Dispatches from the Wild: Being bear aware 

By Benjamin Alva Polley EBS COLUMNIST 

One late August evening years ago, I worked for the U.S. Forest Service and was stationed at Marias Pass between Glacier National Park and the Badger-Two Medicine area. I went to do some wildlife photography at Three Bears Lake in Glacier. I sat on the shores behind some willows, swatting flies and mosquitos, watching a deer family across the pond. The lemon-yellow sun was still high above the Continental Divide. After an hour, nothing seemed to be stirring except some mallards, so I put away my camera and began hiking back.  

I slowly climbed over a rise in the terrain and surprised a yearling grizzly cub 15 yards away. I yelled, “Hey, bear,” and the bear huffed and ran off into the lodgepole pine forest to my left. I was as surprised as the bear was. I centered my attention back in front of me and didn’t see anything until the sow charged out of the forest toward me from 40 yards away. She was running so fast that she was flat to the ground. I unclipped my bear spray and held it in front of me. Luckily, the sow veered off when she was five yards away. She clacked her teeth, chuffed, and strutted with her yearling off into the alders, lodgepoles, and willows.  

The experience happened so fast that adrenaline didn’t kick in until she was gone. Some people could say that I made a few mistakes, including hiking alone, not making noise, or unclipping my bear spray’s safety. According to many bear experts who know bear behavior, most bear charges end this way. This wouldn’t even be considered a charge—it was a bluff charge. A charge would be if she plowed over me and attacked. A bluff charge like this warns me to let the bear family pass safely. She could have attacked, but she read my behavior. If I had misunderstood her behavior and had a gun, I could have shot her, injured her, pissed her off even more or possibly ended her life. The cub might die because it couldn’t fend for itself, or end up in a zoo. Bear experts say that most bluff charges end this way. Bluff charges are meant for other bears or other wildlife. Bears become defensive when protecting a food source, protecting cubs, or when they are surprised. Grizzly bear expert and activist Doug Peacock stalked grizzlies with a camera for over 20 years and had more than 200 close encounters where the bears warned him by bluff charging. He and the bears continued co-existing, and no one was ever injured. 

According to National Park Service data for Yellowstone, the chances of being attacked by a bear is just 1 in 2.7 million visits.  

Recent encounters 

In the autumn of 2023, there have been many encounters that didn’t go well for grizzlies. Several people shot and killed grizzlies in “self-defense.” It is hard to say whether it was warranted without being in that particular situation.  

On Aug. 26, two elk hunters were out scouting for elk in the Flathead National Forest in thick brush when they startled a sow and cub. One guy accidentally shot and injured his friend but managed to hit the sow and kill her.  

On Aug. 30, two anglers were walking through thick cover along Tom Miner Creek, 35 miles south of Livingston, and surprised a male grizzly and they shot and killed it.  

On the first day of September, west of Island Park Reservoir in Idaho, a grizzly charged two hunters, and they shot and killed it.  

On Sept. 2, a sow and cub broke into a house near West Yellowstone, stealing some dog food. FWP officials shot the female—the bear had been linked to a fatal mauling of a woman near West Yellowstone in July—and captured the cub.  

On Sept. 8 , near Big Sky, a group of hunters were tracking a deer when they surprised a grizzly, shot at it, and likely injured it. However, the grizzly severely mauled one hunter—both bear and man acted in self-defense. 

On Sept. 26, a hunter killed a grizzly at close range near Gardiner.  

On Sept. 29, in Alberta’s Banff National Park, a man, woman, and dog were attacked and killed in or near their tent by a grizzly. The bear was older than 25 years old, malnourished, had teeth in bad shape, and she “had less than normal body fat for this time of year,” according to Parks Canada. The humans unloaded their can of bear spray, but it was hard to determine if they were close enough to spray it in the bear’s eyes, mouth, and nasal passages since the attack happened at night. Park authorities euthanized that bear.  

On Sept. 30, an elk hunter shot and killed a grizzly near Henry’s Lake, Idaho, 17.5 miles west of West Yellowstone.  

But not all close encounters have to end with an injured or dead bear. On Oct. 2, a 73-year-old woman and her husband were walking their dog north of Polebridge, Montana, near Trail Creek west of Glacier National Park and along the Canadian border, when a grizzly emerged from thick brush. The husband unleashed a whole can of bear spray on the bear in self-defense, potentially saving four lives: the woman’s, the man’s, the dog’s and the bear’s.  

Hunger and knowledge 

In the late summer and early autumn, all bears undergo hyperphagia, a period of eating as many calories as possible to fatten up for winter hibernation. Black bears may eat up to 20,000 calories daily, and grizzlies probably eat around the same, depending on food availability and the size of the individual.  

According to a fact sheet compiled by Living with Bears, bears are so focused on food at this time of the year that they are willing to take more risks, like entering backyards in search of garbage not appropriately stored (bearproof, locked, or in garages), reaching for birdfeeders that aren’t put away or hung high enough (one pound bag of birdseed offers 2,585 calories, a hummingbird feeder could contain 3,200 calories), or dog food not appropriately stored (a bowl of dog food may contain 1,200 calories).  

A cooler left on the porch with today’s picnic could equal 6,536 calories, a chicken coop without an electric fence or guard dog could mean 1,500 calories per chicken for the hungry bear. 

Natural food sources available at this time of year include a pound of huckleberries, which equals about 165 calories; a pound of blackberries, estimated at about 195 calories; and a pound of chokecherries, about 250 calories. Bears used to consume a lot of fat from whitebark pinecones, but whitebark pines are disappearing at alarming rates, especially in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.  

In the backcountry, bears are searching for easy food with a high-calorie content, like gut piles and carcasses. Some grizzlies have even tuned into the sounds of rifles, knowing an animal might be down or injured. Bears are willing to take more risks at this time of year for an easy meal and people need to be aware. 

Sometimes, wildlife agents are called when a bear becomes food-conditioned and is willing to take even more risks than a typical bear in hyperphagia. If bears keep acting on their conditioning after a couple of strikes, agents will euthanize the bear to help stop the behavior. However, many wildlife officials say wildlife management is mostly people management and if all of us can store our food and waste properly, we can save bears the hard lessons. 

Grizzly bear habitat is also constantly shrinking due to human development; more trophy homes, expanding ski resorts, inroads being plugged into the forest, and seismic activity on the wildland-urban interface. More and more people are going into the backcountry to hunt, fish, camp, ski, hike, bike, run and recreate, displacing wildlife. More encounters are happening that usually end up bad for bears—all while the grizzly population is also growing and expanding. 

It’s important to know that bears are in hyperphagia right now. Knowing when and how to secure and remove food and other attractants can save a bear’s life by preventing state wildlife officials from needing to euthanize a food-conditioned bear.  

Also, being bear-aware in the backcountry and knowing that bears often bluff charge can save a bear from being killed at close range and might save a cub from being captured and locked up in a zoo. Bear spray works as well, if not better than a sidearm, and proper use creates a win-win situation for bears and people.  

Benjamin Alva Polley is a place-based storyteller with stories published in Outside, Adventure Journal, Popular Science, Field & Stream, Esquire, Sierra, Audubon, Earth Island Journal, Modern Huntsman, and other publications at his website www.benjaminpolley.com/stories. He holds a master’s in Environmental Science and Natural Resource Journalism from the University of Montana.