Are Wolves Contributing to Bear Maulings?
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Some recent analyses suggest that, unless you’re “proficient” with a firearm, you might be better off leaving the gun at home:
Efficacy of firearms for bear deterrence in Alaska
Here in Alberta while fishing or hiking in bear country, I carry both bear spray and, when outside the Parks, a short 44 mag rifle. Obviously, inside Banff, Jasper etc it is spray only. My first line of defence after situational awareness is my bear spray. The rifle is for camp defence or defence of another person who is in imminent danger. Ie: I may have a bit of time to make a carefully aimed shot into a kill zone. But, this is something that requires skill and serious practice. You don’t want is a wounded bear on your hands or to injure the person in danger.
Put up a wall of spray and you should turn the bear. Bears don’t like to be pepper sprayed any more than I do, it burns a wee tad!
I have seen some folks who carry those little purse or pocket sized sprays, you are just adding the spice to dinner IMHO. Carry the proper size canister.I don’t have the data in front of me, but I’d bet the farm that there were zero in December-February.
I’m wondering if fall is worse when they are trying to put on weight or spring when they are just emerging.
Haha…..I figured as much , but I couldn’t pass that up. I do know that during the big game hunting season, encounters increase dramatically. More people in their living rooms, gut piles everywhere, and the bears are trying to put on the weight. Also, I know that there are plenty of bears around here that have learned what a gun shot means and come running towards the sound like it was a dinner bell. They are becoming more aggressive, aren’t afraid of hunters anymore, and are straying into parts they don’t normally visit. Two years ago, a huge grizz was trapped out near the desert. This past fall, I think three or four hunters were mauled, and I would see stuff like this every hunt.
Here are some shots from 2010……… a buddy had to chase one off an elk that was shot by a client the night before…….the grizz fournd it first and had buried it……..and he wasn’t leaving. My buddy fired shots at it to scare it off, but the bear only retreated a little bit. His dog would growl when the bear would come too close while we was cutting off the head for his client. He would fire another shot, the bear would back off for a bit, then try to come back to the elk. Finally he got the rack and split.
Based on all of that, I would guess the fall is the time when more attacks happen. Oh, and this type of bear behavior wasn’t apparent pre-wolves.
It’s ironic that elk hunters find wolves and bears such a hindrance to their hunting experience.
Give me an outdoor experience, but please, don’t involve the wilderness…
Note: Yes, I’m typing this from wolf infested, black bear filled, but grizzly-free, Minnesota
It’s ironic that elk hunters find wolves and bears such a hindrance to their hunting experience.
Give me an outdoor experience, but please, don’t involve the wilderness…
I think that you may be reading way more into what I was trying to get across. I was simply trying to provide some firsthand examples to back up my answer to Zach’s question. Since the reintroduction of wolves to YNP, the behavior of bears has changed dramatically which, in my opinion, has resulted in more bear maulings.
http://www.nps.gov/yell/naturescience/wolves.htm
Wolf populations are down 60% since 2007. I know that Mange had taken a large toll on populations in years past, especially the druid pack that was so often in Soda butte
We can partially thank our buddy Ted for the wolves (along with effing the lower Madison to put native cutthroats back into cherry creek).
Ironically they have managed to make it into the Flying D ranch, which he owns and are taking a toll on his “pay hunt” elk herd.
It’s ironic that elk hunters find wolves and bears such a hindrance to their hunting experience.
Give me an outdoor experience, but please, don’t involve the wilderness…
I think that you may be reading way more into what I was trying to get across. I was simply trying to provide some firsthand examples to back up my answer to Zach’s question. Since the reintroduction of wolves to YNP, the behavior of bears has changed dramatically which, in my opinion, has resulted in more bear maulings.
That wasnt directed at you, but a broad generalization directed at elk hunters who blame bear and wolves for spoiling their hunt.
I will add to it saying I do not hunt, I have never hunted in bear country, and would admit to being scared shitless to trek off into bear country with the intent of dragging out a dead carcass (handling fish gives me enough heartburn in bear country). Screw the hand gun, I’d want a bazooka.
I do know that during the big game hunting season, encounters increase dramatically. More people in their living rooms, gut piles everywhere, and the bears are trying to put on the weight. Also, I know that there are plenty of bears around here that have learned what a gun shot means and come running towards the sound like it was a dinner bell. They are becoming more aggressive, aren’t afraid of hunters anymore, and are straying into parts they don’t normally visit. Two years ago, a huge grizz was trapped out near the desert. This past fall, I think three or four hunters were mauled, and I would see stuff like this every hunt.
I can’t resist pointing out that in nearly every encounter between bears and hunters, the hunters are armed – yet hunters occasionally still get mauled.
Maybe that’s an object lesson in why you shouldn’t be over-confident just because you’re carrying a gun in bear country.
bd
http://www.nps.gov/yell/naturescience/wolves.htm
Wolf populations are down 60% since 2007. I know that Mange had taken a large toll on populations in years past, especially the druid pack that was so often in Soda butte
The numbers are down in that Park because they all left and moved to Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming.
Adam –
“The wolf population has declined approximately 60% since 2007 mostly because of a smaller elk population, the main food of northern range wolves. “
This is not helping out the argument. If wolf populations are now declining due to having overshot carrying capacity and killed down the prey species, what is that going to do to bear behavior, when they feed on the same prey?
I think the answer is pretty obvious.
Zach
I do know that during the big game hunting season, encounters increase dramatically. More people in their living rooms, gut piles everywhere, and the bears are trying to put on the weight. Also, I know that there are plenty of bears around here that have learned what a gun shot means and come running towards the sound like it was a dinner bell. They are becoming more aggressive, aren’t afraid of hunters anymore, and are straying into parts they don’t normally visit. Two years ago, a huge grizz was trapped out near the desert. This past fall, I think three or four hunters were mauled, and I would see stuff like this every hunt.
I can’t resist pointing out that in nearly every encounter between bears and hunters, the hunters are armed – yet hunters occasionally still get mauled.
Maybe that’s an object lesson in why you shouldn’t be over-confident just because you’re carrying a gun in bear country.
bd
Often the hunter is pre-occupied with gutting his kill. Down on thier knees, covered in blood etc, rifle off to the side, working in very low light and bingo, you have just set yourself up. The bear may not even realize you are there if it approaches from the far side. I have had a bear approach like that once. Talk about a close encounter but we both came away unscathed!
It is a prime example of why one should hunt with a partner in bear country. One works on the animal while the other stands watch.….If wolf populations are now declining due to having overshot carrying capacity and killed down the prey species, what is that going to do to bear behavior, when they feed on the same prey?
I think the answer is pretty obvious.
Zach
Wolves may be contributing to bear maulings, but I doubt the simple resource limitation you describe is the mechanism. I don’t think bears are having a hard time because a new predator is horning in on their prey. Bears don’t kill a lot of adult elk. They have a short period where they can eat a lot of newly-dropped fawns (the same as black bears in GA), but that seems like the only time when direct resource competition from wolves might be important.
From what I’ve read and from what others posted here, I would argue that wolves are providing more opportunities for bears because bears are often able to supplant wolves from a kill. Bigger predators often make an important part of their living doing this in communies that have multiple predators (eg. eagles on ospreys, lions on cheetahs).
Some mechanisms might be, for eg: grizzlies are more often in “big fierce bear” mode as they frequently interact with wolves at kills, and so are more habituated to aggressive behavior. Or: bears are more “keyed” in on killed elk, now that killed elk are more available, and so are more responsive to killed elk (as lando described from hunting experience). Or: the greater opportunities provided by all the wolf kills is increasing bear numbers or individual fitness. These are all “just so stories” that anyone can come up with over morning coffee. I’m just pointing out my skepticism with the kind of simple resource competition described above.
I personally believe that bear maulings are most directly related to the level of bear/human encounters. As that increases, maulings will increase and the effects of other native predators will be very minor in comparison. Sheer opinion on my part, and I’m just an easterner after all.
G
One thing that hasn’t been mentioned yet is the effects of the drought and how it has devastated the whitebark pine. In the fall, just before hibernation, grizzlies raid caches of whitebark pine cones stored by other animals. It’s an efficient way to get large, nutritious, whitebark pine seeds at a critical time of year. However, the pine beetle is destroying forests causing grizz to find food elsewhere.
Still, I blame the wolves for the pine beetle.
And Al Gore.
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