Will be hunting Grizzlies this fall and would like to hear your stories much like the buffalo thing in the Africa forum(caliber,bullets, range, #of shots etc.)

Actually I will be using a Ralph Martini built FN98 in .338-06 and a prewar M70 in .300 H&H.

I've been hunting Grizzly all my life. Thank the lord I never found one.

I hunted the Kuskokwim (?sp) area west of Anchorage in 1999. To make a long story as short as possible I flew to a spike camp with three days of food and clothing. The hunter before me had taken a nice moose and several Grizzlies were seen in the area. If no bear showed up in the time frame we were to fly farther in along the Shotgun River where we would hunt Moose,Caribou and Grizzly.

The weather turned to crap in a big way. Some days it rained horizontly!! Most mornings the fog was so thick you couldn't see 20yds. Every day we managed to hike the 4 miles to a hill where we could glass the remains of the moose. We were about a mile from the kill site which was marked with a stake and a ribbon of surveyors tape so we could see it.

Eight days later we were still stuck on that mountain. The weather prohibited flying to either get us out or bring in supplies. We were down to cup a soup for food, 3 eggs and four pieces of bread. We decided to hike out the next morning takeing what little food we had and shelter and leave the rest. The next am it was raining so bad you couldn't see 50ft. That afternoon the rain let up but it was to late to head out so the guide said lets "go check the moose". I was less than enthuseastic. We hadn't seen a thing since I had arrived and the 4mile hike with wet boots and clothing and no food wasn't appealing. With nothing better to do and the thought of spending the rest of the day confined to the 8X8 tent we went for a walk.

When we got to our hill the bear was there!! We hiked down and left our packs about half way. The woods were so thick it would make your best grouse cover look like a walk in the park. We waited for the bear to leave his meal as it would be to noisey to continue with himm on the kill. We positioned ourselves about 60yds and waited. It rained some more and after a couple hours here comes Yogi!! A 250gr Nosler Partition from a 338 put and end to his dinner plans.

After the Kodak moments we got him skinned,then the fun really started. The hide was to heavy to pick up and night was falling. My guide had some fire starter and a small saw. I cut dead trees and got a fire going while he skinned out the head. By flashlight I trimmed the meat away from the skull and the guide did the paws. We had quite a blaze going and it was the warmest I had been in almost 10 days. Needless to say we got no sleep as we camped next to the carcass. We heard the occosional moose grunt and wolf howl,but what really got us was the grunts of another bear!!

Yogi squared 91/2ft and the skull was 26 9/16.
Truly a hunt of a lifetime.

Well, I didn't get a shot off. I was about 8 years old. I did nearly greese my shorts, however.

It was somewhere outside of Yellowstone from what I remember. Me and my father were fishing for trout.

Of course I had received the "there-could-be-bears-and-rattlesnakes-around-don't-ever-run-from-a-bear-and-stay-where-I-can-see-ya" speach/warning, so I immediately disappeared across the stream and around a bend while my father was tying on a streamer.

My idea of fishing has always been SUNFISH, so I got bored when I didn't reel in 5 rainbows in the course of 10 minutes. I decided to explore my brushy surroundings. That's when I saw IT. IT was a bear, a GRIZZLY, and in reality, IT was probably 200yds away. I had the fear, knowing full well that a GRIZZLY could cover that distance in a millesecond!

I'd like to think that there was some sliver of dignity in my screaming like a bitch and turning around and running, but alas, I'm older now, and I see things for what they were. I do console myself with the knowledge that within the halls of bitch-like retreats, mine, at least, stood apart from the rest - but I owe that to the good lord. I walked on water that day as I came back across the stream.

That was my first miracle. Two more and I'm eligible for sainthood.

Hope this helps, good luck.

Awesome story rich!! How long did it take you to skin such a large bear?

MR331: Have you read "Alaska Bear Tales" by Larry Kaniut? There are two of these books (I & II), followed by a third. The third one is the best written, and it is titled "Some Bears Kill."

The first two are more scary than "Some Bears Kill," but this one is very interesting, because it only relates to people who survived bear attacks. It also tells what weapons-if any-were used, and even the caliber. One of the stories is about a guy from Anchorage who used a knife and his fists to defend himself from a brown bear. Believe it or not, he killed that bear. Another guy used a park bench to keep a black bear at bay, and another killed three grizzly bears during a charge and only used 5 rounds with his .338. He had time to reload the chamber with the 5th round, and used it to kill the last bear at point blank.

I have hunted grizzly once, in the coastal mountains of B.C. in 97.The weather was hot and bear activity was slow so we had only seen seven bears in seven days and all were sows or smaller bears.On the eighth day we caught a glimpse of a grizzly feeding in some bushes high up the riverbank and decided to climb up for a better look.We located a dry drainage a few hundred yards downwind of the bear and began climbing with me in the lead.After about half an hour of climbing I reached a goat trail and stopped to rest and have a drink of water.I heard a noise above and to the side of me and looked up to see the grizzly standing on the goat trail facing us about 80 or 90 yards away.It stood up on it's hind legs then came down on all four and began walking towards us.As it came closer it began to trot.At about 50 yards my guide told me to open fire as the bear was getting too close and the situation was becoming dangerous for us.I fired at about forty yards and the bullet struck the bear in the throat and stopped him.The bear turned sideways and I fired a second round from my 338x8mmrem mag and the bear fell off the goat trail and tumbled down the side of the mountain ending up dead and tangled in a log jam.We skinned out the grizzly which squared out just under seven feet.I had hoped to kill a bit bigger bear but under the circumstances I had little choice but to shoot this grizzly for our protection.The pelt was prime and a very nice silvertip color so I did get a beautiful rug as well as some unexpected excitement.

Anyone going bear hunting, or hunting in bear country? There's a few good books out by an author named "James Gary Shelton" you should read. It'll make the hunt far more exciting, remembering all those stories in the quiet night..... "Bear Attacks; The Deadly Truth" is my favourite of his books. Another one of his "Bear Attacks II; Myth and Reality" is quite good too!!!
You can find them at any Chapter's Store in Canada, and most other places. If you can't find them you can contact the publisher, Pogany Productions at (250) 982-2916. OR the distributor, Sandhill Book Marketing Ltd. at (250)763-1406.

Should definately be in any outdoorsman's library!

CDW

I have read the 2nd Alaska bear tales book years ago and as I recall it was a good one. Ive also read "Bear Attacks, The Deadly Truth". Keep the stories coming in folks!!!

With both of us working on it it didn't take to long to get the hide off. Skinning the head and paws by flashlight was quite tiresome and took several hours. It was all worth it when I look at the lifesize mount.

Ok Ok I know but I have to

The Montana State Department of Fish and Wildlife is advising hikers, hunters, fishermen, rescue dog handlers, and golfers to take extra precautions and be on the alert for bears while in the Gallatin, Helena, and Lewis and Clark National Forests. They advise people to wear noise-producing devices such as little bells on their clothing to alert, but not startle the bears unexpectedly. They also advise you to carry pepper spray in case of an encounter with a bear. It is also a good idea to watch for signs of bear activity. People should be able to recognize the difference between black bear and grizzly bear droppings.
Black bear droppings are smaller and contain berries and possibly squirrel fur. Grizzly bear droppings have bells in them and smell like pepper spray.

Greg