2007 Grizzly Encounter

As I was going through wildlife stories, I found this one. I had The Archer type this experience in his own words as a school assignment that week in order to preserve it.

Hunting in Montana by The Archer (2007) Grizzly Encounter
Yesterday was the first day of hunting season. Dad and I were prepared early. We had a preset plan to cover a specific mountain. We got up, prepared, and before light we were at the hunting area. To our surprise the forest service shut a gate miles from the mountain. We had to totally change our plan. We decided to split up and cover the side of the mountain. We would meet at the top. I got to the top before Dad. It was beautiful. The entire lower area of the mountain was covered in a blanket of clouds. I started to walk off the mountain. All of a sudden a "boom" broke the silence of the mountain. I turned on my radio and found out that Dad had shot a beautiful 5x5. I went back up the mountain to Dad. We were miles up a mountain so we had no choice but to cut all the meat off right there. By that time ravens had began to fly in circles around us waiting to get to the carcass\gut pile. We had no way to pack it out so Dad took off his sweat shirt. He tied the sleeves and cut holes in the collar. Then I sewed it shut with the string off my collar. Then we skinned it right there and cut the meat off. We stuffed the meat in his sweat shirt.
A guy in Missoula area shot an elk. With his rifle next to a tree he began gutting it out. A grizzly came to get the gut pile and decided instead to eat the guy and the elk. With that and other stories we had always made a habit to look out for grizzly bears, black bears, wolves, and mountain lions when gutting on the mountain. With other experiences, it was proven that when predators hear a gun shot they associate it with a gut pile. Dad carried the meat and I carried the rifles and head. We were blood soaked and carrying all we could. It was brushy and full of downed timber so watching footing among the rocks was paramount. I suddenly caught a glimpse of movement in the corner of my eye. I turned my head to see a grizzly bear staring at us a mere 50 yards away! We quickly dropped the meat and head. I handed Dad his Contender Carbine and I drew my Ruger Super Black Hawk. The grizzly was unquestionably the biggest bear I've ever seen. It had a massive head and huge shoulders. The bear looked at us for a while as if deciding what to do and then started walking towards the carcass. We decided if it followed us or showed some kind of aggressive action we would just give it the meat. Then we got off the mountain as soon and quickly as possible while looking over our shoulders of course. Days later I returned to the carcass. The ground around the carcass was torn all up and just little pieces of bone was all that was left of the carcass. While living here in Montana I've seen many black bears, wolves, cougars, and moose while on foot, but never have I felt fear like when I was staring in the eyes of that grizzly!