pened to a buddy and his wife. I’ll call
them Joe and Sara for protection of their
real names. I almost stayed and hunted
with them the afternoon of September
30, but instead drove home early in the
afternoon.
Just before dark, Joe and Sara left their
truck in a hurry to get to a certain mead-
ow. As they dropped off the road. Sara
said, “Watch out for grizzlies.” Joe had
his bow in his left hand and bugle tube in
his right. He then tucked the bugle tube
under his left arm to keep his right hand
free. Ten steps later, he saw movement
10 yards ahead, recognized it as a grizzly
cub when it crashed off, pulled his pistol,
and shot the sow one time at seven yards
as she charged. She roared as it rocked
her, whirled, and took off. Joe never shot
again, even though his 10mm Glock 20
carried 15 rounds. He later said that if
he’d tried to reach the bear spray on his
chest, attached to his binocular harness,
he wouldn’t have had time. They backed
out to the truck, pistols out, fully expect-
ing her to come again. Needless to say,
their elk season came to an end right
there. They found a warden and reported
it. I returned the next day with Joe to meet
the Game & Fish and Fish & Wildlife in-
vestigators at the site. The snow on the
ground confirmed the story, and no pu-
nitive action was taken.USING ELK CALLS
One very disturbing problem happen-
ing now is grizzlies coming in to elk calls.
I’ve documented these encounters yearly
for the past 10 years, and they are happen-
ing more frequently. Let me just say how
unnerving the experience is. Last fall, I
was calling for a friend in heavy timber,
when a branch cracked in the direction of
a bugle. My buddy squared off and raised
his bow for the pending shot. Suddenly,
he hissed, “Grizzly!” and fumbled the
can of bear spray from his belt. The bear
was 50 yards out, caught his movement,
and stopped. The next five minutes was a
standoff, and my nephew was able to cap-
ture a couple of photos before I stepped
out and ran the bear off. I highly suggest
that when you are calling in grizzly coun-
try, do so where you have good visibilityOnce a grizzly finds a carcass, the bear will
rake up everything close by and bury it.