AR-News: Yellowstone's grizzly recovery, What Does It Mean for Hunters?

[jim robertson]

Grizzly Recovery: What Does It Mean for Hunters?
BY B. J. Mincher, Ph.D.

One can only imagine the the bowhunters’ elation as they returned to the 
kill site to pack out the meat. One had shot an elk that morning, recovered 
it later in the day and then busied himself gutting, skinning, and 
quartering. It had been a perfect September 2002 day in the Idaho Rockies.

Under blue skies the man had hung the quarters about 15 yards from the gut 
pile amid lodgepole pines. Later that evening, he and two buddies had hiked 
back in. But as they crested out on a bench amid dense cover, the elation 
turned to fear.



Few events in North America are as gut-wrenching as a surprise encounter 
with a grizzly bear. Peripheral vision instantly vanishes as every sense 
focuses on those rippling, fur-covered muscles and great, curving claws. 
Just as the hanging meat sacks became visible to the men, so too did the sow 
and her two large cubs at the nearby gut pile. The trio of hunters 
hesitated, then shouted and blew a whistle to drive the intruders away. The 
bear and her cubs beat it over the side of the ridge.

But that wasn’t the end. On a mission to protect her cubs and her elk 
carcass, she circled behind the men, cutting off their best avenue of 
escape. Seeing serious trouble now at their rear, they ran toward the gut 
pile. The sow chased one person, then another. One man put a tree between 
himself and the enraged bear and struck at her with his pack. When he was 
attacked, he attempted to fend her off with his bow. During the melee, he 
was able to nock an arrow and shoot her as she faced him again.

She chased them all a bit longer, taking turns on the men, but then abruptly 
left the area, cubs in tow. Fortunately, none of the men was seriously hurt. 
One can only imagine their emotional state.


Griz is Back


The successful recovery of grizzly bears in the Yellowstone means hunters 
are seeing bears in places unthinkable only a few years ago.  Following  a 
few simple precautions can minimize the chances for trouble.
Photo by Chuck Bartelbaugh.
Thirty years after being listed under the Endangered Species Act, the 
grizzly bear is again becoming a common sight in the Yellowstone area, 
including nearby Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. There is no doubt that the 
grizzlies of Yellowstone are increasing in population. Biologists of the 
Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team, who count sows with cubs from the air, 
report a population growth rate of about five percent per year.

Preservationists opposed to relaxing Endangered Species Act protections have 
challenged these results,
Continued:

http://www.safariclub.org/static/index.cfm?contentID=348


“The Stone Age did not end for lack of stone, and the Oil Age will end long 
before the world runs out of oil.” - Sheikh Zaki Yamani, former Saudi 
Arabian oil minister