No bears dont always use the woods

[Lefty]

Sometimes the middle of the road

2014-05-17 13-36-17 (Small) griz poop in snow.JPG (89.97 KiB) Viewed 3031 times

" Small" grizzlie poo in the middle of the road a bit over 3 inches in diameter

My birthday present was a "hunt" in my 85 year-old fathe-in-laws bear grounds and checking out the family homestead. He always thought they settled in Idaho but was was actually a few miles inside Wyoming maybe 10 miles from the SW Beckler entrance of Yellowstone
We had a short argument on how old the track was. The outside temp was 75 degrees, I told him the poop would have sunk further in the snow if it was much more than an hour old and the sun would have melted the claw marks out

2014-05-17 13-30-09 (Small) grizz print in snow.JPG (79.69 KiB) Viewed 3031 times

We followed the track just into the trees when I smelled bear,.. I kind of freaked out and moved as fast as I could to the ATV and loaded the rifle and went back to my father in law
He agreed that the bear was too close, we didn't see it but Im sure it was within 40 yards of us on the sunny side hill hill or willow thicket

A great hunting trip. I got to listen to his stories.
Losing dogs chasing renegade cattle and sheep killing grizzlies in Idaho
Showing the trees and location where his trailer blew up
Visiting the posterity of old friends
He pointed out some of the best under fished waters and how to get to it
The snow was too deep to make it to the family homestead


A great gift
I hope I can still do at 85 what he does

2014-05-17 14-19-10 (Small) Murray in Wyoming, bear hunt melting snow on road.JPG (103.33 KiB) Viewed 3031 times

[LckyTylr]

That sounds like a fun trip. I love adventures with the older generation. It's like someone is dictating out of a history book for you and you get the full sights, sounds and smells along with it.

[zpd307]

agreed the old folks definitely came from a different generation....

[Swede]

Sounds like you had quite an experience.
I always enjoy hearing and reading stories about long ago hunts and life in the remote Western areas. So much has changed that sometimes it is hard to visualize what it was like back then. The roads and vegetation are even different, still they stories bring us back to a simpler time, when a person lived by his wits and his own simple resources. Men and women both were rugged in their own way.

[Lefty]

The story from my Father in law on this road.
His grandfather and grand uncle homesteaded some of the high ground on the Idaho Wyoming border.
Uncle Ray built a way station and home just south of Yellowstone , between Flag Ranch and Ashton Id. Grandpa and Uncle Ray contracted and hauled concrete for the Government until the snow was too deep.
Christmas The family went to Rexburg for Christmas , on the return to the house had been burnt to the ground, at that time the nearest house was granddads place 12 miles away.
They rebuilt that spring and the house and barn still stand