Bear interactions have been on the rise in Western Montana, with reports of bears popping up in houses, on highways, at fishing access sites and even wandering the halls of Bozeman High School.

But hunters entering the bears’ home turf have also been running afoul of the hungry animals, which have been growing increasingly bold as their window to pack on fat before winter hibernation grows shorter.

Earlier this month near Upper Whitefish Lake, a hunter killed a grizzly bear after it charged him and his two partners. Before their dog inadvertently brought the bruin charging in their direction, they reported smelling something decomposing below the logging road on which they were walking.

Lee Anderson, the warden captain for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Region 1, said this should raise a red flag for hunters in the field as the general rifle hunting season for deer and elk opens on Saturday.

“You really want to be aware of your surroundings,” Anderson said. “If you can smell a dead carcass or if you see ravens flying up, that’s a good sign there’s something dead ... You might want to think about going the other way, or at least be prepared that you could be bumping something off a kill.”

Wildlife managers in Western Montana have reported a significant increase in bear interactions this season, with one of the driest growing seasons on record producing an unimpressive crop of huckleberries, serviceberries and chokecherries — staples of grizzly and black bears’ typical diets.

Anderson said he hasn’t notice a corresponding uptick in hunters running into bears, but noted the overall trend has increased over the years along with the size of the grizzly population.

“It seems every season we have interactions between hunters and grizzly bears, and I think over the long term, over the past ten years, it has been a steadily increasing thing to where it’s more common,” he said. “Some of it’s just bad luck, but there are definitely more bears on the landscape than there has been in a long time.”

Regardless, there are a number of actions hunters can take to minimize the likelihood of a bear encounter.

After dressing a fresh kill, they should move the carcass away from the gut pile, which gives off strong odors more likely to attract a bear’s attention.

Anderson also recommended that hunters should, whenever possible, get their harvested animal field-dressed and out of the area as quickly as possible. Failing that, it’s a good idea to mark any left-behind meat with flagging, or cover it with brush. That way the returning party can determine whether the carcass was moved in the meantime.

And while shoving his fist down a grizzly’s throat recently appeared to have saved one Teton County hunter from the jaws of the bear, Anderson says it’s still always a good bet for hunters to bring bear spray and keep it accessible.

Following food storage rules also is especially important at this time of year.

On national forest lands, the following rules are in effect, according to the Flathead National Forest:

When you are not present, all food and attractants, including game meat, must be stored in either a hard-sided camper, vehicle trunk or cab, enclosed horse trailer or approved bear-resistant container suspended at least 10 feet above the ground and 4 feet from the vertical support, or by using an electric fencing system.

In addition, wildlife carcasses that are within one-half mile of a camp or sleeping area must be stored in a bear-resistant manner during night-time hours.

For more information about food storage requirements, visit the Flathead National Forest web page, www.fs.usda.gov/flathead, and click on the Bear Country Safety link. Visit the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee website, http://www.igbconline.org/ for bear safety resource guides and information on using approved electric fencing. Download the “Hunting Safely in Grizzly Country” brochure from the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks website, www.fwp.mt.gov.

Reporter Samuel Wilson can be reached at 758-4407 or by email at swilson@dailyinterlake.com.