Hiking Around The Mountains

[albertatrout]

Figured id upload a few photo's just as spring is almost here. Hope they work.

 

The worst time of year for fishing run ins has been June for me, these guys are the main reason, grizzlies love elk.

The get big, even in Alberta. I have a size 13 boot, just to show size.

Fishing partner saw this guy coming up behind me last spring, i managed to get across the beaver pond from him. He did charge but didn't like getting stuck in the mud. Beautiful young bear, scared me pretty good though. I had a run in with another darker grizzly and a small black bear less than 1 km away downstream last fall, they're always around.

Saw these cubs as i was getting out of the truck to hike into one of the quality lakes, the sow wasn't far away. As of last fall, she still had the 3 cubs, and was getting a reputation for chasing fly fisherman. Lots of pictures of that girl, i just like this one as it shows how well a grizzly can disappear into a dip.

 

Not making up stories, i love seeing all kinds of wildlife and consider myself pretty lucky to share wild areas with grizzlies. We used to see a lot more black bears, the grizzlies have really taken over recently though (in a few areas i fish anyways).

[plumeja]

thats super cool! first that you always came out with out a scare and to get to see these animals!!

[Hawgstoppah]

Yes! and I don't have a pontoon and I am scared sh!tless to go shore fishing there now (assuming I am seeing the same critters that have shortened a few days of mine at a particular lake). You were brave enough to snap a pic, I was not. I can only assume this is the same place, though I will not name it becuase you also did not and I respect if you wanted privacy on it.

 

cheers,

[midgetwaiter]

GGP that is very, very true. The worst scare I have ever had (included VERY up close and personal with a griz once) was from a Moose. I got "treed" for an extended time on the Crow by a big bull moose once. I was lucky to have found the large tree I used as cover, had it not been there I doubt I'd be here.

 

Remember when they did the Best Story Ever segment on The Hour? Les Stroud had a run in with a bull moose:

 

[Guest Grinr]

Wow,great story!^^

I like Les,he's the real deal and about the only "reality" celeb that I can stomach watching.Bear Grylss(sp?) for instance is just a retard that demonstrates exactly the things that one should NEVER do in a survival situation,then drinks his own urine while his film crew is sipping Perrier and eating catered finger sandwiches.

 

I had a similar run-in with a raging bull while deer hunting @CFBGagetown a few years ago,although I was never in any "real" danger with my 30-06 pump in my hands.....but it was pretty intense nonetheless,having a stand-off with a snorting,raging,tree thrashing,snot flying 50"+ ,18pt bull @ 30 yards....man he was pissed!!

Glad I didn't have to shoot'em(out of season),especially since I actually provoked the agression by waddling down the skidder road at him with my arms spread and rifle butt "antler" swaying.....hey,I seen it on U-tube,pretty sure I can do it,lol.He eventually lost interest as I backed off,but not before he had followed me 200 yards and had me "treed" in my truck bed.....how's that old saying go...."I'd rather be judged by 12 than carried by 6."

I've seen hundreds of moose including a few ornery ol'cows with calves and their hackles up,ears laid back,and have called in many rutting bulls,some of which were pretty excited and putting on displays......but never anything like that time.Definately one of my most memorable hunt experiences.

[McLeod]

 

Thanks for the pictures.. Can you say LOTS of Bear Spray !

[Taco]

I once spent 2 1/2 hrs playin' tag with a cow moose when my border collies thought it would be cool to bring the boss a moose calf they had found, herded it right up to me before things got really exciting. Damn dogs spent the whole time hidin' under a big slash pile whilst I got to play over, around and through it.

[Pipestoneflyguy]

Good point Lad

 

Here's my pretty kitty - she was a stray I adopted - she is a real frisky kitty, you should her when I hug her, soooo scrappy !

 

 

Yep and that whole, "If there isn't black, put it back" confuses the hell out of me too !

[Pipestoneflyguy]

A

[Taco]

B

[ÜberFly]

C

[fishinglibin]

Easy as doe rae me, where is this going? Not the Jacksons I hope.

[plumeja]

I don't know if this helps me feel better. Haha I hope to see something from a far. I can't wait to get out in to the hills.

[Hawgstoppah]

Just a little something on the weather network that I thought I would link here, it is relevant about bears coming out of hibernation right now plus gives a good tip... bear spray is totally and 100% useless if it is carried somewhere that takes a few seconds to get to. you need to wear it on your belt in a holster, or don't bother.

 

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/storm_watch_stories3&stormfile=Practising_bear_safety_25_03_2013?ref=ccbox_weather_topstories

[Pipestoneflyguy]

I was kinda worried about bringing my son fishing. So I bought him a big stuffed bear so he is familiar with its shape and so on,

 

I left the room for a few moments and when I came back found him like this - not worried anymore LOL

 

 

[Pipestoneflyguy]

Seriously though, Plumeja et al - don't let scary beary stories (or moose or whatever) deter you from enjoying everything this area has to offer.

 

Remember these things !

 

1) The chances are astronomically higher, that you will be injured or killed in a motor vehicle accident, on your way to a day in the mountains, then in an interaction with wildlife.

 

2) Follow the official advice on how to react and behave if you find yourself in an encounter with wildlife (it is different, for different animals, and types of bears)

 

3) Wildlife encounters, if managed properly can be the most rewarding and gratifying experience that you will remember for the rest of your life and tell your grandchildren about.

 

One of my many "perfect" moments was fishing alone for bullies at the confluence of the Yoho and Emerald and Kicking Horse rivers - I watched a cow and calf moose come out of the woods 20 feet down river from me, enter the Yoho River and procede to trot right up the middle of the Yoho, so close that I was splashed with the spray off their legs, I had to yank my line out of their path for fear of tangling them up. I took photos but to date, the only person who has ever seen them, is my wife, some things you just have to keep for yourself.

 

On the other hand, a series of Lynx photos I took (which at the time were very rare, one of which is in this thread) have been published over 30 times in a variety of guide brochures, newspapers and periodicals, giving me a different sense of pride in sharing a special moment with the world around me. (since then, the snowshoe hare pop has flourished, and so has the lynx pop as a result)

 

This world is here to be protected, but also explored and enjoyed, don't let your imagination, and those few rare bad experiences had by others stop you from getting out and living the life you are lucky to have here in the rockies, take precautions and make good decisions, but most of all, get out and experience the amazing world found in your own backyard.

 

Flyfishing is often incidental to a larger experience waiting to be enjoyed !

[Muffin]

Very well said Pipestoneflyguy.

[albertatrout]

I agree Pipestoneflyguy, but i also think there are areas of Alberta where you are pretty likely to have run ins if you spend enough time out there. Id say people that spend enough time in certain parts of the Castle or the Coal branch should be very alert. Though seeing wildlife is awesome, getting charged or mauled isn't and there's nothing wrong with emphasizing preparation. I spend a lot of time outdoors (in excess of 100 days/year easy) and would rate my chances of having aggressive wildlife encounters as pretty high (its an annual thing lately). Ive had run ins with grizzlies, black bears, and even wolves on different occasions, i look back on all of those experiences fondly but also as lessons. The one black bear i have sitting next to my fly tying desk always serves as a memory of wild spaces, and how scary an animal can be when they loose fear of people (for me, a black bear tag is an insurance policy for early spring and fall fishing on a couple lakes and streams).

I know the stats are impressive, but not everyone is statistically comparable. My cousins that don't leave the city are far less likely to get charged by a bear than i am.

I agree with your post, just view wildlife interactions a bit differently i guess. Dont avoid the forest but don't avoid precaution either.

[McLeod]

I was kinda worried about bringing my son fishing. So I bought him a big stuffed bear so he is familiar with its shape and so on,

 

I left the room for a few moments and when I came back found him like this - not worried anymore LOL

 

 

That is priceless !

 

Always be prepared and take someone you can run faster than !

[lad]

I agree Pipestoneflyguy, but i also think there are areas of Alberta where you are pretty likely to have run ins if you spend enough time out there. Id say people that spend enough time in certain parts of the Castle or the Coal branch should be very alert. Though seeing wildlife is awesome, getting charged or mauled isn't and there's nothing wrong with emphasizing preparation. I spend a lot of time outdoors (in excess of 100 days/year easy) and would rate my chances of having aggressive wildlife encounters as pretty high (its an annual thing lately). Ive had run ins with grizzlies, black bears, and even wolves on different occasions, i look back on all of those experiences fondly but also as lessons. The one black bear i have sitting next to my fly tying desk always serves as a memory of wild spaces, and how scary an animal can be when they loose fear of people (for me, a black bear tag is an insurance policy for early spring and fall fishing on a couple lakes and streams).

I know the stats are impressive, but not everyone is statistically comparable. My cousins that don't leave the city are far less likely to get charged by a bear than i am.

I agree with your post, just view wildlife interactions a bit differently i guess. Dont avoid the forest but don't avoid precaution either.

Not saying it isn't true but I have never heard of anyone who has anything remotely close to your experience. Are you in the outdoors and possibly going to the same place over and over again and seeing the same Bears? 25-30 grizzly per season? I saw 40 bears in 1 spot on the crowsnest but they were the same 3 over and over again. That is absolutely incredible. Have you been chased by wolves too? A run in with a wolf? What is a run in? You defy all odds. But then again some guy down in the states did get hit by lightning 5 times as I remembermany decades ago. If what you say is true it sucks to be you.

[Hawgstoppah]

I'd say he describes an average summer fishing lessor known waters in my neck of the woods, in all honesty. No you won't see a pile of wildlife on the Bow or anywhere near it, compared to ... for example, the Waterton river, where I have had a bear encounter on every single stretch I have fished it (above the res, below the res, park gates MANY times... almost daily there...). So I'd imagine in large part it DOES factor into where you fish most often and if Albertatrout is having those kinds of numbers sighted / experienced I'd say he's fishing around here (SW corner of AB) or if not here, I'd say somewhere similar to it.

[lad]

I'd say he describes an average summer fishing lessor known waters in my neck of the woods, in all honesty. No you won't see a pile of wildlife on the Bow or anywhere near it, compared to ... for example, the Waterton river, where I have had a bear encounter on every single stretch I have fished it (above the res, below the res, park gates MANY times... almost daily there...). So I'd imagine in large part it DOES factor into where you fish most often and if Albertatrout is having those kinds of numbers sighted / experienced I'd say he's fishing around here (SW corner of AB) or if not here, I'd say somewhere similar to it.

Have not fished the Bow in a few years. I live in the Pass, fish every stretch of water around and know the area very well. Have showed a few friends this thread who fish and hunt as much as anybody and their reaction is the same. Incredibly Entertaining.

[Hawgstoppah]

Well, to each his own then. I won't even start with my own stories then... no sense of getting flack for true stories. Just be prepared out in the woods... some people just for some reason attract or see more animals. I seem to see quite a few. There are some I have never seen that I wish I could too (like Lynx). Oh, by the way, I also attract lightning storms

[Pipestoneflyguy]

I think this conversation is incredibly valuable to those willing to learn from it, the fella that started the thread is looking to do just that - frankly guys like myself, Hawgstoppah, Albertatrout etc etc don't have to take the time to share our knowledge and experiences here, but we do it for the benefit of the FFC community, because we care about the members safety and the quality of their experiences. Underlying that, when stupid people do stupid things, there is a trickle down effect which eventually impacts all of us, the environment, and the regulations that govern what we can, and can not do, so yeah, helping educate the inexperienced actually serves a little bit of selfish intent as well.

 

Personally I enjoy sharing stories, it provokes others to share theirs, and from that I might just learn something I can use. I work with some of the continents best wildlife management experts, and what I learn from them is an amalgamation of their impressive education and experiences combined, add in my own extensive experiences with wildlife, and just maybe, a little tidbit of advice might make the difference between a member here walking away from an encounter, vs an unpleasant and sad alternative.

 

Two years ago, I was out for a spring fish with a member on here, another friend and his teenage son. We are working up a wide open meandering section of the Kicking Horse river. We came upon some tracks that resulted in a healthy debate as to whether they belonged to a cougar or a wolf. the tracks were all over the place in mud and sandy riverside terrain, some looked more like cougar, and some looked more like wolf and the were all HUGE. We kept fishing downriver and eventually we discovered a half consumed undulate carcass that had been dragged all over the place, and eventually, to an island mid river. As we all stood there thinking, and talking, and thinking,... I noticed that all four of us ended up nervously scanning the terrain surrounding us as we all came to the realization that everything we were seeing lead to the conclusion that we had just stumbled across a battle between a rather large cougar and a wolf for possesion of that carcass, and we were now quite likely between two rather nasty predators and their dinner. I later learned that dragging the carcass onto an island is typical behaviour for a cougar to protect it's kill (or claimed kill) from wolves. Given the carcass was about half eaten, it quickly became obvious we had evolved from observer to those being observed, and a wildlife specialist later confirmed to me that most likely both the cougar and wolf would have been watching us at that point in time (and that large animals of both varieties had been spotted in the area before and after our day out fishing). Needless to say we made our departure as a group and stayed in partners at minimum, for the rest of the outing. I hazard to guess what the outcome might have been if had been one of us alone in that scenario.

 

Is there something to be learned from that story ? sure there is, but only time will tell who here actually learns something from that tale - I'll bet you dollars to donuts that the guy who sits back and responds with a post calling that story bullshit is the one that misses the point entirely and someday might just pay a price for it !

 

BTW I am a hunter (I used to use a rifle but only use a crossbow now) and I can tell you something I have learned about many of the guys holding rifles over the years. They often don't pay attention to animal behaviour because of the sense of security one develops from holding a weapon essentially negates the feeling of need to understand the signs an animal sends during an interaction, I realize that is a somewhat stereotypical generalization, but my point is if your holding a fishing rod instead of a gun you may want to listen to the advice that comes from someone in the same situation who is depending on reading the signs of behaviour, and using their own behaviour as their only tool of escaping an encounter - just sayin....

 

This was my profile pic for quite a while but here it is again - a track from that particularly exciting day I described above

 

 

 

 

[plumeja]

Holy f that's one hell of a track. I agree with the above, I want to learn things from this and why would anyone bother to bullshit a story. I thank everyone that had a story to tell cause I'm reading it and understanding more and more that I really need to pay attion when in the woods. This is nothing like home. So I am learning things!