Dannyboy21
New member
- Jul 11, 2025
- 26
Da Bears… this is a long post but there is a lot to cover here.
On the 27th, I arrowed a 6x6 mature bull elk about 2 miles in from an atv trail. Accessibility is moderately difficult but not impossible. Solo hunt, so not a lot of "disturbances" in the woods at this point 4:00PM
After processing the first half of the bull (gutless method : one front and hind quarter hung as well as most of the neck/rib meat, backstrap and one tenderloin), getting the body flipped, and getting hide off of the other half, my wife needed help getting the full distance in. It was dark, it was a new area for us, and she had lost the trail (she was panicked, which I knew was dangerous). I hiked part way back to meet up with her and found her as she was fighting through a tag alder patch. *7:15PM (one hour after sunset)
The kill site was “unattended” by me for around one hour. When the wife and I returned close to the kill site, I could hear something making a ruckus near the bull so started shouting, making noise and throwing sticks. I didn’t see a bear at that point… I had hoped it was the bulls cows (wishful thinking)… upon getting to the area, one game bag was missing and a bear and taken a few bites out of the hind quarter that was still on the carcass (yes I trimmed that area away as i know they can carry bad bacteria) … I was able to find the game bag (glad for those reflective strips), it didn’t have any damage and the bear had drug it off about 20 yards… I was fighting mad. First time I’ve ever had a bear mess with me. *8:15PM
After another 20-30 minutes or so of processing the animal, we heard some rustling down below as well as a “buzzing” or “humming”. I initially thought it was our phones buzzing… When I looked down the hill with my headlamp, there was a black bear facing us roughly 60 yards down the hill. He was looking at me, and he was making a humming noise at us. My wife boogied up the hill away from him to get her bear spray, I stood up, yelled at him, pulled my pistol with my right hand (.45 long colt single action) and bear spray in the left. He moved back a little way, then turned back towards us at about 50 yards. I shot one round in his direction hoping to scare him off. He slowly walked away. *8:30PM
Soon after (15-20 minutes), he came back even closer (35 yards) and we repeated the same process, during that encounter I also deployed some bear spray at him (wind was going downhill to him but it was a little far for the spray to hit him). However, he continued to play that game with us another 3 or 4 times. Sneaking into 30 – 50 yards, we shoo him away, he moves back and tries again every 15 minutes...
As that scenario repeated itself, I believe it was another boar showed up (could have been the same bear however this one seemed larger and I could see a larger back shape with a bit of a hump on the back – if it was the same bear it was circling us relatively quickly without making much noise ). It was approaching from the uphill side. Same scenario except i wouldn't spray uphill with the wind…
At this point one of us would work on the meat and the other would keep watch (we have never actually lived out the “head on a swivel situation until then”. This continued around 6 times in the next 2 hours. Things were getting pretty western at this point, and our nerves were wearing thin.
Once I got down to 2 rounds left in the revolver with no extra ammo (not a mistake i'll make again), it was apparent we needed to leave and get home safe even if it meant losing some elk meat. So, I rushed the rest of the processing, stashed all the game bags and head spread around the area as high as I could get it and we started the first haul out with two front quarters. *10:50PM. We rolled into our driveway at 4:30AM physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted but with no serious injuries or bite marks.
When we went back to the kill site the next day (rifle in hand and ready to kill the SOB's - 2 PM) the bears were nowhere to be seen, they hadn’t touched the carcass or the game bags at all… it was very strange… This entire situation was surreal to me. It seemed like all the woodsmanship rules I had learned related to bear safety didn’t apply anymore because these bears weren’t playing by the rules. Did I do something wrong? Were these bears just starving? Is this normal once they find a dead animal?
Shout out to my wife… not many gals have the kahunas to pack in the dark, off trail, alone and then put up with the bears just to follow up with two days of packing meat… She’s a champ and she impresses me every day. I owe her big time I know, and I have no idea why she is still married to me... That being said, I think she is more interested in killing a bear now so long as it's from a safe distance, with a rifle and a road is nearby… A little payback for the stress they put us through.
Side Notes: the berries were not plentiful this year and I know there were several “skinny” black bears around this year. Could this have been a major factor? I have to say, these bears did NOT look skinny but that could have just due to the circumstances and shadows.
I am fairly confident these were black bears not grizzly given the area, the smaller head / body size and coloring. But then again… it was dark and there have been more and more grizzly’s around here each year.
The “preventative measures” I tried to implement prior to leaving the kill site on night one are below:
Things I don’t understand about this encounter… I don’t have a lot of experience with these furry buggers.
Any feedback, insight from past encounters or suggestions would be appreciated on this as I would love to learn and hopefully help others learn from this! How do you experienced hunters handle stuff like this...
On the 27th, I arrowed a 6x6 mature bull elk about 2 miles in from an atv trail. Accessibility is moderately difficult but not impossible. Solo hunt, so not a lot of "disturbances" in the woods at this point 4:00PM
After processing the first half of the bull (gutless method : one front and hind quarter hung as well as most of the neck/rib meat, backstrap and one tenderloin), getting the body flipped, and getting hide off of the other half, my wife needed help getting the full distance in. It was dark, it was a new area for us, and she had lost the trail (she was panicked, which I knew was dangerous). I hiked part way back to meet up with her and found her as she was fighting through a tag alder patch. *7:15PM (one hour after sunset)
The kill site was “unattended” by me for around one hour. When the wife and I returned close to the kill site, I could hear something making a ruckus near the bull so started shouting, making noise and throwing sticks. I didn’t see a bear at that point… I had hoped it was the bulls cows (wishful thinking)… upon getting to the area, one game bag was missing and a bear and taken a few bites out of the hind quarter that was still on the carcass (yes I trimmed that area away as i know they can carry bad bacteria) … I was able to find the game bag (glad for those reflective strips), it didn’t have any damage and the bear had drug it off about 20 yards… I was fighting mad. First time I’ve ever had a bear mess with me. *8:15PM
After another 20-30 minutes or so of processing the animal, we heard some rustling down below as well as a “buzzing” or “humming”. I initially thought it was our phones buzzing… When I looked down the hill with my headlamp, there was a black bear facing us roughly 60 yards down the hill. He was looking at me, and he was making a humming noise at us. My wife boogied up the hill away from him to get her bear spray, I stood up, yelled at him, pulled my pistol with my right hand (.45 long colt single action) and bear spray in the left. He moved back a little way, then turned back towards us at about 50 yards. I shot one round in his direction hoping to scare him off. He slowly walked away. *8:30PM
Soon after (15-20 minutes), he came back even closer (35 yards) and we repeated the same process, during that encounter I also deployed some bear spray at him (wind was going downhill to him but it was a little far for the spray to hit him). However, he continued to play that game with us another 3 or 4 times. Sneaking into 30 – 50 yards, we shoo him away, he moves back and tries again every 15 minutes...
As that scenario repeated itself, I believe it was another boar showed up (could have been the same bear however this one seemed larger and I could see a larger back shape with a bit of a hump on the back – if it was the same bear it was circling us relatively quickly without making much noise ). It was approaching from the uphill side. Same scenario except i wouldn't spray uphill with the wind…
At this point one of us would work on the meat and the other would keep watch (we have never actually lived out the “head on a swivel situation until then”. This continued around 6 times in the next 2 hours. Things were getting pretty western at this point, and our nerves were wearing thin.
Once I got down to 2 rounds left in the revolver with no extra ammo (not a mistake i'll make again), it was apparent we needed to leave and get home safe even if it meant losing some elk meat. So, I rushed the rest of the processing, stashed all the game bags and head spread around the area as high as I could get it and we started the first haul out with two front quarters. *10:50PM. We rolled into our driveway at 4:30AM physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted but with no serious injuries or bite marks.
When we went back to the kill site the next day (rifle in hand and ready to kill the SOB's - 2 PM) the bears were nowhere to be seen, they hadn’t touched the carcass or the game bags at all… it was very strange… This entire situation was surreal to me. It seemed like all the woodsmanship rules I had learned related to bear safety didn’t apply anymore because these bears weren’t playing by the rules. Did I do something wrong? Were these bears just starving? Is this normal once they find a dead animal?
Shout out to my wife… not many gals have the kahunas to pack in the dark, off trail, alone and then put up with the bears just to follow up with two days of packing meat… She’s a champ and she impresses me every day. I owe her big time I know, and I have no idea why she is still married to me... That being said, I think she is more interested in killing a bear now so long as it's from a safe distance, with a rifle and a road is nearby… A little payback for the stress they put us through.
Side Notes: the berries were not plentiful this year and I know there were several “skinny” black bears around this year. Could this have been a major factor? I have to say, these bears did NOT look skinny but that could have just due to the circumstances and shadows.
I am fairly confident these were black bears not grizzly given the area, the smaller head / body size and coloring. But then again… it was dark and there have been more and more grizzly’s around here each year.
The “preventative measures” I tried to implement prior to leaving the kill site on night one are below:
- Sprinkled cayenne and black pepper on the carcass prior to the initial bear encounter. I usually do this to knock the flies down but I’ve heard it helps with bears too (didn’t seem to help as it ate part of the hind quarter still)
- Deployed 3/4s of a can of bear spray around the area prior to leaving. I only got a little blowback in my face which was lovely (perhaps it helped? I dunno…)
- Hung all the bags in different spots rather than one meat pole like usual (roughly a 60 yard spread). Ranging from 4 – 7 feet off the ground. Not high enough to keep away from a bear if it really wanted it but lack of rope and branches made that impossible.
- I draped the hide over the carcass as best I could to help keep the smell down and rolled it a little farther down the hill…(not sure this helped it all as the bears already knew there was food in the area – I know they are “repeat opportunistic feeders” or whatever)
Things I don’t understand about this encounter… I don’t have a lot of experience with these furry buggers.
- Black bears are typically skittish… Most of my experiences I see them as they are leaving or I watch them eating their breakfast. These ones were absolutely not skittish. Nothing I did seemed to scare them, just made them wander back a bit… What else could I have done to scare them off? I threw rocks, clapped, yelled, shot, sprayed… nothing really had any significant effect… Is this just how bears act when they are around a kill? Could the lack of other feed in the area make them act this way?
- Say I had a more effective firearm on hand to end their shenanings and killed one… What is the legality there? They weren’t attacking us, but they were trying to take my meat and we sure didn’t feel safe with them coming that close... I understand the shoot shovel and shutup approach but still, what am I “allowed” to do in order to protect the meat? I had a bear tag, they were in season but it is after shooting light… In addition to this post, i'll be contacting IFG for their feedback…
- What does that humming sound he did mean? I don’t have much bear hunting experience, I’ve heard of them popping their teeth, groans and what not but not this. My instinct tells me he was telling us to leave and that was his elk…
- If bears have such a strong sense of smell, why didn’t that first blast of bear spray make him leave the area? I have always thought if all else fails, if you filled their nose with a quality bear spray, they wouldn’t want anything to do with us. This really makes me second guess the effectiveness of bear spray on an aggressive bear…
- Why would he/they circle us like that over and over again for hours and then not touch the carcass when we left? Did my final deployment of bear spray on the area keep them away? Did they decide it wasn’t worth the effort? Did god tell them to get gone? Maybe sunrise was close enough they called it quits for the night? Best I could tell by the sign on the ground, they only ate the easy stuff that I had trimmed and tossed down the hill…
Any feedback, insight from past encounters or suggestions would be appreciated on this as I would love to learn and hopefully help others learn from this! How do you experienced hunters handle stuff like this...
