User blog comment:Varzan Deodinm Beldinm/Volume 2: Will the Fan Feedback Pay Off?/@comment-89.101.114.87-20140702124104/@comment-4010415-20140702164619

I'm pretty sure Russel shouting "That's a big Ursa!" was meant to be an indicator of why they ran away. For all we know, they didn't run into any giant grimm during the initiation. Even Pyrrha ran away from a giant grimm (the Death Stalker). Teams RWBY and JNPR initially planned on running away rather than fighting the Nevermore and Death Stalker. The only reason they fought them was because they were forced to. They were cornered. They were only able to defeat them through team effort.