Remy Warren (0:00)

Foreign I'm Remy Warren and I've lived my life in the wild as a professional guide and hunter. I've spent thousands of days perfecting my craft. I want to give that knowledge to you. In this podcast we relive some of my past adventures as I give you practical hunting tips to make you more successful. Whether you're just getting started or a lifelong hunter, this podcast will bring you along on the hunt and teach you how to Live Wild. This podcast is brought to you by Mountain Tough and Yeti. A lot of the tactics I talk about here require you to be in top physical shape. So I partnered with Mountain Tough to help get you ready for the mountain with their science based hunter specific training app. You'll get in shape and mentally tough able to tackle any hunt. Because we really believe this will help you be more successful as a listener to this podcast, we're giving you six free weeks to get you started. Just use code livewild Foreign welcome back to Live Wild podcast. Now this week we're going to do a much needed refresher on bear safety and hunting and recreating in bear country. Now we're well into the spring and definitely heading into the summer, possibly some summer scouting or early fall scouting. Or maybe you're just planning a hunt that takes you into bear country or other large predator country. Maybe not grizzly bears or black bears, but there's other large predators out there, mountain lions, wolves, whatever. And I just think it's a good thing to think about and be prepared and take precautions. In the lower 48 it definitely seems like bear populations are on the rise and those encounters seem to be more and more common every year. It seems like the rate of incidents with bears is increasing and as hunters we're often the ones venturing deep into their zone. And it's also in many instances where the high likelihood group to encounter bears in a way compared to other people that might be out there recreating. So this week we're going to cover bear country safety precautions and what you can do to be bear aware, what you can do to stay safe when hunting in bear country. So let's dive in and talk bears. I think it's always good, especially this time of year as bears start coming out of hibernation or have been out of hibernation and hunters start going into the field for for different things recreating whether it's spring bear hunting for black bears, whether it's picking mushrooms or berries in the summer, whether it's looking for shed antlers or whether it's setting trail cameras or even just getting out and scouting. We're in bear country a lot. We're out there recreating. And in all these instances, we have opportunities where we could encounter bears. Now when we're talking about grizzly bears, you know, for the most part, they're the most dangerous. You've got grizzly bears in the lower 48, mostly the greater Yellowstone ecosystem. So Montana, Idaho and Wyoming are the hot spots. There are also some in Washington, and they venture out into places that you might not even expect them. Like, I think they've been in Oregon, maybe even dipped into Colorado. Not sure about that. But, you know, you hear all these reports of, like, people seeing grizzly bears other places. But the other thing about grizzly bears right now is they're expanding in their territory. There's places within these regions that maybe never really had grizzly bears in the past, or hunters never really had to think about them there. It wasn't really something you would encounter. And now as their range is expanding and expanding, people in places where they never had to think about grizzly bear encounters before are having to think about it. And in many ways, even though there's fewer bears, it might be more dangerous because they're just kind of less prepared. And then, of course, we've got bears across Canada and Alaska, through British Columbia, up all the way into Alaska. You know, there's. There's a lot more bears. I can't remember the population number. Probably like 32,000 brown grizzly bears in Alaska and something like 1300 in the lower 48 somewhere around there. But I think I read a study that was like the majority of. I think it was fatal bear attacks. Like almost 60% of them are in the lower 48. And that's a very small region. Like a small population, a small region. Now, compared to Alaska, there's definitely more people out recreating, so the incidence would probably be higher. But for a very small area and a very small particular zone, I mean, that's pretty high. You know, statistically, it seems like there's two to three fatal attacks a year. And this is just something. I mean, that's true, but some anecdotal stuff from my recollection, like growing up, I don't remember hearing of. It wasn't a yearly thing, fatal bear attacks. And I think on average now there's like 30 to 40 encounter, like negative encounters with bears. Like, attacks that didn't end fatal. Maybe somebody got injured. Maybe somebody stopped the bear attack that's reported. I don't know, like, I think the fun thing about the P.O. this podcast is, right, it's my podcast. I can say what I'm thinking, what I, you know, what I think on a lot of things. And I think that maybe there's like some of this, but I think it's just important stuff to talk about. Talking about bears, like, I don't know, I guess it raises the question is, are bear attacks becoming an epidemic in a way in the lower 48? In my opinion. In my opinion, when you think about the percentage of area where bears live and then the number of people recreating in that area and then the number of attacks and potential fatalities, it's pretty high. You know, they aren't in a lot of places. It's a very small portion of the country where very few people are and where those people are, you know, you have to be kind of out recreating or doing something in their habitat. And how many people are doing that every year? I mean it's in the thousands. But when you're talking about instances of two or three deaths and 30 to 40 negative encounters, and those negative encounters can be life changing and scary and maybe it's just taking the right precautions that could have changed the outcome there. So when we think about going into bear country, it is a serious thing. And I think, I mean, honestly in the past I didn't really think about it a lot. I didn't take a lot of precautions in a lot of places because there were bears, but you just, you would see them, but you just didn't encounter them very often. There weren't. You never heard of attacks really. And I mean, maybe, maybe it just wasn't reported as much or didn't seem as like it was happening as much. But this is just, I mean this is just like these are the facts of my life. When I went into places where it was known, grizzly country, you know, I would always bring a sidearm or some kind of bear deterrent, primarily sidearm. But you know, we, it just didn't seem like it was something that was possible to happen in a, in a weird way, like it could happen, but it just didn't really happen. And maybe it was just, you know, you didn't hear it being reported. Maybe you just had to catch it on the news and that was it. I don't, I don't know. Right. This is just me talking about my life and like the way that I've encountered or thought about bears over the course of time and now it's way more on the forefront of my mind when I go out, it's something that you think of. This could happen. I'm in that type of country and it's definitely possible. I've had, you know, I've spent a lot of time in grizzly country in brown bear country over the years, in Alaska, through Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, just different places. I've been in their habitat and I have had a few negative encounters. I've been essentially attacked once it was thwarted. We were with a bunch of guys. I mean a lot of people have told this story before on the podcast, but was with the meat eater crew at the time and luckily nobody got injured. That was on a fog neck island. I've been bluff charged probably by more black bears than brown bears or grizzly bears, to be honest. Like I've been bluff charged a couple of times over the course of hunting, like by grizzlies. And most of them stopped pretty far away, like it wasn't an immediate threat. I've been kind of wolfed at and bluff charged by probably half a dozen black bears and nothing serious, like nothing coming really close. But every, every one of those encounters is kind of harrowing in a way, A little bit scary. You're like, whoa, okay, that happens. Many of them, you know, was like, not really. You just go, okay, hey, get out of your bear. And. And you kind of can tell from the start of the charge or bluff charge that they're just trying to intimidate you, which is best case scenario. That's what you want, right? Better than like an absolute, absolute charge in trying to kill you kind of bear. But they are, it is something to think about. I think that in a way hunters are kind of put in this category where we're probably, well, we are highly likely to encounter bears. And then also of the groups recreating, we may be the most likely to kind of potentially have a negative encounter with a bear. Only because we're doing things that could potentially surprise a bear. If you think about like other people recreating, maybe it's hikers or whatever, they can be making noise. They can, they generally stay on the trails. They aren't mimicking animal sounds. They aren't potentially cutting up like an animal that would be a bear's food source. They aren't covered in blood, they aren't carrying an animal, they aren't tracking a wounded animal. They're like staying on trails, doing their thing, staying in campgrounds. And still even those people die and get attacked every year. Now I will say what kind of Gives hunters a little bit of an edge is we generally are a more aware group of like bear safety because we talk about it a lot, we know the dangers and also in many ways we're a more prepared group. Like there's a lot of hikers that might go out with bear spray or other things, but they might not be thinking about it as much. I don't know. I do know, like probably the prevalence of firearms for bear protection is higher amongst hunters. And I also think that maybe the competency with potential, you know, bear deterrence might be even higher with hunters. I don't know. This is just anecdotal on that part, but I do know for a fact that hunters are in situations where they're probably more likely to encounter bears. Whether it's in the springtime, just scouting, looking for shed antlers, doing those kind of activities, or during the fall when you're actively hunting and pursuing animals in bear country. Now this is also something to think about is for the most part when I'm talking about bears here, I'm talking about grizzly bears because they are, they just have this temper about them. They're, they're notoriously aggressive, territorial and dangerous. There's a reason that we kind of tried to wipe them off the face of the planet. I'm not saying that was a good thing. I'm not. And in some ways I'm not saying it's a bad thing. Like to be a productive society, you can't have monsters ripping in and eating you and tearing you apart. And that's just the fact of the matter. And in some ways we've kind of forgot that now. I do think that bears belong on the landscape. I'm a conservationist. I feel like everything needs to be there but be managed. I think that that's the best way. Like we've, we've so altered the landsc that things will never go back in air quoting here to the way they were. There was never a time in North America that bears weren't hunted. So I think that that's something good to remember. Like currently I feel like there are too many bears in certain areas and they should be managed just like everything else. And I also, and this is my belief is I believe that I've hunted many places where bears are hunted and hunted places where they aren't. And in places where they're hunted, they tend to be less brazen. I don't know if it's just pass down knowledge of fear. Humans maybe, maybe not. I don't really know. I Think that there is this thing where if you were. If. Let's say you could hunt bears, let's say you can hunt grizzly bears and you're in an area and there happens to be a bear that every time somebody kills an elk, that bear kind of comes in and tries to claim the kill, right? That bear would be a bear that would be a potential problem. And yet if a season was open, maybe it's a limited season, but a hunter had a tag and that happened, that would probably be one of the first bears to be taken out of the potential gene pool. He's not. He's no longer passing that trade on. He's no longer teaching that. Or if, you know, I mean, he might. He probably wouldn't be teaching cubs that. But it's just a bear that was a potential problem bear that was now taken out. The ones that are in areas where people are more often probably going to be the ones that are first taken out. And in that way, maybe it's just like the instances of those attacks go down. That's, that's my two cents on it. Because when I'm talking about bears, I'm talking about the things that I think about them. So I actually think that they need to be delisted and regulations made and hunting seasons open. But that's just neither here nor there. We're talking about bear safety. And honestly, you know, as hunters, we are in a category where we're probably going to encounter bears more often. And that's just the fact of the matter. And potentially put ourselves in a situation where it could be a bad situation just based on the way the pursuit works. You know, there's like, I've told this story before, it's kind of a funny story, but there's like, if you read maybe a hiking blog and it talks about be bear aware, right? Hunters could read that. And just every single thing on there just doesn't work. Doesn't work for hunting. There was this, this is many years ago. I was guiding and it was some new clients were elk hunting. And it was the first morning of the hunt and they were all, you know, just like the first morning I really wanted to get out and get to this little glassing vantage to, to look into like a feeding area and then watch where the, the elk went. Because I, I was like, if we don't get there in time, the elk are going to move off before we can even. Like we're a long ways away, but I just need to see where they go or if they're Even there. And it was the first morning of these guys hunt, and like, this typical thing of the first morning, everybody's a little slow. Like, they're slow getting their gear together. Everything's new. Nothing's like, really situated. So I was being as patient as possible, but I really didn't want to waste a day because I went to the spot, and it's one of these spots where you got to be gl. Glassing early. Like, before it's is. It's like before it's even light enough to see. I need to start looking, essentially, and know where these elk are, if they're there and if they're moving off. So these guys are all messing with their packs, and I'm, like, just waiting in the truck, and I'm getting a little impatient because I just know I'm not gonna have time. I tell them, look, we're. We're parked at a gated logging road. Like, literally, I just need to get around the corner here. So I tell these guys, like, hey, I'm just gonna go. All you do. I won't get off the road. I'll make it super simple. Like, just stay on this road till you run into me, okay? They're like, yep, sounds good. There's three of them. And I'm. So I go up ahead and I'm sitting there glassing, and they got, like, the scope out and everything. And I'm glassing, and I'd seen a few cows or whatever. It wasn't anything. I don't think I saw any legal bulls. If I remember right. It was a long time ago, but I don't remember that detail. But I was glassing, and I hear something kind of off in the distance, and it. I just cannot figure out what the sound is. Like, what. It just sounds like. Like Christmas bells. Like, oh, Christmas come early. Santa Claus and the reindeer coming. Like, what is going on? I just can't. Like, I'm glassing. I haven't looked up yet. This is the weirdest thing. Like, I'm pretty sure I hear bells in the distance, and so I'm glad. And the guys kind of come around the corner, and it's loud, and they've all got, like, bells strapped. Like, cow bell. Like, just bells strapped everywhere on their packs. And I'm just laughing. I'm like, what are you guys doing? And, oh, they're bear bells. And I was like, so a bear bell for those that aren't familiar, like, in hiking circles and other things. I don't know if it's still Recommended this was a thing that they would recommend is like, if you're hiking or backpacking in bear country, you put bells on your pack so that when you're walking quiet, the bear can hear you and know that something's coming. I first of all, personally don't think that that would work in any way, shape or form. But, but so, so these guys are, are elk hunting. And it heard in bear country you need bear bells to be safe. And they had them strapped all over their pack. It sounded like like a Christmas parade coming up the trail. And I just had to laugh. I was like, guys, we're hunting. Like, we're gonna be quiet. And they're like, what do we do if there's bears? I was like, well, you have a, a 300 wind mag. You could probably just use that. Like, that's going to be louder than any bear bells. And also, like, where we're at, there's very low incidence of grizzlies. So I think that we'll be okay. But I think that we should probably take the bear bells off for elk hunt because I don't know if it'll work for the bears, but I do know that it will definitely spook the elk. So I think that we're just going to hike around without bear bells this week. And man, just, it was. It's just so funny. But, you know, it does point to a fact of, as hunters, we are, you know, we're being quiet, we're sneaking around. I mean, we might, I don't do it, but like, some people put animal scent or whatever on them. I don't think that's a good idea, not just because of bear country, but like, it's not going to do anything. But, you know, we're, we're camouflaged, we're being sneaky. We're going off trails and through the brush and chasing essentially what bears see as a food source. And because of that, we kind of put ourselves in a situation where it is more likely that we surprise a bear or could potentially have a negative encounter with a bear. Because when you look at bear attacks or charges even, there's kind of three main categories that they classify that cause these things. So one's surprise. When you just like surprise a bear, you come upon him and the bear has this fight or flight instinct. And a lot of these can be not just talking about brown bears and grizzly bears, but black bears, potentially mountain lions. I mean, mountain lions are actually a fairly timid animal, but you see more instances of them, you know, attacking people in places like California and other places where they haven't been hunted and there's just a lot of them, I think that that could be part of it too. Maybe food sources are low, whatever. So some of this applies to other predators as well. But for the most part, it's like surprise. And you got that fighter flight instinct. And for a grizzly bear, to be honest, a lot of their reaction is fight like they're, they're good at it. I've surprised a lot of grizzly bears. Most of them go the other way, but it could turn the other way very quick, could come towards you. And man, when you surprise a bear and it runs off like the distance that they cover and how fast they go, you always think, every time I think, damn, I'm glad that didn't come this way. Like, I don't know if I could have been ready fast enough. The next one is more of a protection kind of thing. So it could be sows protecting their cubs in a lot of attacks. I would say a good majority of attacks are this, where it's like a sow has cubs. Somebody's hiking, gets in between the cubs in the sow, or she's just got cubs and wants to protect them. When you think about a grizzly bear in the wild, when another bear comes up, mostly a male bear, it's going to try to kill those cubs and then hope that that sow comes back and cycle and breeder. It's just what they do in nature. So against each other. The sows are very protective to try to protect those cubs from being killed. And they often choose fight instead of flight because they know that those cubs can't probably run away fast enough. Another kind of protection thing is boars or even any bear really could be a sow, but on a food source. And so they'll like get some kind of food. Maybe it's a kill or somebody else's kill, whatever food and make a stash. Sometimes could even be like. It's not as often, but it could be particular, I don't know, Berry patch or salmon stream, something like that. But most of the time it's like a stashed kill or of protein. So they've like mounted up, they're like eating, they sleep on it. They just eat till they're full, gorge themselves. And then if anything else tries to come and steal it, they chase it off. Could be coyotes, wolves, whatever. They're just protecting that food source. And then the final one, and this is the most least likely, but probably the most Scary or most dangerous? Most, most time lethal is a predatory attack where the bear goes in essentially hunting or intending on killing and thinks the person is either prayer food source, whether knowing it's a human or just thinks it's something else. And this one is something that could even happen. You know, there could be a combination of these things where as a hunter you're making elk calls and then it's. It's stalking and thinking it's sneaking on an elk and then you surprise it as a surprise attack or something of that nature. Or a sow comes in with her cubs thinking she's going to get an elk snack and it turns out to be a person. And now she's defending her cubs against a person. So sometimes it can be a combination of these things. But those understanding why bears attack is very important in a way to kind of understanding defense and kind of more avoidance of bears. So I think like the surprise one, that's where that bear bell thing comes in because you want to be making noise and not surprising a bear or it's like talking when you're on the trail. But as hunters, we don't do that because we're trying to be quiet because we don't want to alert the elk that we're trying to hunt, the deer that we're trying to hunt or whatever else we're trying to hunt. And so understanding the way that and reasons that bears attack is I think the kind of the first thing in thinking about bear precautions. So now let's dive into some of the precautions that we take. I had a friend recently show up and he was going to go turkey hunting and, and he was planning on. He came in from out of town and so I got him set up and let him borrow one of my. I've got like a 10 millimeter pistol that I use. And one of the things, we'll kind of dive into this. But, you know, not being familiar with bears in bear country, I think like part of that's part of the reason that spurred this conversation this week is he's like, okay, you know, just knowing what to do and what's right. And I think in some instances you can overthink it. But I think that taking some serious precautions, especially as hunters, is very important. So the first thing is, I think like going into bear country, you want some form of protection. Okay, that could be multiple things, I guess like it could be bear spray or it could be a sidearm or firearm. I've carried both. Sometimes I've carried both in the field at the same time in some places, like in real, real bear country, like where there's a lot of them, you're encountering them multiple times a day. I've had both. I don't know if I like trusted one over the other more at that time because there was always this kind of conflicting people saying, oh, bear spray is more effective. And then people are saying a firearm is more effective. Over the years, I think like I've changed. There's been, and then there's been times where I've taken only bear spray. And then there's been times where I've taken only a sidearm. And then there's been times where I've taken none of those things. And honestly, I've done that a lot. And I'm not saying that that's smart because it's pretty stupid. That's what we're going to talk about. But I've said, oh, I've got a firear or I've got a whatever, that'll be my bear protection. I'm rifle hunting. That's good enough. Over the years I've kind of altered that a little bit. So I. This is mine. And look, you gotta, you gotta be safe. You gotta be also, you know, you kind of have to know what you're, what you're good with and capable of doing. So I think in some instances, I personally believe that like if, if right now you're like, hey, a bear is going to attack you, what do you want? I would say a sidearm, a pistol of some sort. I would probably. I carry one of two types of pistols. Either a semiautomatic 10 millimeter or a.44 Magnum. Those are my two bear guns. And then there are times, I'm not saying that I don't recommend this, but there are times in like other predator country where I have just like a lighter 9 millimeter that I carry. And that's mostly like in places where I would be maybe just encountering like a black bear, mountain lion, stuff like that, where I'm like, I'm bow hunting but there's a lot of predators around and I want something just in case. I often just take like this 9 millimeter because it's like light and compact. It's almost more like my everyday carry kind of gun. But it just is handy. I don't know if that's a good call or not. That's just what I do personally and I feel okay with it. But in, in big bear country, you know, I've looked at all the studies and stats and Data and it's just like a constant debate. You just have to have something that you think you're competent in. And honestly like I've carry both generally when I'm in like Kodiak bear country, I just personally feel better with a big wheel gun like a 44 magnum and just feel like it's more simple, less things that can go wrong, easier to keep dry, maybe in some ways like safer and more reliable. I can, I can shoot it decent, but I also know that like I'm not going to get as many rounds down range and. But I do have a little more stopping power with it. That's my, my personal thought on that. And then there's other times when I'm in like Rocky Mountain west, other things like that. I feel like the 10 millimeter is good because I have more, I have like mine, I've got a right now a Sig and it, it's like 15 rounds in the magazine. So you can, you can spray and pray with that thing and you can get them off pretty fast. If something's charging in, that might be enough like the sound might be enough to deter it. And it gives you multiple options to miss and or continue to hit the target. Is your is. It's charging. I've done both on like timed shooting. Things like the semi automatic I feel like is more accurate for me to make a lot of rounds into the target. So I feel comfortable and confident with that. But that's just those, that's my philosophy. Then the other side to the firearm thing is like picking a good heavy, solid bullet. You don't want to be going into bear country with cheap plinking ammo and the same like If I've got a 9 millimeter in, in like maybe not so much grizz country, I still like want really good ammo. However, I will tell you what happened. This happened yesterday. Yeah, yesterday. So I get. I gave my buddy the 10 millimeter to go on his turkey hunt with. And I wasn't really, I was going black bear hunting somewhere else. And it was in an area where there could be grizzlies, but it's on that fringe country and we're going to talk about the dangers of that because people like me that are like, ah, it's okay, we don't really run into him very often. Like the odds of that are pretty low and they are. But if they did happen, it could be bad. And so I didn't have like my. What would be my bear pistol. So I thought, well, okay, I could bring a Rifle, which I, I do in, in many instances feel comfortable using a rifle. You aren't going to get very many shots off. But you know, it's one of those like better than nothing kind of scenarios. And so I took my nine millimeter. I'm like, well, it's not great for big bears, but it's more like I was going in black bear hunting and I didn't have a firearm. So I was like, Well I just.9 millimeter will be okay. And I had some like good P plus ammunition with it, or so I thought. But it was older, it was like old stuff. So I had that with me and, and kind of was just thinking about bears and you know, all this stuff and kind of felt like a little bit under prepared for it. But also I felt like I've been in a lot of like situations, bear country, it's. It's good, right? This is probably the, this is, this is the philosophy that gets people smacked around by a bear every once in a while. And so I did that and it was just kind of like where I was at. I just felt like. I don't know, I just felt like it was. I don't know if you just kind of feel like you're being watched by something. And I ended up putting some trail cameras in this one little saddle just to see. I got these new. That's why I went in there doing some bear hunting. And in this particular place it's legal to bait and everything. And it's also legal to use trail cameras and stuff. So I got these new, what are they? Tacticam trail cameras. So I set those up. Cause I just wanted to get some good pictures. And for the most part I also put some out like in areas where like a saddle where I might see something go through this. I did this a few days ago, last week I guess. And I haven't gotten any photos of bears. However, I did get a picture of a wolverine. I'm not like wolverines are not going to attack you. I mean they can be like ferocious or whatever I think, but that's not like a thing. I don't think. However, it went to what it really told me. Like the coolest thing about that is I didn't even know there was wolverines in this particular area. And that's the same thing. Like the odds of that wolverine being there were probably, I don't know, the same as a grizzly bear being in that country. And it made me think anything can be anywhere really within the range that they are. You don't Know when you're going to encounter them. That's the only reason that I'm saying that is like, it was super cool to know that there's a wolverine there. But that wolverine easily could have been a brown bear and it could have been in there when I was doing whatever, right? And so. Or not a brown bear, but I mean a grizzly bear. So, like, the odds of a wolverine being there are very low. As low as probably a grizzly bear being there, but it is possible. And so that kind of really made me think. And so yesterday I had the pistol that I had with me when I was in there. And you know, I was just thinking about barrier safety and all this stuff, and I just decided to shoot the pistol at a target. And I shot. And the first it like didn't go off. I thought, oh, shit, that sucks. So I racked the slide back again. It like kind of dented the primer but didn't fully go off. So I racked the slide back again and reloaded it and closed it back up, just waited, make sure there was no hang fire and pulled the trigger again and it went off. And so I thought, oh, shit, I mean, it's a good thing a bear didn't charge right. And then what happened was that round was actually jammed in the barrel, so it like expanded too much and got stuck. I don't know if it was like the ammunition or I put this aftermarket barrel on, but I'd never shot the combo of the two. And it made me really think, right, if there was something, whatever it was, brown bear, mountain lion, grizzly bear, but it doesn't even matter personal, like something where I needed that pistol for defense and I pulled the trigger. And what happened to me on the range yesterday happened be pretty feeling, feeling pretty defenseless. And of course, anything can happen at any time. But like, in that situation, you go, wow, I was grossly under prepared when we're talking about bear safety and those kind of things. And that's like, honestly, you know, I'm sitting here talking about bear safety and all these things, and I've been under prepared. Like, when I think back, I've done some very, very, very stupid things in bear country. Like, and I'm still alive and still here, you know, and it's more just like not being in the wrong place at the wrong time, honestly. Like, bear attacks are that wrong place, wrong time kind of scenario. And that's what we're going to talk about is really kind of having the options to be prepared. So we're talking about, you know, like carrying something or having some form of protection and then making sure it works. So whatever it is, it needs to work and you need to have it on you. I think, like, when the bear attacked us in Kodiak, nobody had anything on him. And thankfully we all survived because kind of everybody scattered and confused the bear. But, you know, not having a form of protection on you is like, probably a reason that most people that get mauled or get attacked or their protection doesn't work right. Is a major thing. I've heard of stories where bear sprays malfunctioned or people have, you know, maybe the conditions weren't right for whatever they were using. They got bear spray and the wind's blowing super hard into their face so it doesn't work or they don't know how to properly use it and they spray it too soon or not soon enough. All those kind of things can be factors in that. So the first, like, tip that I would give you, whatever you're using, shoot it, practice with it, make sure that it works, and make sure that you're confident with it. And then number two, have it on you. And when it comes to what to carry, like, I think you just do what works for you. Whatever you're gonna be consistent with, like I said, it could change. It could be bear spray. I just prefer having a firearm. I feel like, like I'm the one hiking around with it. I'm the one. I don't care what the data says or whatever. Like, if I go out with more confidence, feeling safe, like I'm going to be able to protect myself. I think that, that that's as good as for me, like, better peace of mind. I mean, you could go, you could look at all the stats and say, like, oh, bear spray works better. And maybe it does. Like, I think that I like and I. And I still will continue to use different forms of it, probably in different scenarios. And maybe there's going to be people out there that disagree with this. Right? But not every case and scenario is the same. Right? There's places where you're going out and it's very, very unlikely that you're going to encounter a bear. Maybe you're like going out with whatever your kids or something, and it's like a summer day and the odds of something happening are very low. But I feel like, okay, if the. Maybe I can't control the situation as much or, you know, it's probably unlikely that I'm going to need to use it maybe in that or maybe that's what I have. I have bear spray. I don't know, maybe that's the better option. Most time I take my pistol, but that's just how I feel now. And that's just, you know, my two cents. Like I feel like I would rather have a pistol with multiple opportunities to fire and defend myself or the people around me. Now there is that thing like you know, into those kind of situations. Sometimes the pistol can be just as dangerous as the bear. And I do believe that as well. Like I've been in situations where things get heated fast and you're, you're kind of thankful. Like there isn't one guy that just gets super hyper focused on the bear is people are running everywhere because that could be just as dangerous as the bear. And that's absolutely true. Like that's. But I mean for me most of the time I'm hunting alone by myself, so that's not really a factor. Like I think I would just rather have my pistol. I'm solo hunting a lot. I'm often bow hunting and for me to have that pistol is like, feels good. And then also sometimes when I'm in the tent or whatever, I feel like it's a better form of potential defense than, than bear spray like at night. And also I think it could be a good deterrent too because of the sound that it makes. So I have shot, I have been charged by animals and discharged a firearm and the discharge of the firearm has turned them around probably I think once or twice. So I do know that that sound does scare them and I don't know if those were like charges where it would have fully committed. But it's good to just let him know you're serious. So that, that is something to think about. Now I think the biggest thing with like bear safety and I talk about this every time we talk about bear safety is paying attention. It's when you get lax, that problems happen when you're in bear country and you aren't seeing bears or you don't have encounters or you're in an area like I said that I was just in where it's like they used to not really be here, but now they're here. It's a potential now, but you're like, ah, we've hiked around here without a pistol. Like I've trail run here my whole life and never carried anything. Well, maybe now it's time to start trail running with something. Whether it's a, like a pistol. That's probably a time that I would use bear spray. In a way where it's like, hey, I'm trail running and I'm in an area that's got very, very low likelihood of encountering something. But it's probably easier to run with bear spray than a pistol. I don't know. You know, there's just everything's kind of situational in some instances, but paying a level of attention and kind of always thinking about bears and things to look out for. The guys that are probably the most safe are the guys that come from somewhere else and are super scared about bears because they're constantly like thinking there's a bear around every rock and bush. It's the guys that live in bear country, recreate in bear country, Go shed antler hunting, pick mushrooms, go pick berries, take their kids on hikes in the summer, go hit the river and go fishing, run up and go scouting, throw up some trail cameras on some wallows. Constantly in it and around it. We're the guys that probably are more likely to have those like, bad encounters and be underprepared because when you're out there enough, you know that there aren't bears around every bush behind every rock. I mean, it's. The fact of it is like you don't have that many, if any, maybe there's a lot of people that I know that have lived their entire lives and hunted their entire lives in grizzly country and never maybe seen a couple and have no bad experiences. And you don't think about it all the time. But I think that thinking about it all the time in that country, especially now that they're being more present, more prevalent, is a really good idea. Then the other thing is thinking about the things that hunters go through and the potentials of where you might encounter bears. So when you're calling, call and, and kind of always be on the lookout, you know, be in a, maybe a defensible position. If you're going to sit and call for a while, have somebody looking one way and you looking another way. Get yourself in a position where, you know, you could be hard for something to sneak up behind you. Maybe you're in front of a big tree, which is good for calling anyways, where you're set up. If something came in, you know, you might be, you might be obscured and blocked from an elk seeing you or like your outline. And then think about too, when you get to the meat and the animal, that's a big time where a bear could claim that and think it's his. Especially if you've wounded an animal you're trailing A wounded animal. So one of the things that I do and precautions that I take is like, the first thing I do is if I'm by myself or if I'm with someone else. And somebody asked me this question recently, I was like, okay, I might be by myself. Like, what do I do if I get an elk? Do I leave it? Like, let's say I get an elk in the evening. Do I leave it and come back in the morning and take care of it? And my answer is no, take care of the meat first. You don't want to give an a bear a chance to claim your carcass or your animal before you can cut it up. So I would personally, you know, headlamps, pay attention. Have your sidearm on you or whatever your. Your strategy is, if you're by yourself or with someone else, have somebody kind of scanning with a light, looking around, paying attention. Especially in real dense bear country, it's good to hunt with another person. And a lot of times people are so one person going to be on lookout and working together. Get the meat off, move the meat from the carcass, and if there's someone else there, like someone stay with the carcass and keep an eye out. Then you move your meat, and you're always using caution between the two places. You move it and hang it. If you got to leave some overnight, like you aren't packing it out all night, move it upwind, like, whichever way the prevailing wind is. So the. The carcass is kind of downwind, so they encounter the carcass first. Oftentimes the bears will claim the carcass first because it just has more smell like they're attracted to it than the meat that's put away in game bags hoisted up into a tree. So make it difficult for the bear to get if you can, or just move it away and then try to find a place where, hey, when you go up to it, you have visibility, you can see, get the meat away from the carcass. And that's the first thing that we do everywhere that we're at, whether it's Alaska, Montana, Wyoming, it doesn't matter, right? That's the first thing I do when I come up upon an animal and I'm paying attention while I'm doing it. And then when I go back to that area, approaching with caution. Now, another thing to think about is when you are packing out when it's in the dark, I'm not afraid of making noise after I'm successful, right? I'm talking, I'm making Noise. I feel like the human voice is a lot more distinguishable and different than maybe like bells, I guess. Like that metallic sound isn't natural, but kind of in some ways it doesn't, I don't know if it would like, if a bear would make that correlation between. But like the human voice is very different. And so like there's been times where I've been packing out in the dark or hiking out in the dark even. I'm like, I'm not in the hunting area and I will just like sing a song, make some noise. I'm not afraid to make some noise as I'm moving out when it doesn't really matter if I'm with a buddy. You know, we're not in a zone, we're hunting. We're just cruising down the trail in a canyon after hours, you know, at night after we've been successful, we've got meat in our pack, we're talking to each other, whatever. We're making noise because that surprise attack is the thing that happens and, and whether you've got meat on your pack or not, I don't think that that really matters in a way it's more just surprising an animal. So we're making noise. We've got our flashlights and headlamps. We're scanning. We aren't just looking at the trail, we're scanning for eyes and other things. I was packing out or going down a mountain last year with some guys and you know, I'm always continually scanning and you can get focused in like you can be looking at your feet and this is just part of that, being aware, scanning around. And I, I, you know, got my light and oh shoot, like down there, there's some eyes that are very forward facing and reflecting, you know, like bright green and like doing this going down, like crouching down thing. And as I got my binoculars on them, they turned out to be mountain lions. It was like a female and a couple smaller ones, three mountain lions. And you go, oh, okay. Like I noticed them because I was intentionally scanning out in front of me. Not really. I mean for navigation purposes in a way, but also just, you know, checking around. It's something that I've always done and continue to do just to be aware. And that's like, I don't, like, I don't think that we're in danger of the mountain lions, but it's good to be aware and be like, hey, hey, hey. You know, and they actually crouch down and it's kind of weird when you're telling an Animal you're there and they, instead of running away, like getting to that pouncing position. But I was still like a good ways away from him. Probably like a hundred yards, eighty yards, something like eighty yards, something like that. But it's good to, it's good to do that, right? It's good to make the noise and talk and it's okay to do that. Like when you're packing out, the hunt's over. Not surprising when you're moving back in the next day to go pick up your meat, glass it from a vantage, look around, make noise as you're going around. Going in there, don't surprise an animal on your carcass, on your meat, maybe at your, at the tree where you put it. And if you can get it out of the reach of a bear, put it up high where they can't get to it. Fed bear is a dangerous bear. So the same goes with keeping a clean camp. When I'm camping, there's times in like Alaska where I've been in brown bear country and things like that. And I'll use an electric bear fence. I've brought them many times. I think it's more of a mental thing than anything because I've touched these bear fences. Like they've never really. Like sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. I don't know. They're hard to get to work, right. In a way. Like I think that they do work because I've put it around meat where I like in tundra country where we couldn't hang anything. And that's often when I bring it. It's like, hey, there's nowhere to hang meat here. Like on a caribou hunt or something like that. We put it around the meat, put it away from our camp and it works. I put it around my camp in serious brown bear country and like Kodiak, Fognak, that kind of stuff. Stuff. And haven't had like any negative camp encounters with them while using those. But also I think that it's just good to do like safe methods of putting your food where bears can't get it, hoisting it up into a tree. And I do that in black bear country a lot of times as well. Like there's a lot of places in California that I've hunted where there's just a lot of big black bears. And now I think you actually have to in some places, like I guess I haven't done it since they changed that rule. But like you almost have to have like bear proof containers in some places. Backpacking. But I would always. This is before that. I would just always, you know, put my food way up in a tree, not have it in my tent and have it where I could see and do the whole thing. Be smart about it, like, keep a clean camp. Because most of the time bears are after food. Like those doesn't matter what it is. You know, if they're on salmon streams, it's like, you see these videos of these bears, like walking past people fishing, and it's like, are they not afraid of these bears? Those bears have food, they see the people. And in many cases, those ones are pretty habituated to humans. Doesn't mean that they aren't dangerous. Doesn't mean that something can't happen. But, like, they have food. But I think as soon as you took that food source away, it becomes a different bear. So if you feed a bear, it thinks that that food's his. You just created a dangerous situation where it's now protecting what food it thinks it's his. Whether it's your peak or mountain house meal or Snickers bar or snack bag, that bear now thinks it's his. And if you're there, it thinks you're a threat. And that could lead to one of those reasons that they attack. So keeping that clean camp is safe. And then when you are successful, you know, trying to stay clean, like, I utilize like, like gloves a lot now. I used to not use them that much, but because there's some weird diseases, you know, I mean, there's just weird stuff in animals these days, I swear, like CWD and, and other things. Like, I've seen a lot of parasites. This is what I should do a podcast on this because I'll just mention this, but I know for a fact through guiding in my own personal hunts in many places across the west where there are predators, most the elk meat. Now most elk meat has parasites in it. And I don't think a lot of people know that. Like, nearly every elk we've killed in the last three years over the between Idaho, Montana and parts of Wyoming or whatever has had parasites in it. Like 90% of them. And the parasites are from apparently wolf or predator feces. And it's inhaled. I know I'm going down this rabbit trail, but like, yeah, this is something that I don't think anybody's really talking about. And I have documented nearly, like through our guiding and stuff. We've seen it in very high prevalence across places and not just in one region, but like friends and other things, hunting. And most people will not recognize it, but it definitely. They definitely do have it. It's almost like it looks kind of like rice, like rice breasts that ducks get. So, I mean, I should. I'm gonna compile a little bit of data from just what we've encountered, and I think that, like, somebody I want to talk to, like, RMEF or even, like, wildlife agencies about this. I don't know how I'm getting onto this topic off of bear hunting, but sarcos, I think it's. How's it. So it's like sarcosystis is the parasite, and you see it in a lot of elk and deer now, and there's states that don't have it. I don't know, but I know, like, definitely Montana, definitely Idaho, and I've definitely seen it in Wyoming. A lot of elk and deer have it, which sucks because you go to cook something medium rare and it. You can. You can freeze it to kill it, like, anymore. A lot of my game meat, I kind of rotate through in a way where I leave stuff in the freezer for a long time before I eat it, because almost everything that I eat has it. So just we went down this rabbit trail, which is good. It's all good. I don't know why. What even brought that up. Now I've lost myself in this podcast, but now everybody. That's the podcast everybody wants to hear. Now that's the podcast I want to talk about. I don't even know where I was going with that, but we'll go back into bear protection. I was talking about gloves. So I try to keep my hands clean because of all the weird stuff in animals, parasites and other things. And then I also use, like a contractor bag or something like that as a pack liner. I don't use it as a game bag. Okay. So I'm still putting it in game bags, hanging it, but it's when it goes into my pack, I use it to keep the blood primarily from soaking into my pack because oftentimes, especially if it's wet or humid environments, that blood dries. And then it creates not only a bacteria that could. Could kind of taint the meat anyways, but a smell that can attract bears if you've got multiple days of packing out. So by using that like pack liner, the plastic, and then when I put the meat up in a tree at night or wherever else it is, I turn the pack bagging or the liner inside out. I try to wash it on a stream or whatever, try to keep that clean and just really limit the smell associated with, like, Soaking into the package. So I often. I actually always do that. There's times where I forget, and it bums me out because I'm like, dang it, man. Now I'm gonna have to clean my pack when I get home or I'm gonna be out here for a while. And I just don't like that blood soaking into my gear and creating that smell that could be potentially something that attracts a bear, you know, and then in that case, you kind of gotta treat your. Your pack like you do your food and keep it away because it does. It could potentially attract a bear. So just kind of thinking about those things around the kill, around the hunt, times that you like, when you go into thicker cover, being on more alert, being ready as you go into place where you could potentially surprise a bear if you do encounter a bear, like, you know, or if you've got meat on your back or you're going to a kill site. You know, being bear aware and thinking about those things makes a big difference in your overall approach to the hunt. And then I think one that new hunters kind of think about a lot is camping, right? It's like, I'm in my tent, it's scary, and there's bears around there. I won't say people never get ripped out of their tent. They do. It has happened, but it is kind of less likely than you'd think. I say that, and I have like, my. My buddy's cousin was actually ripped out of her tent by her head by a black bear. I think there's a head or ankle, but she survived. But there was a lady, like a biker a couple years ago, three years ago, that was killed in a campground, I think pretty close to the highway, but I, you know, by a bear. And they were thinking maybe even it was like a predatory attack. It was just fairly rare occurrence like that. So, like, you know, I do have whatever I might be using for bear protection safely with me inside, you know, still sheathed and in its. In its holster. But, you know, I think that really, like some of that stuff is just. It's just part of the adventure and the experience. You're in their territory, right? It's. It's kind of a little bit the unknown, but I don't think it's something that you need to really dwell on and be afraid of. Don't. I wouldn't be like using my Snickers bars and elk quarter as a pillow in bear country, right? But to be in your sleeping bag, to be in your tent around camp, you know, I don't think I would. I often don't cook in my tent in, in big bear country. So just some of the things to, like, think about keeping that clean camp, being smart about it. You really don't have as much to worry about as you might think, but being cautious and thinking about it is extremely important. I hope you guys enjoyed that podcast. I know we've talked about a lot of those ideas and tactics in the past, but it's always good to refresh, especially as you start thinking about planning out your bear hunt. Just good to kind of refresh those things, especially when it comes to hunting and bear awareness, because I think there's a lot of information out there, but not all of it's really tailored toward hunters and the kind of things that hunters might encounter, because we are going to probably encounter them more often than other users of similar areas. So thinking about bear safety and all that stuff is extremely important. Another thing that I want to talk about, an incredible supporter of this podcast, Stone Glacier. You know, they make some of the best outdoor and hunting gear out there, including packs, tents, sleeping bags, all that good stuff. But I also do know that they have, you know, one of the things that I've used from them, they've got bear spray holsters, which are super handy as well as the way that their packs are designed. You can put a holster or anything you want on the pack. So I actually, you know, you could put a holster on your bino harness or like a bear spray can on your bino harness. That's actually way, like the bear spray on the bino harness is way more convenient than having a pistol on your chest. I've decided, like, as hunters, I know there's, there's a million different ways to do it. You got to do what's comfortable for you, man. I just get, there's just so much stuff, like on everywhere. You got like your pack and your bino harness and your pistol and this and that. And the other thing, the way I run it, like, I like the, I don't mind bear spray on a bino harness because it doesn't hang down and it's not as heavy as a pistol. However, I like to just put my pistol on the waist belt of the pack and then I'll just swap that holster. And on the Stone Glacier pack, it's pretty easy to swap it. I just undo the little strap on the side and swap it to my belt when I'm dropping my pack, and then I put it back on my pack when I'm not find a system that's good for you, but I think that there's, there's a lot of options out there, and you should at least look into some of those options. There's holsters for your bear spray, you know, pistol holsters, all that kind of stuff. I know Stone Glacier has a pretty good system for bear spray, especially that I've used. But if you're, whether you're going into bear country or not, you can. If you guys are looking for new Stone Glacier gear, you can always use code livewild and you'll get free shipping. I also have a lot of the Stone Glacier stuff in my LiveWild store. Remy warren.com. you can go check it out there as well. Some of my favorites. You know, I've got stuff from their day packs to overnight bags, tents, sleeping bags, everything. Everything that you might need, especially in this time where you're gearing up. Go check out my website because I've got a lot of, a lot of good stuff on there. Continually adding new things to the store. But. Or you can go, I mean, there's stuff that's not on there as well, and you can get everything at Stone Glacier's website and you can always use code livewild and get free shipping from Stone Glacier. So thank you guys so much for supporting this podcast. I appreciate you all. And until next week, I'm just gonna stay bear with it. We'll catch you guys later.