Tikka,
It happened on a tributary to the North Fork of the Shoshone. I was in about 5 miles. I had taken a shot at a nice muley across a canyon. I went to check on the shot. I got about 100 ft. from where the buck had been standing when I had taken my shot. Above me on the hillside, two grizzly bears came running at me out of the timber. I refer to this gulch as Grizzly Gulch as bears in this area are no surprise. They also have a tendency to come to gunshots. This was early in November. By the way, I did not hit the buck. The outcome may have been different if he was down.
The slightly smaller bear was in front of the sow. He was more threatening than the sow. She was behind the 1 1/2 year old cub. He was swinging his head back and forth and growling. The first thing I did was stop dead in my tracks. I was facing both bears head on. I had my rifle up, scoped turned down with a shell in the chamber. I could of shot either bear.
The standoff lasted for an eternity.The sow stood up behind the smaller bear a couple of times. That is not an aggressive posture for bears. This caused me to relax just a little bit. After along time of just staring each other down, I started yelling "Hey Bear" very loudly. The whole time my gun was pointed right at the smaller bear. He wasn't very far away. I don't know why it is, but every time I point my rifle at close range on a grizzly they have a tendency to go away. Given the bad eyesight of bears, I don't understand why this seems to work. I think the sow got tired of my yelling and eventually smacked the smaller bear on the back of the head and they ran off around me and up a gully. I was yelling loudly the whole time. They ran right through where a local outfitter had his dudes and horses parked on a migration corridor. Watching them all scramble away from the two bears was worth the price of admission.
The G&F tell people to not yell loudly at a bear. I yell as loudly as I can. I also would never knowingly turn my back on a bear. I also would never advance on a bear. I just stand still or slowly back out and hope I don't trip.
In 2016 during elk and deer season, I ran face to face into a large boar grizzly in the Sunlight backcountry. We were on the same trail. My oldest son was with me. I was carrying spray and my son had his .338 Lapua. I think the bear smelled us but didn't see us. Again, I yelled "Hey Bear" at the top of my lungs. He ran away uphill. I was amazed at how fast he could run without making much noise. We gave him about 15 minutes without moving before we headed down the trail and out of the backcountry.
Your guess is as good as mine about what a grizzly bear will do in these situations. I know that whenever I make a kill, I always drag the animal out into the open to dress it.
The more I have bear incidents, the calmer I seem to be during the encounters. I have said it a million times, the best defense for these bears is vigilance and focus.
Just sayin...mh
