My trip to the Beartooth Scenic Highway

Miragedriver said:

Wow! A real bear! What a great trip. You are blessed with wonderful lads!

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We saw a lot of wildlife on this trip. Bears, Buffalo, Pronghorn Antelope, Elk, Bald Eagles, Hawks, Marmints, Rock Squirrels, etc.

Actually we say three bear:


Loot at the claws on that Bear's paws!




We stayed safely in our pickup truck while watching them and taking pictures from at least 100 yards away. I have done a lot of hunting and have the utmost respect for these wild animals. Sadly, some people, particularly with that last Bear, were out of their vehicles with young children and getting within 50 yards of that bear. If he had charged, there would have been nothing they could do.

Them Griz or Brown? Logic says Brown, but the turning face on the last picture suggests a right-angle profile.

Blackstone said:

Them Griz or Brown? Logic says Brown, but the turning face on the last picture suggests a right-angle profile.

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The Grizzly is a sub-species of the overall Brown Bear.

In the lower 48 of North America, the Brown bear is usually recognized as having two sub-species, the costal brown bear and the inland grizzly bear....though a lot of people use the names interchangeably.

I would call all of those grizzly bears...but others might also name them browns.

Sometimes, particularly in southern Colorado, they call them cinnamon browns too.

The Kodiak Bears are also a sub-species of brown bears...but they are located on Kodiak Island in Alaska...big mommas.

Jeff Head said:

The Grizzly is a sub-species of the overall Brown Bear.

In the lower 48 of North America, the Brown bear is usually recognized as having two sub-species, the costal brown bear and the inland grizzly bear....though a lot of people use the names interchangeably.

I would call all of those grizzly bears...but others might also name them browns.

Sometimes, particularly in southern Colorado, they call them cinnamon browns too.

The Kodiak Bears are also a sub-species of brown bears...but they are located on Kodiak Island in Alaska...big mommas.

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Yes, I understand the Grizzly Bear is a subspecies of its larger cousin Brown Bear. However, Grizzly Bears developed nastier disposition then the Browns, and are more prone to attack humans. The reason I asked if those were grizzlies is because they're more dangerous and less predictable.

I have spent the majority of my life in the intermountain west. One of my wife's great uncles, Uncle Phil...God rest his soul...whom I cam to know and be close to, and who was raised out here, gave me some good advise twenty five years ago. He told me...

"Jeff, you never know what any bear will do. You just never know. Best to treat them all like they can kill and eat you...because they can."

When I used to do a lot of hunting and hiking in the mountains in bear or cat country I always took two things with me, whether I was hunting or not.

1. My dog
2. A good rifle that would put down a bear.

The dog almost always will be aware of a big predator before you are. All of my dogs would attack any of them...even though they would most probably die of a bear or cat or wolf stood and fought. But at the least, it will give me time to bring the rifle into action.I recommend the same to anyone to this day.

Yes, Grizzly bears are known to be more prone to attack. But I pretty much view any bear in the wild as being capable of the same. To me, any interior brown bear is a Grizzly. Black bears are obvious...and they tend to be more willing to run off...but they have attacked and killed people as well.

Back to Uncle Phil's advise.

Jeff, what type of rifle did you use? I think the 5.56mm is a little too weak to put down a bear, right? In Cambodia, when soldiers encounter a tiger in the forest, they simply shoot a whole magazine of their AK-47 to ensure the tiger won't have any chance to attack or counter attack. I heard that animals like tiger or bear, if being attacked or wounded, will turn back to counter attack until the death.

SteelBird said:

Jeff, what type of rifle did you use? I think the 5.56mm is a little too weak to put down a bear, right? In Cambodia, when soldiers encounter a tiger in the forest, they simply shoot a whole magazine of their AK-47 to ensure the tiger won't have any chance to attack or counter attack. I heard that animals like tiger or bear, if being attacked or wounded, will turn back to counter attack until the death.

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SteelBird, 5.56 NATO (.223 Remington) is good for vermins, two legged and 4 legged, but that's about it. 7.62x39mm (AKs) are too light for most "big games" in America, but 7.62 NATO (.308 Winchester in sporting ammo) is fine for a host of games up to whitetail deers and feral pigs. For brown bears, I'd think 30-06 would probably be minimum, but .300 Winchester magnum or even .338 Remington magnum would be better. Some people swear by .375 Holland and Holland magnum, but the legendary recoil is harsh. If you prefer lever actions, 30-30 Winchester are good for brush busting through California's coastal hills with lots of manzenita brushes. Bears require more force, so I'd go with .444 Marlin or even .45-70 Government. The Remington Model 88 lever action in a .308 is sweet, but that's no longer in production. Bottom line is there are lots of good sporting arms to hunt every type of game, and every armchair quarterback (like me) has an opinion. The key is go with what you like and bring enough stopping power to get the job done.

SteelBird said:

Jeff, what type of rifle did you use? I think the 5.56mm is a little too weak to put down a bear, right?

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I had a Winchester .375 cal (9.525 mm) lever action rifle, but later went to my Marlin .44 cal magnum (11.176 mm) lever action rifle when I was not hunting.

Otherwise, I would carry a Ruger 7mm mag when hunting Elk or Deer.