Almost not make it out?

[Rusty Izatt]

1998 Wyoming grizzly bear attack while elk hunting.

My father and I were hunting on Union Pass near Dubois Wyoming in September 1998. My father don’t bow hunt, but enjoys hiking along with me while I elk hunt. Well we were hunting one of my favorite “Honey Holes” one morning and found ourselves surrounded by elk. After a few minutes of trying to figure out which animal would offer the best chance for a good clean shot (I had an any elk tag) I decided on a spike about 20 yards from me before one of them caught my sent. I pulled back and released the arrow which disappeared right where I was looking. The whole woods lit up with elk running in all directions when my elk took off through the trees. Well we sat for about thirty minutes before picking up the trail. The elk left lots of blood for the first 25 of 30 yards then just started dripping blood every few yards. The elk had run down a very well used game trail which forked after 50 yards and we found one spot of blood just before the “Y” in the trail and nothing each direction from the “Y”. At this point my father & I decided to split up and each check out one of the trails branching out from the “Y”. My father took the lower trail and I took the upper. I wandered up the trail with my nose to the ground for about 30 yards when I heard a bunch of timber breaking down the direction of my dad. I figured he must have jumped my elk as I had not found any more blood. So I took off in that direction. The timber breaking started again and sounded like it was coming my way, so I made my way to a little clearing that was just ahead of me and the sound appeared to be coming from that direction. As soon as I got to the edge of the clearing (approximately 20 yards wide) I could see something brown down the hill and coming my way. About that time I heard my dad yell “BEAR”. Well I also had a black bear tag so I got my self set up to shoot the bear when it got into the clearing. Well when the “black bear” came running out of the trees 20 yards from me and heading straight at me I realized it was a grizzly and he was coming full steam. By the time I dropped my bow arm down from being prepared for the possible shot, the bear was 5 feet from me. At this point my feet started to override my mind and they took over. I know you are never to run from a bear, however that is a whole lot easier to say than do when you have one at full charge 5 feet from you. I side stepped around the tree I was standing by and the bear charged past me and I took off running down hill over down falls and through the trees for everything I was worth. At one point I remember looking back and seeing the bear climbing over all the down fall after me. I made it 20 or 30 yards straight down a fairly steep hill when I felt the bear claw at my pack and trip me. When I was falling I spun around and was able to get both my feet up and into the bears chest as it jumped on me. I kicked as hard as I could and the bear kind of rolled over me and landed by my head. I spun around on my back and kicked the bear again in the side. At that the bear just kind of grunted and looked down at me, then just took off into the trees back down the mountain. I have no idea why the bear did not attack any further… I really must have had someone looking out for me that day. After the bear took off, I sat up and tried to gather my wits. I don’t know how long I sat there trying to get my head around what just happened, but finally I heard my dad coming down the trail looking for me. When he got to me he explained what had happened to him. He said he was following the trail when he seen the bear running in a big circle down below him and looking up the mountain our direction. He said the bear saw him and came running up the hill at him. My dad stepped back and fell over a large fallen tree. He said the bear came up and put it front paws up on the log and looked down at him. That is when he yelled “Bear” and the bear turned and ran my direction. I guess all the breaking timber I heard was the bear running through the trees to my dad and then my direction. We are two very lucky people to have come out of the whole deal with only a few bumps and scrapes. We figure the bear had my elk down and was protecting it. When both of us were on the ground we did not pose a threat to him and he let us be. Wow after all these years this still makes me break into a sweat and the old heart rate climb a bit.

Rusty Izatt

[Gatekeeper]

Wow! Great story thanks for sharing Rusty.

[ArkyBob]

Rusty, I think you win the prize.  That one will be hard to beat!!!!

BOB

[josef2424]

Wow, what a terrifyingly surreal experience that sounds like Rusty.

[Rusty Izatt]

Yes very scary for sure. The following year in an area just across a drainage from where this happened I called in another griz with a cow call. This one was very iritated that I was in his woods. He came in woofing and stomping on the ground. I was sitting on a stump just off the intersection of two game trails. I was cow chirping every once in a while and had been sitting there for about 15 minutes. I heard something off to my left which is the direction the wind was blowing. I turned so I could see and here better. I thought it was odd that an elk would be coming in down wind of me. I called again and almost imediately heard a woof. I then I seen the bear coming. He was about 40 yards off up a little rise and he was coming down another trail towards me. All I could think was you have got to be kidding me, not two years in a row. I must smell like bear food. Well I got out my bear spray and put my arrow back in my quiver and watched the bear come closer. He would walk a few yards, stop and lift his nose up in the air and sway his head back and forth. At about 30 yards he stopped and proceded to stomp and thrash a little pine tree. He would bend the little tree over, bite at it and jump up and down on it with his front paws. Man was I getting just a little scared. I had now idea what I was going to do. The only hope I had waqs that the bear spray would work to save my hide. I was loking around for a way to sneek away, but if I stood up I would be in clear veiw of the bear. I could see that on the trail just in front of the bear and about 20 yards from me there was a large fallen tree across the trail. I thaught that when the bear got to the tree he would be out of site. Well i lucked out and he did go out of site  behind the tree. I took this opertunity to stand up, althou hunched over and halled but over to a little draw behind me. Soon as I got below the bears line of site I stood up and ran out of the timber. I never did hear or see the bear again. This encounter scared me way more than the first time because I had time to think about it and what might happen. After these two encounters I had a hard time talking my buddys in to hunting with me, they all say I attract griz! This was my last griz encounter but I have had several black bear encounters.

Well there you go, those are my 2 brushes with griz.

Rusty