The Griz and the Bull

Back in the 80’s, while working in the Oil Field for a Rock Bit company, I got to see some amazing things. I worked in the Wind River Mountains area supplying Wildcat oil rigs with the bits necessary to drill exploration holes for gas and oil.

Most of these rigs were literally in the middle of nowhere. I would get to drive down these lonely dirt roads for miles and miles. These roads wound their way up and up to the tops of the mountains where the rigs were.

One day while driving to one of the rigs I stopped to take a break. There was a small valley down below. I heard a strange noise, so I walked to the edge of the valley to see what was going on. Down below was a huge bull moose and a grizzly bear. They were facing each other and were making noises at each other. The bull’s head was lowered and the bear was standing.

All of a sudden the bull charged the bear and the bear took one swipe at the bull and sent him into the dirt. I thought, well that didn’t take long and I thought it was all over. The bull got up and shook his head and charged again, this time catching the bear head on and sent the bear rolling backwards. The noise from these two was incredible, even though I was almost 200 yards away.

At one point the bear grabbed the bull by the horns and didn’t let go. I thought it was all over and the bear would win. It looked as if the bear was trying to break the bull’s neck. They tumbled and rolled and then they were both back on their feet again.

These two went at it for almost an hour and both were bloody from the fight. Finally they were both breathing very heavy and it seemed as if they both were too tired to go on. They just stood there looking at each other for what seemed to be a long time. The bear dropped to all fours and turned around and walked into the trees. The moose waited until the bear was gone before he moved. What an incredible moment. I wished I had a movie camera, it was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Ray