RISK
Manyhuntersarenotwillingtoven-
tureintogrizzlycountry,andalthough
theriskis lowif you’resmart,thereis
al waysa risk.Fearinstilledby mediare-
portsof bearmaulings,or evenby this
article,shouldn’tbeyourdecidingfac-
torregardingwhetherto huntingrizzly
countryor not.I believehuntingin griz-
zlybearhabitatcanadd to yourhunting
experienceandmemories.I guaranteeat
a minimum,youwillbe moreawareof
yoursurroundings,especiallywhilehik-
ingin thedark.
Hunters are alwaysat elevated risk
due to thenatureof whatwe’retryingto
do. We arestealthy,andwe trynotto let
el kor otheranimalsknowof ourpres-
ence.Thatlendsitselfdirectlyto thepos-
sibility of closeencounterswithbears.
Ifit happenstobe agrizzlyprotecting
a kill,or a sowprotectinghercubs,the
outcomewilllikelybe a seriouscharge
and a possiblemaulingif you’renotpre-
paredandquickto react.BADYEAR
MyWyomingelkhuntsareconducted
intheheartof grizzlyhabitat.I’vehadmy
shareof experienceswiththebears,both
goodandbad,anddefinitelyworsein re-
centyears.Forwhateverreason, 2018 was
a badyearineverysense.OnSeptember
9,my nephew,Sam,andanotherbuddy
and I hadhikedup a newdrainageforan
eveninghunt.As we gotcloseto ourdes-
tination,we heardandsawa Gameand
Fi shairplanecirclingabouta milewest
ofus. We figuredit wassometypeof bear
is sue,andwithdaylightstartingtofade
andnoelkactivity,we headedbackout.
Wehadn’tgonefarbeforemeetinga game
warden,ForestService,andsearchand
re scueguyshikingin.There’dbeena bad
BOWHUNTER.COM 107THE BULL BLEW OUT, crashed through the timber, and left me
swearing at myself. Dang, I was close, but that crunchy pinecone did
me in. I took a few deep breaths, put my arrow away, and decided to
stay after the bull and his herd. I took off on a looping run through
the timber, trying to close the gap again. My bow was in my right
hand as I snaked through the maze of downfalls, using every open
space or trail available to make time. I was silently trotting on a trail,
and when I rounded a large pine, everything went into slow motion.
Grizzly. Big grizzly! My bow hit the ground, bear spray came free
from the holster, and the oversized boar charged...the other way,
looking over his shoulder. He looked as big as a Volkswagen.
I can’t stress enough how fast all of this occurred, and everything I did was pure
instinct from lots of practice and experience. Actually, I surprised myself because
when I practice, I flip the safety off the bear spray and shoot from the hip most of
the time. This time, with my bow in my right hand, I just let it go, and I guess since
my hand was level with the spray, I pulled it from the holster without thinking.
Maybe I was lucky the bear was already facing away from me. I’ll never know, and
I’m thankful he ran in the other direction. It was September 2018.
This grizzly came in to the sound of our elk calls — an
alarming occurrence that is happening more frequently.