Midwinter bear mauling

Those coasties are awesome. Bears out and about this time of year are big trouble.

https://www.dvidshub.net/video/782825/coast-guard-hoists-skier-mauled-bear-near-haines-alaska

Some real heroes right there!

I thought bears couldn't run downhill?

That is funny.

There have been a handful of winters that I have seen bear tracks during trapping season, December through mid February. They don’t all sleep all winter long.

Hats off to them, Wow!

WS

That is why I carry an ACR Personal Locator Beacon (PLB).
It is by far the quickest way for the Coasties to find you.

I have talked to several trappers over the years that found that they were feeding bears at their carcass disposal sites. Bears hibernate mostly because there is no food. If there's a steady supply they'll stick with it. A wandering bear with an empty stomach is likely to be a little grumpy!

Is it 406 MHz ? Did you have to register it ?

Had a black bear run straight down a huge tree in Maine many years ago. Came down that tree so fast, I don't believe I made one step to get out of her way!

I just hate it when I see brown bear tracks in the winter. Rather be stuck in overflow !

An old bush pilot told me he knew of grizzly that never denned.

I've seen them out several times in mid-winter. One year I went down to the water hole on Thanksgiving and there one stood. At least I noticed him while I had time to retreat back to the cabin. It was 32 below

Cutting trail once 6 miles from camp I worked until dark. Packed up the tools and started the hike back and didn’t go 50 feet and there were his tracks. He had followed the trail the whole way and turned off right behind my back. Missed a face to face with no gun on a dark trail by minutes

I seen some bear track last week in the snow.

Yes, and yes.

Seen a video of a grizzly still out the 10th of December .
And was in beartooth front range

They just killed the oldest grizzly in the Yellowstone ecosystem about 2 weeks ago for killing a steer, 32 years old. they had pictures of his canine teeth so short they couldn't cut but enough jaw pressure to break the steers neck. Another Grizzly was out at Christmas with her 4 cubs. Been warm up till this weekend not much snow, if they are hungry or smell food they can and will be out.

Where was it in the Beartooth?

No the sow was out in Yellowstone park the 32 year old was near Pinedale Wy I think.

Rancher manager had it on his phone video,
Up by red lodge.
Fish and new about it also.

Usually when a grizzly is out in midwinter he has some serious health problems. I've seen it where they get flooded out sometimes too when they den near a creek and it glaciers in cold weather. Usually they are extremely aggressive if you do happen to run into them in winter. I've had to kill a couple.

100%

Bad deal. I had one do that same thing to me three days in a row. I finally climbed a small hill and watched my back trail and dealt with him

Certainly inspired me to carry the big handgun . Because you know how it is when you’re working, need 2 hands you put the rifle or shotgun down

Exactly!

And folks think us southern trappers with snakes and gators got it rough. I'll keep my snakes and let y'all have your bears.

One of the neat things I've seen and a missed opportunity for me was seeing multiple grizzly dens and not doing anything about it. I was hunting Unit 13 in the spring (last of April, first of May) and could see five dens on the mountainside across the way from me. Black holes with muddy trails stood out like a sore thumb on that white snow. If I'd have had a clue as to what I was doing, I would have camped out right there and kept a watch on those dens. I wound up getting a large boar later in the trip so it all worked out.

I occasionally see black bear sign here in the winter during a thaw but there's no danger in it,

Bears will kill you

Yeah those dirty drag marks in the snow are like flashing neon signs.
No black bears around my camp at all.
I don't think I'd be concerned if there were.

The thing about brown bears is they will actually follow you...............A guy might almost say they are stalking you. I've never seen or heard of that behavior in black bears

I saw evidence in the snow where a grizzly tracked me from my cache to a cabin I was staying in. It didn't disturb anything I had stashed and I don't rightly remember how far from the cabin it broke off my trail. I remember it leaving an impression on me. I did a lot of solo hunting at the time and took advantage of sleeping in a sauna attached to a guys cabin in the Fog Lakes area. The owner wasn't there, I was a chicken and it seemed like a good place to spend the night. At least it had a wood door. I was still nervous.

Yeah I can understand that !.. every so often in the fall I'll have one snoopin'& poopin' around especially If I have a moose hanging.

I stack empty 5 gallon cans on the porch in front of the door at times like that. I sleep better that way

You have a way of making a guy feel better about himself. Thanks!

I'll get around to telling you about the time I slept in a tree. I'm not ready to share that one.

I've never slept in one but I did shove my two year old daughter up into one to get away from a February moose with a bad attitude.

Good stuff.

Let's start a thread on our outdoor related, near-death experiences. I've got some good ones, mostly involving planes. Others are just random acts of stupidity on my part...but still worth sharing.

LOL !! Go for it !!