Never hunted these critters but I have run across them once or twice.  As you can imagine, I made myself scarce.  My encounters were in the Bob Marshall Wilderness area and the Cabinet Wilderness.  Thankfully, they didn't seem too interested in me as I was some ways away both times.  They did note my presence though.

Too bad you missed out on the hunt Jay, It use to be some real added excitment to my hunting trips into the Bob Marshall. The Grizzly's in the photos below represent two of the last legally harvasted in Montana........







                                      ~Jeff~

I think these might be the first pics of Montana Grizzlies we've had on the forum.  Although I've shot a few Black Bear, I've always figured the expense and trouble (not to mention the actual hunt) of Grizzly hunting to be excessive.  Care to fill me in on those details?

The stories regarding the hunts these two bears were taken on will take a little for me to put into text. I will be back with you with the full details. Most of my hunting in the wilderness complexs in Montana were done along the drainages that feed the upper head waters of the Middle Fork of the Flathead River.

                                      ~Jeff~

 Whoa!!! O my. Now that is cool Jeff. Those Grizzlies are huge! Now that is hunting!
I would love to hunt something like that, because it can also hunt you. It just puts that edge on it dont it?
 
Chris

I have the "details" of the hunt for the larger of the two bears close to ready to post. I am awaiting a particular photo to arrive I will need for the post. The photo is deep in one of my fathers "shoe boxed" collections. He has offered to scan it and send it along to me. The smaller of the bears was not what I consider a true hunt. The photo tells the tale, The bear was in middle of the saddle horse trail. The only thing of interest with this harvested bear is that he was taken with a 41 Ruger handgun. He was about 30 yards out.

Great pics, Jeff. I believe JAy is correct about those being our first MT giz pics. How long ago did they quit allowing grizzlies to be hunted in MT?

Just off the cuff, It was the late 80's? It was in litigation for few years when the "anti" groups first started their lawsuits to get it shut down. I'll e-mail dad, he will recall the year he came out for the hunt and that was the last year or second to the last of the grizzly hunting season.

Cool. Looking foward to your hunting stories Jeff.

Chris

That top one is a stange looking old bear. I look forward to reading the story.
 
Paul

I haven't forgotten you guys. In fact your request for details got me started writing the story of this hunt. Well, I quickly found the story could not be told in a partial form. In order for any of it to make sense I have had to list every detail of the turn of events leading up to the taking of this bear. I am currently 20 pages deep into it and still not quite done. I will most likely post it on my website when completed. But I will promise regardless of where it's posted. I will add a link to it here. In the mean while here's a preview.
Oh yeah, for you ballistic freaks
Remington BDL
300win mag
180gr. corelok SP
3x9 Lepould
distance .......=..20 feet
Performance  = marginal


...............Peeking around the boulder to see a little further up the drainage he got his first glimpse, It was a bear but you could just see the top of his back over the brush and then only at times. It was moving very slow, first you could see it and then you couldn't and then it would appear again. His thoughts were scrabbling as the bear got closer, maybe he would turn into the timber and skirt the park. If not he could let him pass by and shoot when the entire body became exposed in the opening just 30 or 40 feet past where he was setting. It was getting rather close, if the bear continued in the direction he was heading he would pass within 20 feet of where he was sitting hidden behind the boulder. Things were getting rather intense and then it struck him like a ton of bricks...this bear was tracking him, it was following his every footstep and as slowly as it traveled it must have been on extreme alert. Now his thought were scrabbled, the bear may turn right where he had and come his way instead of passing by. He just held out and hoped the bear would continue into the park. There was no clear shot, even at this range the top of his back was all that could be seen. He didn't dare change position for he knew the slightest movement would not go unnoticed by this beast. As the bear reached the point of being directly in front of him, right where he had turned off the trail and made his way through the brush to the boulder it stopped. He was 20 feet away and there was even less of a shot now than before. An eternity seemed to pass before the next movement. It was hard to resist taking a chance at a shot through the brush. As he was considering doing just that the bear suddenly stood up on his rear haunches to get a view over the brush. He was pushing ten feet tall while extended on his hind legs and now the hunter and the bear were looking each other right in the eye............

We've run into a couple of them on the Idaho/Montana border area.  Admittedly, I was startled by the size and appearance of the critters both times.  Another time, we found an elk kill that had been covered by a bunch of brush and a windfall.  Yup, they are out there!
Great pictures Jeff!!
 
All the best,
Brian