I'll be making my first visit to Montana and Yellowstone in February. We're planning a snowmobile trip.  Does the group have opinions on carrying while there? I do not plan to hunt, but I don't want to be unarmed either.  

Thanks!

Why would you not carry?

The bears are sleeping in February in Yellowstone/Montana.  

And you might want to check the National Park regs as far as packing in the Park.

Do you only carry on special occasions normally? If you habitually carry - and you understand that there will be certain areas you cannot legally go if armed - then I would say absolutely carry.

I sure always do when visiting there.

I carried a G17.5 last September while visiting. Always prepared.

Carry a large revolver or G20. The moose are meaner than the bears.

Same as the states law. MT, WY and ID all allow constitutional carry. Not in visitors centers or offices. Yellowstone will have signs posted where carry is not permitted.

The park says guns can't be used in self defense, but the only cases I know of when a gun was used in self defense against wildlife in a park were in Denali and Glacier. In the Denali case the park differed to state law. And in the Glacier case, charges were filed, but dismissed.

You probably won't see bears. But you will get close to lots of bison. Like real close, as they like to travel the packed snow roads instead of powder.

If you do a multi-day snowmobile trip you'll have to stay in park accommodations, which I'm not sure will be open cause of covid. And frankly, you'll be bored.

Stay in West Yellowstone, it's more lively and there will be a few restaurants and bars open (as a lot of what was good with Gardiner burnt down last year.) Take the tour with Two Top, and talk them into tacking on an extra day or two of snowmobile rental apart from the toir. They will be different from the eco friendly 4 strokes  and you can drive on the streets and access a ridiculous amount of trails right from the town.

The last time I did a tour and rented was 2 years ago. Got a tour and then rented 2 2 strokes for 2 days, for less than it would have cost me to trailer mine down and back in gas.

Ohhh. And fun fact, grizzly bears don't actually "hibernate" as you most likely been taught. And sometimes are out in winter.

Attached File


Attached File
 

I'm not the OP so you should direct your comments to that person.

And bears do hibernate. I'm a retired WL biologist. And bears can play in the snow on either end of their hibernation.

Hey ThereBeDragoons,

Thanks for the very informative reply.  We are planning to do the tour followed by private rental the next day and we are planning to stay in West Yellowstone. We found two snowmobile tour companies and one of them is Two Top, but both were owned by the same parent company.  

Thanks again!

You're going to have a blast! Snowmobiles are fantastic here in the winter - especially if you haven't experienced it before.

Plus the newest generation of sleds are just so damn powerful while still being light enough to right on your own. You can pretty much get out of any situation.