Grizzly and elk hunting

[foothillsman]

I had a run in with a sow and two cubs while hunting elk. They were utilizing an area within a few hundred yards of a well used bedding and feeding area, an area that I had spotted two bulls a month ago. I didn't see any elk in the area yesterday, but that may have also been a coincident. It is quite possible that the elk moved out of the area to breed. Does anyone know how the presence of a grizzly will effect the behavior of elk?

[Young Eldon]

Elk and grizzlies overlap a lot. In Sept. we had two incidents with grizzlies in the Willmore while bugling elk. One tried to run us off the bull we were loading on the pack mules and the next day another one bluff charged up to about 30m. while two of us were standing in a burn area. Yelling and hollering drove both of them off!

[oldgutpile]

The mountain valley that I hunt elk in every year, always has lots of grizzly sign. On the years when the elk are very quiet and fail to respond to the bugle and the cow call, are the times we have problems (read: "run-ins") with the bears.
My conclusion is that any time the bears are heavy in the valley (this year there were problems with two different griz), the elk are extremely quiet and cautious. Other years, when the only griz sign was old, the elk were very vocal and our own success rates much higher.