# Grizzly Problems



## mosquitomountainman (Jan 25, 2010)

A neighbor had a grizzly break through the wall of his chicken coop and kill his chickens a few nights ago. Last night another neighbor had the same thing happen only the chickens got away ... but it killed all but three of their turkeys.

Guess we'll be putting electric fencing around ours today and loading up the shotgun with slugs and buckshot.

Might be a good plan for preppers to have electric fence wire, posts, and a solar fence charger as part of your preps.


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## goshengirl (Dec 18, 2010)

mosquitomountainman said:


> Might be a good plan for preppers to have electric fence wire, posts, and a solar fence charger as part of your preps.


You just validated something I've been thinking of (and researching). Thank you. 

Good luck with your grizz. We have the VERY rare black bear around here, but I've never seen one. I can't imagine a grizzly - they're so.... _big_. How effective is an electric fence with a grizzly?


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## mosquitomountainman (Jan 25, 2010)

goshengirl said:


> You just validated something I've been thinking of (and researching). Thank you.
> 
> Good luck with your grizz. We have the VERY rare black bear around here, but I've never seen one. I can't imagine a grizzly - they're so.... _big_. How effective is an electric fence with a grizzly?


It's the only type of fence that will stop one.

The most important thing about a grizzly is their attitude. Size isn't as important when you consider yourself at the top of the food chain! (And man is the only enemy that they fear ... sometimes.)


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## GaryS (Nov 15, 2011)

Friend of my folks lived in a mobile home a few miles outside Libby, MT several years ago. She was baking and canning one fall day and had set some pies to cool near a screened window. She heard a tearing sound, turned and saw the head and one paw of a grizzly inside the torn window, reaching for the pies. She grabbed a pot of boiling water off the stove and threw it on the bear. It bellowed and took off. 

She called the local game warden, as she knew the bear was unafraid of humans, had been seriously injured and was probably dangerous. The warden tracked the bear and shot it. Most of the hair on its paw and head had been scalded off, so killing it was a kind act. 

Grizzly bears were often a problem for livestock in that area, but seldom bothered occupied houses.


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

GaryS said:


> .... lived in a mobile home....... saw the head and one paw of a grizzly inside the torn window,


Most people of good strength can tear the ENTIRE window from a mobile home. A Grizz could remove an entire wall with ease. I wouldn't live in a mobile home with grizzlies around; they are hardly much better than living in a tent.

As for the chicken coop, it's interesting an electric fence works on them.


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## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

goshengirl said:


> How effective is an electric fence with a grizzly?


IF done properly they are as close to 100% effective as possible. IMO, done properly is not temporary electric fencing, it includes a physical barrier augmented by an electric wire or two. Beekeeping in bear country is a whole lot less stressful with an electric fence, and it's better for the bears too.


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## goshengirl (Dec 18, 2010)

I have to admit, I would LOVE to see a grizzly. Just... not in my backyard.  They make our black bears look like oversized dogs - they'd be a challenge, that's for sure.


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## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

They are amazing animals, no doubt, but the reputation they get is a bit off imo. Black bears cause more problems and attacks by far and really the difference in dangerousness between the two doesn't amount to much. Any gun that is adequate for a black bear will take down a grizzly, if you don't have a gun then you aren't going to wrestle either of them. 

Never play dead with a black bear, unlike a grizzly they will just eat you.


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## mosquitomountainman (Jan 25, 2010)

cowboyhermit said:


> ... Never play dead with a black bear, unlike a grizzly they will just eat you.


Quoted for absolute truth!


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## cnsper (Sep 20, 2012)

When I had momma and her cubs outside my cabin door, the only thing that scared them enough to run off was when I fired up the chainsaw..... Yes it was kept inside. I tell people it's because they thought they were about to be cut and wrapped. I can tell you that the only thing between us was a flimsy door and plastic sheeting (window was broken).


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## vidarr (Jun 25, 2013)

Rig up a pressure plate that requires about 100lbs of force to activate it(using springs so it resets) so that if a bear puts it's weight down on it, it will set it off. Should make them book it pretty fast! 
My mother did this in northern BC years ago as a deterrent to protect her chickens and turkeys. 
I like it as it's a non harmful way to scare them off. 
Even if it fails, and the bear keeps at it, you're gonna know there's a 100lb+ animal out there trying to eat your birds 


Sent from my iPhone using Survival Forum


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## vidarr (Jun 25, 2013)

I almost forgot, but if you have to protect your livestock, (depending on your local laws) you can shoot the bear. Might not be the route you want to take, but bears have good memories when it comes to easy meals, and will pay you a visit again. 


Sent from my iPhone using Survival Forum


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## mosquitomountainman (Jan 25, 2010)

It's been back to revisit both places. F&G set up a culvert trap at the first place. The bear tripped it shut then played with it a bit, rolling it around on the ground. You have to understand, these are steel culverts about four feet in diameter and eight feet long, with one end covered in steel (1/2 in. rebar) bars (square grid pattern) and the other end with a big door also made out of rebar. It's just a glorified box trap. Some are permanently mounted to trailers for transporting them. It was the bear's toy for a bit.

The next night it came back to the second place. The people there had started putting their chickens in cages and bringing them up next to the house. They were awoken around 3:00 am by the dog barking from the sheep pen (the dog stays with the sheep 24/7). The bear was back next to the house trying to open the cages. It took off when the yard light came on.

I put up an electric fence around our chicken coop and run the day we heard about the bear. I also have a game camera out there. No sign of the bear which is fine with me. If he does show up I have the shotgun loaded with slugs and a couple of good flashlights ready (they're always ready though!).


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## talob (Sep 16, 2009)

Sooo, is grizzly bear good eating? Should taste like chicken, (a lot of chicken) just asking.


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## hiwall (Jun 15, 2012)

> on your local laws) you can shoot the bear.


While this is true one must exercise caution. Every grizzly kill is thoroughly investigated and sometimes the shooter ends up in court.


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## BlueShoe (Aug 7, 2010)

Thank God we only have Black bears here. 
We've had 3 over the last 5 yrs within a mile. I live in the city.


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## mosquitomountainman (Jan 25, 2010)

Black bears can cause a lot of problems too!

I'd shoot the griz in a heartbeat to protect our family, livestock, property or dog. You just have to be sure it's shot from the front and you can at least provide some evidence of protecting life or property. You can't follow up a wounded bear to finish it off either. There was a guy convicted and fined for illegally killing a grizzly because he tracked it down to finish it off after he shot it in his sheep pen. (The bear was dining on lamb that day.)


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## hashbrown (Sep 2, 2013)

cowboyhermit said:


> They are amazing animals, no doubt, but the reputation they get is a bit off imo. Black bears cause more problems and attacks by far and really the difference in dangerousness between the two doesn't amount to much. Any gun that is adequate for a black bear will take down a grizzly, if you don't have a gun then you aren't going to wrestle either of them.
> 
> Never play dead with a black bear, unlike a grizzly they will just eat you.


I don't think you would be playing for long. It's a bear that's already angry. The last thing I should be doing is playing a practical joke on it. :laugh:


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## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

hashbrown said:


> I don't think you would be playing for long. It's a bear that's already angry. The last thing I should be doing is playing a practical joke on it. :laugh:


Black bears are USUALLY not attacking because they are angry, they are typically looking for an easy meal. Grizzly bears are more often asserting their dominance, protecting their cubs, etc so playing dead has often worked in those circumstances. Of course sometimes grizzlies DO make predatory attacks and that would ruin anybodies day:eyebulge:


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## biobacon (Aug 20, 2012)

So eh some one saw an upset house cat on my street yesterday. Im just trying to join the conversation but that's the best I got. LOL


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## BlueShoe (Aug 7, 2010)

Here's my favorite bear story.



> Cocaine and a Dead Bear
> Published: December 23, 1985
> 
> BLUE RIDGE, Ga., Dec. 22 (UPI)-- A 175-pound black bear apparently died of an overdose of cocaine after discovering a batch of the drug, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said today. The cocaine was apparently dropped from a plane piloted by Andrew Thornton, a convicted drug smuggler who died Sept. 11 in Knoxville, Tenn., because he was carrying too heavy a load while parachuting. The bureau said the bear was found Friday in northern Georgia among 40 opened plastic containers with traces of cocaine.


The back story is that the DEA was tailing the smuggler in another plane at night. He knew they were there so he jumped from the plane with a parachute but never pulled the cord. He was found in daylight with a bunch of the coke on his person. Nobody knew he jumped until some guy went to get his newpaper the next morning and found him dead on his front lawn. He must've thrown a bunch more coke out before jumping and the bear found it. The plane crashed in KY I believe.


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## VoorTrekker (Oct 7, 2012)

*My grizzly encounter*

Okay, it's a grizzly rescue place on I-15 Montana, or I-90 between Butte and Billings, or between Butte and Helena. They have a few and rescued grizz can't be released because they can't survive the wilds without being taught by a parent grizzly.


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## Caribou (Aug 18, 2012)

As a young adult Dad wound up in the hospital. In the bed next to him was a man that had been mauled by a bear. The man had played dead. The bear went away and after a bit the guy decided to seek help. As soon as moved the bear would come back and chew on him. This went on for hours with the bear hiding in the brush until the man moved then resuming the attack. Dad said that the bear not only messed the guy's body up pretty well but his mind as well.

Cats aren't the only ones that play with their food.


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## cranky1 (Oct 9, 2008)

As an old time yukoner I would just shoot it! But hey, that's just me


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## besign (Aug 9, 2014)

yes, there's such a thing as a foot long hunk of heavy walled 8" OD pipe, with nails welded down into it, at an angle. Cabled to a drag log, buried with the top of the pipe flush with the surface, with bacon-grease at the bottom of the paw-trap. a blind man can follow the trail left by that log, but you'd better have your head on a swivel, be fast and accurate with your rifle, and know to pull brain shots if charged (unless you notice it from 100+ yds)


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## mosquitomountainman (Jan 25, 2010)

besign said:


> yes, there's such a thing as a foot long hunk of heavy walled 8" OD pipe, with nails welded down into it, at an angle. Cabled to a drag log, buried with the top of the pipe flush with the surface, with bacon-grease at the bottom of the paw-trap. a blind man can follow the trail left by that log, but you'd better have your head on a swivel, be fast and accurate with your rifle, and know to pull brain shots if charged (unless you notice it from 100+ yds)


There's this little problem with the law if you trap a bear around here. Besides, a snare is just as effective and easier to make.


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

besign said:


> yes, there's such a thing as a foot long hunk of heavy walled 8" OD pipe, with nails welded down into it, at an angle. Cabled to a drag log, buried with the top of the pipe flush with the surface, with bacon-grease at the bottom of the paw-trap. a blind man can follow the trail left by that log, but you'd better have your head on a swivel, be fast and accurate with your rifle, and know to pull brain shots if charged (unless you notice it from 100+ yds)


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## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

BlueShoe said:


> Here's my favorite bear story.
> 
> The back story is that the DEA was tailing the smuggler in another plane at night. He knew they were there so he jumped from the plane with a parachute but never pulled the cord. He was found in daylight with a bunch of the coke on his person. Nobody knew he jumped until some guy went to get his newpaper the next morning and found him dead on his front lawn. He must've thrown a bunch more coke out before jumping and the bear found it. The plane crashed in KY I believe.


I wonder if he had ever jumped from a plane before. It is not unheard of for a first time jumper/skydiver to pass out. This is why most first jumps are now being done tandem.


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