered. Two more just in case but it was not needed.

 

[MachIVshooter]

Amen brother. I'm nervous with that and the black bears/big cats here in Colorado.

By the time you realize you've been attacked by a cougar, you are looking down on your body from the heavens.

At least you can hear a bear coming.

 

[bearmgc]

Another good reason to have a big dog along- advance warning.

 

[Gunpacker]

Bears and handguns

Being a TV junkie, and liking the "Amazing Videos" type shows, I have caught a couple of film clips that might be interesting.
First was a film of a Park Ranger relocating a grizzly bear. He was on top of an approximately 4 foot round trap with a door on the end carried on a trailer. He climbed on top, lifted the door to release the bear. The bear came out, promptly climbed up and grabbed the Ranger. He was armed with a .357 according to narration, and he shot and killed the bear after a brief struggle. No close up or examination of wounds was included.
Another clip was shot by an unarmed guy that was more interested in filming than I would have been. He was stalked by a black bear as he came down a mountain. He had multiple VERY close shots of the bear following him down the mountain as he yelled and screamed at it and threw branches etc, at it. Very determined bear followed him to the bottom of the mountain where he went into a lake as a last effort. The bear did not follow into the water, but waited for a long while. Eventually the bear left. Scariest episode I have seen with a black, for that bear was determined to get at him.
Oh yeah, recent show examining a couple of grizzly attacks where one guy was killed and another fought off a small griz with a knife until he could retrieve his rifle and shoot it, was interesting. The year under examination produced unusual attacks. Food sources for bears had been impacted by weather and nature, and bears were exhibiting unusual behavior in scavenging closer to humans than normal. They were unprepared for winter and thus were more desperate than usual. They thought that rifle shots were seeming to act like a "dinner bell" for the bears, and both attacks were made after the hunters shot a deer. Other hunters had noticed that bears showed up after a kill, most patiently waiting for the hunter to leave the gut pile. Some folks had noticed bears showing up when they were only target shooting. A lot of shooters noticed that, so you hunters watch your backs when you make a kill in grizzly country.