Predators and Upland Backpack Hunting

Photo by Esteban Arango: https://www.pexels.com/photo/brown-bear-on-green-grass-9557974/

I recently saw a comment where a hunter said he would not take his long ranging pointing dogs grouse hunting in the west due to the grizzly bear population and possible encounters. That got me thinking about the dangers of upland bird hunting in the west where we share the landscape with mountain lions, black bears, grizzly bears, coyotes, and wolves. I’ve certainly had my fair share of encounters with mountain lions and coyotes while upland hunting. None of the encounters have been an issue, with one mountain lion taking off running when our eyes met, the other running up a tree. Coyotes have always run off just leaving me to call the dogs off the chase. I’ve never shot a coyote with my shotgun either, fearing a wounded coyote wouldn’t be the best thing to have around by bird dogs. But I haven’t gotten close to grizzlies or wolves despite having hunted in their ranges a fair amount of time in Idaho and Montana.

Upland Hunting Encounters with Grizzly Bears

After some brief research on recent grizzly bear encounters it appears that most encounters are with pets and people while hiking. Some of these are tragic to both the pet and people. There are also a fair number of stories about grizzlies attacking livestock as well as hounds during hound hunting seasons. This seems logical as there are many more hikers and ranchers in proximity to grizzly bears and wolves throughout the year as compared to upland bird hunters. Similarly, big game hunters are more numerous and in closer proximity to grizzly bears and wolves.

The only recent upland bird hunting encounters I can recall have been from Montana on the eastern range of the Rocky Mountains. This is an area that I have hunted and have seen the signs warned of grizzly bears. In the most recent encounter[1], the hunter fired twice at the grizzly bear from about 15 feet with a shotgun and hit the bear once. The bear ran off.

It therefore doesn’t seem likely, from a statistical point of view, that there is an issue to prevent you from hunting in areas with some grizzly bear population. But statistics don’t matter when your dog runs off over 400 yards away in thick grouse country with known bears around and the Garmin says, “lost communication”.

Bear Defense while Upland Hunting

There’s a lot of bear aware information out there on how to avoid bear encounters and how to be prepared if you do encounter a bear. I follow all the recommendations while hunting mountain grouse on backpack trips, including carrying bear spray. However, I feel the most confident I am in defending myself is with my shotgun. The reason is that I have a lot of practice with it, raising up to shoulder, taking safety off, dealing with any issues. I also take my over-under shotgun as I have muscle memory built up with that gun from years of shooting.

A side note, one time while chukar hunting I took my old Remington 870 instead of the over-under. This shotgun has a push button safety near the trigger guard instead of on the spine of the shotgun like my over-under. I thought this could perhaps be an issue in the excitement of the point and kept reminding myself to make the adjustment during the first part of the hunt. Well, to keep a long story short, the dog went on point, and I got in an excellent position to make a shot. A medium sized covey of Huns got up, I took aim, pulled on the trigger, and yep, hadn’t taken the safety off. By the time I took it off it was too late. I did a little better with the safety on the next covey but got fouled up on the second shot as I didn’t pump to reload right away.

My point in this story is that in the heat of the moment you’ll fall back on your muscle memory when it comes time to defend yourself if needed. So, whatever you carry, be it a shotgun, pistol, or bears pray; make sure you are automatic with it.

Please drop us a line and let us know about any of your encounters out there with predators.

A new take on backpack hunting

[1] https://fwp.mt.gov/homepage/news/2023/sep/0913—hunter-shoots-and-injures-grizzly-bear-near-fairfield