norseman Posted June 30 Share Posted June 30 Good day today. 4x4 trails and ground squirrel hunting. Stopped by the snowmobile warming hut. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norseman Posted July 6 Share Posted July 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norseman Posted July 7 Share Posted July 7 Just got back. East side of Priest Lake. Almost no cell service. Saw mostly Moose and Elk tracks. Something came into camp one night. Probably a deer. I would like to explore east into NW Montana. In the Yaak river country. The lake itself was a mad house but only saw a few people in the mountains. The Dodge did great! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC witness Posted July 8 Author Share Posted July 8 Great pics, norse. I used to hunt the headwaters of the Yaak in BC about 20 years ago, and always saw lots of game. On 1 trip, my wife and I came out with 1 elk, 2 whitetails, and 2 mulies in 1 week. A couple of my buddies were charged by a grizzly right in their campsite, and had to shoot it, though they had no tag. The CO in Cranbrook came out to investigate when they reported it, and he ruled it a justified "danger to life" kill. Two other hunters in there were killed by as grizz while packing out their elk, just a year before that. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norseman Posted July 8 Share Posted July 8 35 minutes ago, BC witness said: Great pics, norse. I used to hunt the headwaters of the Yaak in BC about 20 years ago, and always saw lots of game. On 1 trip, my wife and I came out with 1 elk, 2 whitetails, and 2 mulies in 1 week. A couple of my buddies were charged by a grizzly right in their campsite, and had to shoot it, though they had no tag. The CO in Cranbrook came out to investigate when they reported it, and he ruled it a justified "danger to life" kill. Two other hunters in there were killed by as grizz while packing out their elk, just a year before that. I’ve seen two nice mule deer bucks in the last two outings! They had a Griz in a chicken coop in Chewelah recently. They are becoming common. https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/jun/07/grizzly-bear-spotted-north-of-chewelah/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catmandoo Posted July 9 Share Posted July 9 7 hours ago, norseman said: Two other hunters in there were killed by as grizz while packing out their elk, just a year before that. Do you know what time of day the hunters started to pack the meat out? Grizzly bear population range is under reported in Washington State. Grizzly's have been south of HWY 2 for many years. The people who want to 'reintroduce' Grizzly's into the North Cascades are humorous. Grizzly's have been expanding their range all by themselves. Nature finds a way. Same with the wolves. Look at the California State flag. The Grizzly is lonely. We should gift California Grizzly bears so the flag is back to being accurate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norseman Posted July 9 Share Posted July 9 9 minutes ago, Catmandoo said: Do you know what time of day the hunters started to pack the meat out? Grizzly bear population range is under reported in Washington State. Grizzly's have been south of HWY 2 for many years. The people who want to 'reintroduce' Grizzly's into the North Cascades are humorous. Grizzly's have been expanding their range all by themselves. Nature finds a way. Same with the wolves. Look at the California State flag. The Grizzly is lonely. We should gift California Grizzly bears so the flag is back to being accurate. Thats a question for BC. Not me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC witness Posted July 9 Author Share Posted July 9 (edited) @Catmandoo The hunters that were killed were in a "motorized vehicle restricted area" in a watershed called American Creek, and had hiked in. When they were a day late returning to their base camp on Hawkins Creek, a search party was sent out, and found them near the elk carcass, with a sow and cub still acting aggressively nearby. They were shot by the search party. Because of the time taken to find them, no precise time for the attack could be determined. My 2 buddies that were charged at their campsite had just returned at sunset. Both of these incidents occurred within a few km of the point where the borders of Idaho, Montana, and BC meet, My own encounter was several years earlier, and about 800km north of there, and happened mid morning. Another buddy, with whom I was camping this past weekend at Sasquatch Provincial Park, was treed by a grizzly back about 1990 while hiking off the Duffy Lake road. The bear came at him through the brush, he described it as a ship leaving a wake as it came at him. He was unarmed, so scrambled up the nearest sturdy tree just as the bear got to it's base. As he was climbing, the bear reached up and tore his fanny pack off, leaving a scar on his butt that is still there to this day. The bear made a fuss under him for about 15 minutes, which he said felt like an eternity, then left. He waited another hour before coming down and high tailing back to his truck. Edited July 9 by BC witness 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norseman Posted July 9 Share Posted July 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC witness Posted July 9 Author Share Posted July 9 Yes, that's the area. The restricted access zone goes N from that Rec Site, up an old logging railway grade, making for fairly easy hiking. I spent a day up there on my mountain bike, looking for bull elk, and saw just about everything else. In a 4 hour ride, I saw numerous whitetails, a cow and calf elk, a black bear, and the biggest bull moose I've ever seen. Of course, all I had was an elk tag. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norseman Posted July 9 Share Posted July 9 This just happened about a year ago. Same area as my latest set of pictures. And about 40 miles away from American creek. https://idfg.idaho.gov/blog/2022/06/hunters-shoot-grizzly-bear-self-defense-ruby-creek-drainage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norseman Posted July 9 Share Posted July 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC witness Posted July 9 Author Share Posted July 9 Interesting. The one that charged me was a 3 year old male, according to the F&W report from the skull I sent to them, as required by BC law at the time. Grizzlies are now fully protected in BC, the only exception being self protection from immediate attack. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norseman Posted July 9 Share Posted July 9 11 minutes ago, BC witness said: Interesting. The one that charged me was a 3 year old male, according to the F&W report from the skull I sent to them, as required by BC law at the time. Grizzlies are now fully protected in BC, the only exception being self protection from immediate attack. Can you hunt Griz anywhere in Canada now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC witness Posted July 9 Author Share Posted July 9 2 hours ago, norseman said: Can you hunt Griz anywhere in Canada now? I haven't checked, so I don't know. I think Alberta is the only other province with a population, as well as the Yukon Territory, and possibly the northern stretches of Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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