Zen and Sharing Space With Bears and Snakes
Posted 10/15/2023
While planning a trip to Montana a friend asked me if the possibility of running into a bear or snake was “over hyped or a real concern?” After some thought, my answer “both” wasn’t very helpful in easing his mind. But it is true - while the odds of an encounter go up exponentially in the country either dreaded species inhabits. The sheer volume of hunters, fishers, and hikers flooding the space makes the odds of you actually being the one who gets bitten or mauled impossibly low. Put another way, you have to play the lotto to win, but when was the last time you won the jackpot? That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be prepared, but common sense often goes out the window when we head west with our fears in tow.
I remember getting ready for my very first out of state bird hunting trip to the prairies. I was convinced a rattlesnake lay under every bush and atop every rock pile. I was certain one of my dogs would be bitten by a snake so I got them the Redrock snake vaccine. In hindsight, I wish I would have talked with a veterinarian familiar with sporting dogs practicing near the area where I was going to hunt to find out how often they actually have to treat snake bit hunting dogs. Our family vet at the time, who was practicing in a state without venomous snakes wasn’t my best resource. With the right guidance, I might have found my fears were overblown and may not have warranted the extreme measure that was this particular vaccine derived from the venom of a completely different species of rattle snake than those we might encounter on the prairie. Had I done my own research at the time I would have found very few efficacy tests had been done on the vaccine itself. I let my fear and ignorance take the wheel and got the vaccine for both my dogs. When they received the booster shot both had bad reactions, one recovered, the other died days later. This isn’t an allegory against vaccines. I get my dogs vaccinated against all the usual suspects. It’s entirely possible this particular batch of vaccines was bad - vaccines have a shelf life and a power outage or any number of things could have happened while it was in storage to allow it to expire. My dog might have had an undetected, underlying health problem that caused the severe reaction to the potent antigens introduced to his system. Hindsight being 20/20 I feel the risk was unneeded for the reward of peace of mind that I was hoping to achieve with this particular vaccine.
Another preventative measure that seems pretty straight forward are “Snake Breaking” Clinics which are highly effective if done by properly trained professionals, however these can go horribly wrong if an entrepreneur with no experience and a high intensity training collar catches a rattlesnake and gets the bright idea to offer a “Snake Breaking Clinic”. These amateurs can do serious damage resulting in your dog becoming a quivering puddle of protoplasm every time it stumbles across a garden hose left out after watering the tomatoes. Even in the best circumstances, expert snake avoidance training aside, a dog can only avoid a snake if they can smell it first. It’s usually the snake they don’t smell that bites them. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t - which sounds about right.
After 20 years of bird hunting in Montana, I have yet to see a snake while I am running my dogs in the morning (your narrator heartily knocks on wood). I stay away from prairie dog towns and south facing rocky hills, aka snake magnets. If the temps are going to be “snaky” (over 70ish Fahrenheit) I will only hunt the cool of the mornings until temps start to warm up and hopefully be back at the truck by the time snakes crawl out of their dens to make an appearance and soak up that heat. Sometimes it doesn’t cool off until right before dark or even hours after, in which case the snakes have all afternoon, evening, and night to get back into their den. This is by no means a bomb proof plan but only hunting the mornings hasn’t let me down yet. But really in the early season the best defense against snakes is a fly rod and a river when it’s too hot to run your dogs.
What do you do if you run into a snake? If you are in the field, secure your dog and walk away, it’s just that easy. I advise people not to shoot a snake just because they come across one unless you have no other choice, as shooting a snake might lead your dog to believe they are prey creating a worse situation down the road.
Bears are a different story entirely. While snakes are generally content to stay in one spot, bears will come to you. They have a litany of reasons to justify violating the sanctity of your camp or personal space. Bears often move in an out of the same areas you want to be, weather you are hunting big game, birds, or standing in a river waving a stick. Assuming all preventative measures and efforts in common sense and offense have been exhausted, there are a few tactics one can employ to try and make your bear encounter story a fun anecdote to tell at Pint Night instead of one that will make your significant other cry.
Bear spray. Despite its effectiveness and almost omnipresent nature in camping areas and popular trails it requires a small learning curve that needs to be navigated. For instance, on one end of the curve was a particular tourist mother. With nothing but her children’s safety in mind, she made the spicy mistake of spraying down her children with the potent pepper spray as if it was mosquito repellent. The intended way to use bear spray is like a fire extinguisher except instead of flames you are trying to douse it’s an irate bear barreling toward you with more fight than flight on its mind. Hopefully you practiced for this predicament and know how to use the spray. Hopefully the wind doesn’t blow it back at you. Hopefully the spray hasn’t expired. I guarantee the bear has been ready for this moment its whole life.
When busting brush trying to get to a dog on point in a hurry bear encounters often get turned up to 11 with split second in your face quick draw predicaments. This is where the discussion of having a firearm in favor of spray takes on a whole new gravity. I won’t get into the vastly heated philosophical debate on what caliber pistol to bring with you other than the one you have practiced with most.
Years ago I bought a Ruger Alaskan in 454 Casull to carry while fishing or hiking, to those unfamiliar it’s a souped up 45caliber load with as much power to stop an enraged bear as it has to inspire jokes from your friends. It is a great big hunk of metal to constantly lug around, load and unload when getting in and out of vehicles, and generally just a great big pain to carry at all times. Ammo is extremely expensive and the recoil so fierce it is no fun to practice with. I ended up finding more reasons to leave it behind than bring it along. In the fall my primary pastime is bird hunting so I already have a weapon I’m highly proficient with in my hands at all times. It seems superfluous to carry another weapon that I would have to drop my shotgun for in the heat of the moment. I suppose if I partook in .410 follies it would be another story but if I subscribed to the .410 mind set shouldn’t I use the small shotgun to be more sportsmanlike and give the bear a fair chance? If I’m hunting the thick brush of northwest Montana and the “Bearanoia” gets ahold of me persistently I will just swap out my bird shot for slugs and do my best to try and remember to put the birdshot back in when the dog goes on point. On the flip side enough google searches will show numerous instances of bird hunters in Montana stopping charging grizzlies at point blank range with bird shot. Your mileage and comfort level may vary to put it to the test on purpose. The long and the short of it is bear spray statistically is more effective than a firearm, if deployed successfully you win by not getting mauled and the bear wins by not getting shot.
I suppose the time when a sidearm makes the most sense is out on the prairie where you can see the bears from a long way off. I don’t know about you, but I prefer my grizzly bears hidden from view, lurking in the forest out of sight and out of mind. There is something particularly unnerving about observing a bear from a distance only to realize it has its eyes on you too (almost as unnerving as stepping over three pounds of fresh grizzly scat when your dog is on point in the bottom of a brushy coulee and as you move in and an 800lb black angus explodes from the buck brush and rose hips).
After doing your research and taking necessary measures to be prepared, dealing with bears and snakes is a mental game. The last rule about hunting in bear and snake country is don’t talk about bears or snakes. Nothing can cast a pall over your camp or during a hunt faster than someone constantly vocalizing their fears about these two subjects. We get it. No one wants to get bitten by a snake or a bear. Shut up already. While founded, these fears are contagious and will override any good time you might have had otherwise.
Now that I live here I have come to terms with my place in the world as a Montana outdoorsman sharing the same space with bears and rattlesnakes. Neither bothers me like they used to. I rarely see poisonous snakes in my day-to-day life. Unless I leave out a full trash can in the late spring and early fall I rarely see evidence of bears. Yet they are always out there somewhere. However even while I am in their natural habitat, I have found that 99.99% of my involvement with either creature is mostly in my head. Far more dangerous and likely to happen is getting stuck out in the middle of nowhere with no water, your dog succumbing to heatstroke or picking a fight with a porcupine.
I remember getting ready for my very first out of state bird hunting trip to the prairies. I was convinced a rattlesnake lay under every bush and atop every rock pile. I was certain one of my dogs would be bitten by a snake so I got them the Redrock snake vaccine. In hindsight, I wish I would have talked with a veterinarian familiar with sporting dogs practicing near the area where I was going to hunt to find out how often they actually have to treat snake bit hunting dogs. Our family vet at the time, who was practicing in a state without venomous snakes wasn’t my best resource. With the right guidance, I might have found my fears were overblown and may not have warranted the extreme measure that was this particular vaccine derived from the venom of a completely different species of rattle snake than those we might encounter on the prairie. Had I done my own research at the time I would have found very few efficacy tests had been done on the vaccine itself. I let my fear and ignorance take the wheel and got the vaccine for both my dogs. When they received the booster shot both had bad reactions, one recovered, the other died days later. This isn’t an allegory against vaccines. I get my dogs vaccinated against all the usual suspects. It’s entirely possible this particular batch of vaccines was bad - vaccines have a shelf life and a power outage or any number of things could have happened while it was in storage to allow it to expire. My dog might have had an undetected, underlying health problem that caused the severe reaction to the potent antigens introduced to his system. Hindsight being 20/20 I feel the risk was unneeded for the reward of peace of mind that I was hoping to achieve with this particular vaccine.
Another preventative measure that seems pretty straight forward are “Snake Breaking” Clinics which are highly effective if done by properly trained professionals, however these can go horribly wrong if an entrepreneur with no experience and a high intensity training collar catches a rattlesnake and gets the bright idea to offer a “Snake Breaking Clinic”. These amateurs can do serious damage resulting in your dog becoming a quivering puddle of protoplasm every time it stumbles across a garden hose left out after watering the tomatoes. Even in the best circumstances, expert snake avoidance training aside, a dog can only avoid a snake if they can smell it first. It’s usually the snake they don’t smell that bites them. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t - which sounds about right.
After 20 years of bird hunting in Montana, I have yet to see a snake while I am running my dogs in the morning (your narrator heartily knocks on wood). I stay away from prairie dog towns and south facing rocky hills, aka snake magnets. If the temps are going to be “snaky” (over 70ish Fahrenheit) I will only hunt the cool of the mornings until temps start to warm up and hopefully be back at the truck by the time snakes crawl out of their dens to make an appearance and soak up that heat. Sometimes it doesn’t cool off until right before dark or even hours after, in which case the snakes have all afternoon, evening, and night to get back into their den. This is by no means a bomb proof plan but only hunting the mornings hasn’t let me down yet. But really in the early season the best defense against snakes is a fly rod and a river when it’s too hot to run your dogs.
What do you do if you run into a snake? If you are in the field, secure your dog and walk away, it’s just that easy. I advise people not to shoot a snake just because they come across one unless you have no other choice, as shooting a snake might lead your dog to believe they are prey creating a worse situation down the road.
Bears are a different story entirely. While snakes are generally content to stay in one spot, bears will come to you. They have a litany of reasons to justify violating the sanctity of your camp or personal space. Bears often move in an out of the same areas you want to be, weather you are hunting big game, birds, or standing in a river waving a stick. Assuming all preventative measures and efforts in common sense and offense have been exhausted, there are a few tactics one can employ to try and make your bear encounter story a fun anecdote to tell at Pint Night instead of one that will make your significant other cry.
Bear spray. Despite its effectiveness and almost omnipresent nature in camping areas and popular trails it requires a small learning curve that needs to be navigated. For instance, on one end of the curve was a particular tourist mother. With nothing but her children’s safety in mind, she made the spicy mistake of spraying down her children with the potent pepper spray as if it was mosquito repellent. The intended way to use bear spray is like a fire extinguisher except instead of flames you are trying to douse it’s an irate bear barreling toward you with more fight than flight on its mind. Hopefully you practiced for this predicament and know how to use the spray. Hopefully the wind doesn’t blow it back at you. Hopefully the spray hasn’t expired. I guarantee the bear has been ready for this moment its whole life.
When busting brush trying to get to a dog on point in a hurry bear encounters often get turned up to 11 with split second in your face quick draw predicaments. This is where the discussion of having a firearm in favor of spray takes on a whole new gravity. I won’t get into the vastly heated philosophical debate on what caliber pistol to bring with you other than the one you have practiced with most.
Years ago I bought a Ruger Alaskan in 454 Casull to carry while fishing or hiking, to those unfamiliar it’s a souped up 45caliber load with as much power to stop an enraged bear as it has to inspire jokes from your friends. It is a great big hunk of metal to constantly lug around, load and unload when getting in and out of vehicles, and generally just a great big pain to carry at all times. Ammo is extremely expensive and the recoil so fierce it is no fun to practice with. I ended up finding more reasons to leave it behind than bring it along. In the fall my primary pastime is bird hunting so I already have a weapon I’m highly proficient with in my hands at all times. It seems superfluous to carry another weapon that I would have to drop my shotgun for in the heat of the moment. I suppose if I partook in .410 follies it would be another story but if I subscribed to the .410 mind set shouldn’t I use the small shotgun to be more sportsmanlike and give the bear a fair chance? If I’m hunting the thick brush of northwest Montana and the “Bearanoia” gets ahold of me persistently I will just swap out my bird shot for slugs and do my best to try and remember to put the birdshot back in when the dog goes on point. On the flip side enough google searches will show numerous instances of bird hunters in Montana stopping charging grizzlies at point blank range with bird shot. Your mileage and comfort level may vary to put it to the test on purpose. The long and the short of it is bear spray statistically is more effective than a firearm, if deployed successfully you win by not getting mauled and the bear wins by not getting shot.
I suppose the time when a sidearm makes the most sense is out on the prairie where you can see the bears from a long way off. I don’t know about you, but I prefer my grizzly bears hidden from view, lurking in the forest out of sight and out of mind. There is something particularly unnerving about observing a bear from a distance only to realize it has its eyes on you too (almost as unnerving as stepping over three pounds of fresh grizzly scat when your dog is on point in the bottom of a brushy coulee and as you move in and an 800lb black angus explodes from the buck brush and rose hips).
After doing your research and taking necessary measures to be prepared, dealing with bears and snakes is a mental game. The last rule about hunting in bear and snake country is don’t talk about bears or snakes. Nothing can cast a pall over your camp or during a hunt faster than someone constantly vocalizing their fears about these two subjects. We get it. No one wants to get bitten by a snake or a bear. Shut up already. While founded, these fears are contagious and will override any good time you might have had otherwise.
Now that I live here I have come to terms with my place in the world as a Montana outdoorsman sharing the same space with bears and rattlesnakes. Neither bothers me like they used to. I rarely see poisonous snakes in my day-to-day life. Unless I leave out a full trash can in the late spring and early fall I rarely see evidence of bears. Yet they are always out there somewhere. However even while I am in their natural habitat, I have found that 99.99% of my involvement with either creature is mostly in my head. Far more dangerous and likely to happen is getting stuck out in the middle of nowhere with no water, your dog succumbing to heatstroke or picking a fight with a porcupine.
About the Author : Michael R Thompson
Visit authors website | View more articlesMichael R Thompson is a freelance writer/photographer/artist as well as a custom knife maker living in the Bitterroot valley. To view his work and follow along on his outdoor adventures go to www.uplandart.com or follow @Upland_ish on instagram
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We'd been walking for several hours, neither of us speaking a word. Even the dogs at heel sensed the tension in the air. Frank looked hangdog while he occasionally checked his cell phone for service. My feet were sore and only getting worse in anticipation of the ten miles back to civilization when all of a sudden we heard the gravel crunch and diesel roar of a truck coming toward us on the logging road. We looked at each other, grabbed our dogs by the collars and jumped off the road and into the underbrush. The truck roared by and I tried to puzzle out the day's events that brought us to this sorry state of affairs.
