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Grizzly bears in Montana have begun to follow hunters, researchers believe.

A Government project fitted eight bears in the area with GPS.

It found that bears stalk Elk hunters to steal their prey, tracking them almost from the moment they leave their cars.

Hunting the hunters: The team found a bear fitted with GPS followed downwind of hunters as they went after an elk - possibly looking to steal it from them once it had been killed.

Already, data has shown at least one grizzly following oblivious elk hunters almost from the moment they left the parking lot, according to the Billings Gazette. 

Scientists believe the bear may have been following the humans in hopes of getting to a fallen elk before they did.

In one encounter already tracked by the Montana team, as a group of hunters moved around a lake in search of elk a nearby GPS-collared grizzly starts moving in the same direction behind and to the side of the hunters — probably downwind of them.

At one point, the bear is within about 100 yards of the hunters, who never knew it was there.

After bedding down around noon, the bear picks up the hunters' now-cold trail and follows them again, possibly hoping they would shoot an elk.

'Bears opportunistically scavenge carcasses throughout the active season and commonly usurp kills of other predators, such as cougars and, since their reintroduction in 1995, gray wolves,' the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team, which carried out the study, said. 

'Remains left by hunters also provide grizzly bears with meat, and bears are attracted to areas outside of national parks when these remains become available during the fall.'

Experts have previously said they believe bears stalk hunters from as close as the length of a football field in order to steal their prey.

In one encounter already tracked by the Montana team, as a group of hunters moved around a lake in search of elk a nearby GPS-collared grizzly starts moving in the same direction

The Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team, part of the U.S. Geological Survey, started the project over the summer, by tagging the grizzlies in the Grand Teton National Park. 

The team also asked elk hunters to carry 100 GPS units that track their routes.

Grizzlies have been known to steal the prey of hunters and fishermen alike.

Scientists believe they may even listen for the sound of gunshots, knowing that they signal a meal to be scavenged. 

The team track bears to follow their breeding and hunting habits.

Hunters and bears often collide in the fall because of a common interest in eating fresh, wild protein. 

Fall hunting season brings a number of individuals into the woods hoping to move stealthy and sneak up on deer and elk. 

At the same time, the grizzlies are in 'hyperphagia', which is the stage before they enter hibernation.

During this time, the grizzlies are consuming as many calories as possible to gain fat for their long slumber. 

Gut piles and carcasses left by hunters provide an easy source of food.

Eight Montana grizzly bears have been outfitted with GPS trackers in an ongoing study

Grizzly bears' have a sense of smell seven times greater than that of a bloodhound, and 100 times that of a human by some estimates. 

Grizzlies also possess a Jacobson's organ in the roof of their mouth that can detect heavier moisture-borne odors. 

Young grizzlies are spotted playing with mama bear

Animals such as elk may travel for miles after being wounded, leaving hunters the task of tracking them even as bears may be doing the same.

So attuned to the movements of hunters are the bears that Grizzlies are known scavengers, and officials noted there have been cases of the mighty bruins attacking hunters as they dressed elk in the field. 

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks now requires successful bison hunters outside of Yellowstone National Park to move carcasses and gut piles 200 yards away from homes, roads and trails to lessen the chances of human-bear interactions, according to the Gazette.