Cabinet Mountains Grizzly Bear

After posting a video of some of the wildlife I seen this spring, I received an invitation from THeat to video him and his buddy Jeff as they tried to find a blackie for Jeff. I was more interested in getting video this spring than a bear hide for myself, so I was on that invitation like the proverbial fat boy on a cupcake.

Travis took us to an area where they had seen several bears the day before. Unfortunately for Jeff, no black bears were spotted that evening, but just as we packed up our gear to leave this big grizzly came ambling down an old road bed. I was able to get some quality footage from just the right distance (@500 yards). The bear's path was taking him toward the trail that we were going to walk out on so we were just a little apprehensive about our walk out.

Now here is where a bit of back story is necessary to appreciate what happened next. On our way into this drainage we ran across a black bear carcass that someone had shot at least a week before. They had skinned the bear and taken the meat but left the carcass right in the middle of the trail. It stank to high heaven and we had remarked that we couldn't believe a grizzly hadn't smelled it and carried it off.

On our way out, we were a couple hundred yards from the carcass when I started joking around and tried to freak Jeff out. I suddenly stopped and asked Travis, " Where's that carcass?" Unfortunately for my joke, Travis didn't catch what I was trying to do and said, " Its up here a couple hundred yards." We kept walking until we actually came to the spot where the carcass had been. Jeff was in the front, then Travis, and I was about 15 feet behind. As Jeff got to the spot all that was left was a bloodspot in the trail. We all stopped. Suddenly, less than thirty yards over my right shoulder, we heard an explosive huffing and a growl as the brush started breaking. He was coming in our direction and fast! We all started yelling as loud as we could and Travis and Jeff were going for weapons and bear spray. (Stupid me left the house in a hurry and forgot to pack my spray) Thankfully the bear stopped about 15 yards away and then retreated. The crazy thing was, the brush was so thick we could see the tops of the brush shaking and moving but we never actually saw the bear. None of us had any desire to get closer and confirm the species of bear with a visual.

Thankfully, the rest of the trip out was uneventful. I know I was buzzed on adrenaline for the next half hour.

Thanks for the invite Travis. It sure was fun and hopefully we'll see what we are looking for the next time out.

I hope you guys enjoy the footage.

https://vimeo.com/43375276

Great footage! Thats a big griz, i would love to see one at a distance sometime

What a nice bear! Thanks for showing us this video.

We do not have grizzlies in New Mexico. I wouldn't want to be on the same mountain with that bear. I am serious!

Cool video. Can't wait till we get a grizzly season back in montana.

Nice looking Griz. Good Video

Great looking bear, really enjoyed your video. Thanks for sharing!!

Cool video and love the Cabinets.

Wonderful video...thanks for sharing.

Bet that bluff charge got your cardio rate elevated....LOL.

So...do you have clarity of thought at a moment like that?

Cool video, great looking country! Had the same kind of encounter on our way to Rock Lake in the Cabinets about 10 years ago bear hunting, seems like yesterday.

So...do you have clarity of thought at a moment like that?

Click to expand...

Absolutely. Your mind gets incredibly focused and processes the information like lightning. Unfortunately, as you realize what is happening you also understand that the bear is moving way too fast and you are way too slow. If a bear really wants you and is within 30 yards when he starts his charge, you are dead. Period. I had time to yell and start waving my arms (I didn't have bear spray and wouldn't have had time to get it out.) and the bear was 15 yards away and stopped. Jeff had his gun in hand and was turning and facing the bear and I think Travis had his handgun out. The only problem was I was between them and the bear. I seriously doubt they could have gotten a bullet into the bear before he got me. The last thought I had before the bear stopped was that before he got into the trail, I wanted to be on the ground so they could shoot over me if the bear kept coming.

There was a lengthy debate on this forum (gun vs spray) and I have had plenty of discussion and read about bear attacks and most seem consistent with your experience....it happens real fast...dense cover and at close range!

The fact that your brain processed the info and gave you a workable solution in such short order is impressive. I probably would have screamed/shat myself & fainted....which in itself is not such a bad survival plan.

Scary stuff.

That's awesome.

Any plans or thoughts on making another DVD?

Randy,
I'm probably going to put a lot of my stuff out on Vimeo. Its always been about having fun for me and the hassles of permitting and the business side of videoing has made me realize its either go whole hog or not at all. I've got to many other priorities right now to go whole hog and keep my sanity so I'll just keep sharing bits and pieces here and there.

Thanks for the compliments guys.

I was having a discussion with some friends. How much would you guess that bear to weigh?

Love it. The Cabinets sure are special. Heading to Little Spar next weekend after morels this weekend!

That's so awesome! Gotta love the Cabinets.

Griz...

I took a nice mtn. goat up in the Rock Lake area last Oct. I hunted with Weares outfitting, very good outfitter, and had a great hunt. The first morning up at Rock Lake Eric Weare told me to load my rifle immediately after we got off the horses. It was pitch black at this time. I went to take the scope caps off my rifle scope and eric said don't bother as you will be shooting at less than 10 yds. At this I was puzzled and Eric said pointedly....Grizzly! Lots of grizzly in this basin. We did not come upon this threat but we were very vigilant at all times. MTG

Nice video. That's a big grizz.

That footage turned out great. My only regret is that we decided to pack up so early. If we had only waited a few more minutes you most likely would have gotten some great video of him on the snow slide. That area is griz central around here. One of the other bears we spotted the day before was a smaller blonde griz that looked like a sow to me. A few years ago I was coming down that same trail in the evening after climbing a couple of peaks and I got charged by a very similar looking griz within a hundred yards of that same spot.