Is a gun shot a grizzly bear attractant???

[MtnGiant]

Just watching "Mountain Men" and one of the guys stated that a grizzly bear can be attracted towards a single gun shot. The reasoning he gave was that the bear thinks a kill was done and there is food to eat. They were in the Montana mtns.
This is new info to me and it's a little scary to think about.
I was taught that scent was the attractor.
I always carry a shotgun (loaded- slug,buck,slug,buck in succession)with me as protection when working on a kill anyway.
Any insights or experience on this?

[Matt L.]

I have heard of that happening. The most common place I hear of it is on Kodiak Island and Afognak Island I believe.

[shakeyleg02]

lots of this goes on .. even down in the south west corner of alberta im afraid ....lynx creek ..lost creek ..fun times . for sure ..watch your back ...

[Matt L.]

Yep, the gunshot ain't something for them to be scared of anymore. And it's just going to get worse.

[walking buffalo]

Yes.

[Piker]

Dinner Bell. Piker

[Elko]

They have a good memory for food, if they hear gunshots then find food there, they will know to go look for it there next time they hear gunshots.

I do qeustion how effective gun shots have ever been for scaring bears away, if they are determined to do something gun shots will not deter them, black or grizzly.

In the south at least, there were only 2 or 3 tags, so other than the bears that actually got shot, why would the rest of the population be fearful when hearing gun shots. I can see when all bears were shot on site how the remaining population would run from the sounds or presence of people, as the only bears that would live long would be the ones that avoid people.

But we are several generations of bears from that bit of history, so why would bears today even fear people? Certainly not the case down here at any rate, with a dozen bears going through one guys hard this summer, and not in an isolated area by any means.

[Rackmastr]

Yep!

[Mutter87]

Yaha Tinda ranch. When we were looking for places to Black Bear hunt we were told to look in the area but to be careful, Because when the gun goes off, Bears are coming, Both kinds.

[mtnhunter]

Short answer is yes.

Long answer is it's a conditioning response. Because G-bears hear gunshots, then smell the dead animal and eventually find the innards/carcass, they have learned to associate gunshots with a free meal. There seem to be a few instances of this in my experience; for example, there was a woman killed by a grizzly in K-country a few years back after her husband shot an elk and went back to the truck for some gear. The bear attacked in the short while he was gone. Another example, I know of someone who shot a mule buck and by the time he got up to it, a grizzly had laid claim and was feeding on it.

Scary thought, but it's likely not just G-bears that are learning this response...

[sheep nut]

Absolutely they do. Especially in high trafic areas.

[Lefty-Canuck]

If the black bears do this too...then why waste your time setting out baits :)

LC

[Serengeti Charters]

Oh ya, in BC in a lot of places it is the same!

[Arctic]

I've seen it at Caribou camps where there's a high density of griz feeding on the gut piles. Doesn't take long for them to associate a shot with some warm food, and they want to be the first at the pile. One season a few years back I gave up 3 different carcasses at different times with just the cape and head off because we had bears coming in that shots wouldn't deter. Wasn't worth explaining a bear kill to Fish & Game. But it was nerve wracking to pack out the head when those bears were coming in and you didn't know if you'd run into another!! That year we had 1000's of 'bou and estimated that there were about 70 griz in the area!

That season we finally assigned two guides per hunter and made the rule of "no more than 150 yards from shore", ...........were convinced that someone was going to get hurt!!!

[catnthehat]

Same with coyotes where pheasants are hunted and in some areas, coyotes where deer are hunted .I saw a show in Alaska where the bears keyed in on salmon jumping because they knew the fishermen had them on the line!:thinking-006:
Ever see a gun dog go bonkers when a shotgun is brought out, or the collar goes on them?
Critters don't take long to key in on stuff, for sure!

Cat

[1899b]

This grizz was on my kill site end of November. We killed two more deer in the area and his fresh tracks were still around the area. When i lived in Edson the locals i hunted with and had coffee with were very adamant that the "dinner bell" theory definitely existed in the area....

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v507/Win94/handingrizztrack.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v507/Win94/grizztrack.jpg

[Redfrog]

MEH! I'm not so sure. I've heard this a lot over the years along with some other stuff that makes very little sense. :)

I've had Grizzlies on a kill site when we returned to pack more meat out, but I have nothing to indicate they were attracted there by a gunshot.

The source of a shot in the high country is very difficult to discern.

How many times would the bear have to accurately pinpoint the kill and then be rewarded for his effort before this was learned behavior? I'm sure bears can be conditioned to react to certain stimuli, but I have to wonder how long this conditioning would take.

Are the gunshot and the bear showing up even connected?

Was he just in the area and stumbled on the kill, because gunshot or no gunshot they do find gutpiles or animals that have dies from other causes.

How would you even do a study of this behavior?

There's too many variables for me to believe that it was the gunshot that attracted them.

YMMV.

I had a buddy who told me that moose came to the sound of a chainswaw, cause they knew it meant food. :thinking-006: Anyone who has hunted moose knows that the moose knows that moose are not known to be problem solvers.

[1899b]

Personally i would think the smells of a gutpile as well as the circling ravens and eagles would do more to signal the bears than a gun shot......

[CamoDerrick]

I shot a black bear once, and as I was skinning it out (10 min after shot) a coyote came out of the bush not 15 yards away from me. I'm convinced it was from the shot rather than the smell from the behaviour of the coyote and because you don't spill the guts with a bear (which I believe reduces the emission of the smell of a fresh kill).

I have also found that ravens come into shots. Seem to be way more flying around after gun shots.

[Fer-Tak-Er]

Many a time in K-country over the years we have ran into Grizzlies on the way out from a kill. A gun shot is so a dinner bell. A funny thing happenend one year, on a ride out of odlum we ran into a F&W officer. Of course we got into an argument with him regarding the Grizzly population. During our argument with him he said he was doing tests to see if the gun shot was the dinner bell. He had a 6 shooter loaded with blanks. He said he would walk down a horse trail and fire the gun.He said than he would wait 15min or so. He said he had been doing this every day for the last 2 weeks, and no grizzlies had showed up. So we laughed at him and said try waiting a couple hours or so. Not all the grizzlies are within 10 min of the hiway.

Just a side note. This officer also said he had something to do with the grizzly count as well. Hmm I wonder why they didn't find any???????

[guywiththemule]

Seen it several times at the Ya Ha Tinda.

[CNP]

If the black bears do this too...then why waste your time setting out baits :)

LC

lol. I'm with ya

[covey ridge]

Short answer is yes.

Long answer is it's a conditioning response. Because G-bears hear gunshots, then smell the dead animal and eventually find the innards/carcass, they have learned to associate gunshots with a free meal. There seem to be a few instances of this in my experience; for example, there was a woman killed by a grizzly in K-country a few years back after her husband shot an elk and went back to the truck for some gear. The bear attacked in the short while he was gone. Another example, I know of someone who shot a mule buck and by the time he got up to it, a grizzly had laid claim and was feeding on it.

Scary thought, but it's likely not just G-bears that are learning this response...

I think that woman you speak of was not killed. Her face was torn from eye to jaw and she spent quite a while in hospital. I met her after the incident.

[bdub]

I think with some bears it becomes a learned behaviour. Being both highly intelligent and also curious some bears learn to connect the sound of gunshots with a gutpile or a dead animal under the right circumstances for sure. I've never had one come in to the sound of a rifle shot but have lost a caribou and part of an elk the night after the animals were shot. I don't know if the rifle fire made them curious and then the hunt was on, or if they just smelled it and came in. I have no doubt that some bears learn this and do come in to rifle shots and start hunting the area for a kill or gutpile.

[JTRED]

I have no hard evidence either way, but one thing my dad and his friends taught me when I was learning to hunt is that you always reload the magazine and put one in the chamber while you dress out your kill. And always,always stay alert to your surroundings around the kill site, on the way into one and on the way out from one. You just never really know what may be coming into the smell of blood. Everywhere I've hunted people tell me that a shot is like a dinner bell for grizzly bears especially and even though I've yet to have the pleasure of the large omnivore coming unexpectedly for dinner I still try to take a look around every once in awhile. I now live and hunt in the Kootenays so there are lots of grizzly around.

[bessiedog]

Witnessed it..
Twice!

One in the Elk valley came right to the shot, no way it was following the smell. Wind wasn't right

Another up Lynx Creek. Small grizz sow and cub.. Very conditioned.
Onto our white tail gutpile like lightning.

[MtnGiant]

I have no hard evidence either way, but one thing my dad and his friends taught me when I was learning to hunt is that you always reload the magazine and put one in the chamber while you dress out your kill. And always,always stay alert to your surroundings around the kill site, on the way into one and on the way out from one. You just never really know what may be coming into the smell of blood. Everywhere I've hunted people tell me that a shot is like a dinner bell for grizzly bears especially and even though I've yet to have the pleasure of the large omnivore coming unexpectedly for dinner I still try to take a look around every once in awhile. I now live and hunt in the Kootenays so there are lots of grizzly around.

There seems to be enough evidence to draw the conclusion that there is a high probablity of it being true.
If the F&W are out doing a case study....then I would think there has been enough attention on the subject to warrant a study.
And....I was taught to carry a loaded shotgun with a slug,buckshot,slug,buckshot etc..sequence. The slug, if you hit it should put it down. The buckshot is if you miss with the slug, the spray should stun the bear. Then repeat as needed. A single projectile rifle will do little, if any damage to a charging bear. While one person is doing the cleaning, the other person should be standing guard with the shotgun.

[Bushrat]

How many times would the bear have to accurately pinpoint the kill and then be rewarded for his effort before this was learned behavior? I'm sure bears can be conditioned to react to certain stimuli, but I have to wonder how long this conditioning would take.



About the same amount of time it would take a dog. Animals learn pretty quick when it comes to signals they learn to associate with an easy meal. Take a hungry stray dog, ring a bell then feed it. The next time you ring the bell it will be there shortly looking for the next meal. Coyotes learn pretty quick during hunting season in deer country, if they hear gunshots the next section over, it won't be long and they will be there skulking in the distance waiting for you to leave so they can feed on the gutpile. You get a mother bear who has figured out the association between gunshots and an easy meal, her cubs learn that pretty quick. Bears understand the feeding calls of ravens and magpies just like coyotes do, and we know they will investigate that if they are hungry. It will only take once or twice for a bear to hear a gunshot, might not know what it means but they catch scent of a gutpile a bit later from the same spot, next time they hear a gunshot they are not likely to ignore it. They don't need to pinpoint where the gunshot came from, all they need to do is hear a gunshot down the valley or up on the ridge, go there, get downwind of the area and they will sniff it out if there is anything there. They understand sound direction quite well and are experts at using the wind to locate things. They may sneak in and stay out of sight until you clear the area or they may charge in trying to get a meal before anybody else does, depends on the personality of the bear. 95% of the time you'll never see the bear, wolf, yote whatever scavenger it is, most will wait until your scent to clear before they investigate. Anyway it doesn't take long for them to make make the connection between all the gutpiles and gunshots. Most people don't return to the scene of the kill and never know what cleaned it up but bears often get the spoils. Bears aren't stupid, they are out there 24-7-365 days a year, nobody is more aware of whats happening in their backyard than they are, they have lots of time to figure out whats going on, dosen't take them long to add up 2+2.

[300-510]

Wolves can be attracted to gunshots also,I would rather have rifle Im hunting with than a shotgun.

[MtnGiant]

Wolves can be attracted to gunshots also,I would rather have rifle Im hunting with than a shotgun.

I have both....so I'm double covered hahaha.
But seriously...the point is to be aware and be prepared.
This thread is truly an eye opener for me and I will be extra aware now.
Seems what I grew up with...scent attracts and gunfire detracts is no longer true.
Just want to say thanks for all your input....


I for one, have never had an encounter with a charging bear (knock on wood), but I can only imagine it would take nerves of steel to fire accurately.

[Springer]

Well after watching Sheep-nuts Daddy Daughter Sheep hunt there was proof when the Grizz showed up right afterward!

[pottymouth]

Well after watching Sheep-nuts Daddy Daughter Sheep hunt there was proof when the Grizz showed up right afterward!

I was just thinking the samething. I totally believe the dinner bell theory to be true!

[Tactical Lever]

Haven't witnessed it, but read about it. Would not surprise me.

[209x50]

I've neve had it happen but I've heard people claim that it has happened to them.

[JTRED]

And....I was taught to carry a loaded shotgun with a slug,buckshot,slug,buckshot etc..sequence. The slug, if you hit it should put it down. The buckshot is if you miss with the slug, the spray should stun the bear. Then repeat as needed. A single projectile rifle will do little, if any damage to a charging bear. While one person is doing the cleaning, the other person should be standing guard with the shotgun.

mtngiant I normally hunt alone and do a lot of hiking so carrying a shotgun as well as my hunting rifle is not really an option, often the truck is miles away. So for me and many I know going back out to get a shotgun and a guard wouldn't make a lot of sense, the fewer trips I have to do up and down whatever mountain I'm on the better.
Also I didn't say I didn't believe that predators will come to a gunshot merely that I had no real hard evidence, ie it has never happened to me. However I have never had to leave an animal overnight and I have usually been able to get whatever animal I have down cleaned and started packing out within a couple hours or so. Who knows what happened after I left as I have never revisited a kill site.

[209x50]

I always carry a shotgun (loaded- slug,buck,slug,buck in succession)with me as protection when working on a kill anyway.
Any insights or experience on this?
I have my bear spray unlocked and laying next to the kill. I feel far more comfortable getting that into action fast with bloody hands rather than fumbling with a gun. No need to aim either, just get the pepper cloud between you and the bear.

[michaelmicallef]

Cougars will respond to gun shots too. Had it happen grouse hunting about 10 yrs ago. I shot 3 birds, 2 were about 10 feet away from me and one was about 30 feet away. After picking up the two closest birds I looked up to see where the last one lay and saw the cat got a easy snack. What surprised me is that the cat probably waited for me to look down and pick up my first 2 birds before it grabed the last one.Sneaky. Most mammals are opportunistic, if they learn that a gun shot = lunch they are going to take advantage of it.

[freestyle]

I have been on a few Caribou hunts in NWT.

I have seen grizzlies come to investigate the results of gunshots.

Dress and pack the animal quickly, and keep you magazine loaded and your eyes open.

[greylynx]

I wonder if those gun hating tree huggers who play around with their bear banger flares know this.

Hmm. a little experiment in Darwin's theory and Pavlov's grizzley if I may say so myself.

Just Sayin.

[Rocky7]

If the black bears do this too...then why waste your time setting out baits :)

LC

:sHa_shakeshout:

I might give it a try this spring........if I'm sure nobody's watching.

[catnthehat]

If the black bears do this too...then why waste your time setting out baits :)

LC

Because it's not the shot that attracts black bears in baited areas but the banging of the bucket on the tree letting them know the bait has been replenished - and the sound of the ATV driving away!!
Easiest way I know of getting them in is to go in two up on the quad when you are on the bait, bang the bucket, then have your partner drive away after yu are in the tree - NOT before!!:sHa_sarcasticlol:
Cat

[Rocks]

I do most of my hunting in grizzly country and have had a bunch of chance grizzly encounters, but have never had one come into a kill before I got the animal processed and back to camp. I've heard of it happening, but never seen it.

[creeky]

I think that woman you speak of was not killed. Her face was torn from eye to jaw and she spent quite a while in hospital. I met her after the incident.

I met her also, gracious enough to tell me the story at a function we where attending. Grizz got on track of their elk too, most excellent and vivid recall of every detail of the event . One very brave, fair and level minded lady.

[Caper Dave]

Rocks you live and hunt in grande Cache and never had no encounters with grizz, wow. We have seen lots around the berland, Hammer head, Kakwa sheep creek and I am sure anywhere between cache and grand Prairie. I had a very close call this yr and I won't go into details but I was lucky to get away. 2 cubs ran and the fun began, I figure easy 7-800 pound ****ed off momma. Huge head and roared all the way in. we seen 12 adult and about 7 3 yr olds and of course 5 cubs counting the 2 i seen. only 500 grizzlies in alberta though. All the bears we seen were different bears. probably why we only got one Elk.

[Caper Dave]

Sorry but every kill we had there was a grizz on it that day or next one for sure, we had a moose buried over night in the hammer head. Areas all tore up where they would be getting ready to stash their finds.

:shark:

[Rocks]

Rocks you live and hunt in grande Cache and never had no encounters with grizz, wow. We have seen lots around the berland, Hammer head, Kakwa sheep creek and I am sure anywhere between cache and grand Prairie. I had a very close call this yr and I won't go into details but I was lucky to get away. 2 cubs ran and the fun began, I figure easy 7-800 pound ****ed off momma. Huge head and roared all the way in. we seen 12 adult and about 7 3 yr olds and of course 5 cubs counting the 2 i seen. only 500 grizzlies in alberta though. All the bears we seen were different bears. probably why we only got one Elk.

Maybe go back and read my post again. Then come back and tell me how many encounters I've had with grizzlies. Hint: it's a bunch.

[Big Grey Wolf]

Interesting story on the number of grizz the fellow encountered on their hunt. Just for the record half the grizz in Alberta are in the Kakwa. Smokey, Berland area The last great wilderness in Alberta ( Willmore). Last count by the grizz study was over 300 bears in that zone. Thus guys be very careful in that area as high probabilty a bear will come into your kill/gut pile regardless if he associated it with your rifle shoot or picked up odour down wind. Their noses are far superior even to a hunting dog. During our last hunt on the Kakwa we had 5 grizz within 2miles of our camp and every creek was dug up for roots.

[Andrzej]

I've posted this before but have to add to this story that we were hunting over bait night before this occurred and shot was fired at bear at the bait. As we were watching shot bear falling 20y from bait big Black Bear showed up about 300-400 y down the cutline and was trotting towards us than jumped to the side.
Than this has happened the very next day in the same location:

Spring 2006
11 am when replenishing bear bait on one of the cutline we noticed wolf crossing at the distance of few hundreds yards. My friend asked me if I would shoot this far so I laid down and shot at wolf which was sitting and facing us by then. Wolf jumped up and slowly crawl in the bush. We followed cutline on quad and odometer shows 325 meters when we cam across massive blood trail. Friend had a smoke and then we went in thick Northern bush following blood trail. It was only 10 yards and white wolf was there. I grabbed back leg and pulled her out to the cutline.
This was my first ever wolf so I was very happy and ready for capturing this moment on film. I handed camera to my friend knelled beside wolf and ...instead of hearing camera shatter I hear roar from behind and there is big Black Bear standing 15 yards away on his back feet ...curling his lips and showing his teeth...
My rifle was couple steps away so I slowly moved towards it and picked her up...O cr.p scope is cranked on 14 power, so I am trying to aim along the barrel and this is not working ... setting power to 4,5 still no good as it is out of focus so focus down on AO and safety off ..I am aiming for the head ...pulling trigger and there is no click, nothing...at this moment bear goes down turns around swipes dirt with front paw and comes up again standing and growling. This moment gives me time to work my bolt and chamber it than aiming for the head an he drops in his trucks as I'm pulling the trigger... WOW

This bear was accustom to sound of shot and knew that there will be reward something to eat ..gut pile, wounded animal or killed wolf.

He is 7 ft from nose to tail and did not have his scull measured as it disintegrated on impact. There was no exit wound and I was shooting 7 mm STW 139 gr Hornady SST .

Andrew

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r299/Andrzej77/Hunting%202006/IMGP1033-1.jpg

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r299/Andrzej77/IMGP1064.jpg

[gatorhunter]

Personally i would think the smells of a gutpile as well as the circling ravens and eagles would do more to signal the bears than a gun shot......I would say that they contribute to varying degree. It is not a stretch to believe that a bear could become habituated to moving towards where it believed a gun shot originated based on previous learned behaviour. As it gets closer its nose (smell of gut pile), ears (hearing ravens) and eyes (ravens and eagles buzzing around something) would take over and lead it straight to the gut pile or animal.

Pretty sure they're used to finding food at the bottom of a flock of swirling ravens.

[mtnhunter]

mtngiant I normally hunt alone and do a lot of hiking so carrying a shotgun as well as my hunting rifle is not really an option, often the truck is miles away. So for me and many I know going back out to get a shotgun and a guard wouldn't make a lot of sense, the fewer trips I have to do up and down whatever mountain I'm on the better.
Also I didn't say I didn't believe that predators will come to a gunshot merely that I had no real hard evidence, ie it has never happened to me. However I have never had to leave an animal overnight and I have usually been able to get whatever animal I have down cleaned and started packing out within a couple hours or so. Who knows what happened after I left as I have never revisited a kill site.

I wish I could claim to have never had to leave an animal overnight, however, this fall was my first time. I shot a great bull moose with my bow 20 minutes before it was dark and recovered the moose in the pitch black. Fortunately, I had four other guys come to give me a hand. We lit a fairly good fire, were yelling, blowing safety whistles, and had four rifles, but it still didn't keep a bear away. He just kept circling us in the dark (couldn't see him even with the fire or our headlamps) and snapping off branches. This was super unnerving, and after four hours of field dressing and quartering, we decided to pack the quarters in cheesecloth to another spot a few hundred yards away and carry only the head, loins, tenderloins and tasty bits back to camp that night. Thankfully we all got out of there before the bear tried something crazy. Went back in the next morning, and lucky for me the bear went for the carcass/gutpile and not the four quarters that had been moved away. I sure hope to never have such a stressful field-dressing experience again! :scared0018: