Bear Issues in Montana

[Bear Paw Jack]

By: MTN News
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Investigation continues into 2 grizzly bear attacks in SW Montana3 hunters injured by grizzly bears in 2 separate attacksShedhorn Sports in Ennis
GREAT FALLS — Montana Fish, Wildlife, & Parks is continuing to investigate following separate grizzly bear attacks that happened Monday in the western Gravelly Mountains, injuring three people. The three people sustained moderate to severe injuries.

Two hunters were injured in an attack that happened in the morning, and another hunter was injured in an attack later that evening less than a mile from the first incident. Survivors of the first attack have been released following medical treatment. The man injured in the second attack is still receiving medical treatment in Butte but is in stable condition.

FWP said in a news release on Wednesday that it’s still unclear whether the same bear was involved in both encounters.

By: MTN News
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Investigation continues into 2 grizzly bear attacks in SW Montana3 hunters injured by grizzly bears in 2 separate attacksShedhorn Sports in Ennis
GREAT FALLS — Montana Fish, Wildlife, & Parks is continuing to investigate following separate grizzly bear attacks that happened Monday in the western Gravelly Mountains, injuring three people. The three people sustained moderate to severe injuries.

Two hunters were injured in an attack that happened in the morning, and another hunter was injured in an attack later that evening less than a mile from the first incident. Survivors of the first attack have been released following medical treatment. The man injured in the second attack is still receiving medical treatment in Butte but is in stable condition.

FWP said in a news release on Wednesday that it’s still unclear whether the same bear was involved in both encounters.

The four hunters involved in these incidents had taken steps to educate and prepare themselves for hunting in grizzly country. Hunting with a partner contributed greatly to their survival, according to FWP, both in ending the attacks and in being able to get medical attention. Both parties also had a means of defending themselves, which is important when recreating in bear country.

The first attack happened about 7:30 a.m. when two archery hunters from New Mexico were following elk tracks south of Cottonwood Creek, west of Black Butte. The two men said they were walking single file up a hill when they heard a noise. They both turned to see a bear charging toward them. The bear struck one of the men as he was reaching for his bear spray. The man fell to his hands and knees, then the bear grabbed onto his backpack.

The other man deployed bear spray; when the spray reached the bear’s face, the bear let go of the first hunter and attacked the other hunter. The man continued spraying the bear’s face, and the bear eventually let go and left. The two men were able to walk back to their truck, which was nearby, and drive to Ennis to be treated for their injuries.

Once they were released from the medical facility, the two hunters went to Shedhorn Sports in Ennis - still wearing hospital gowns - to get new clothing.

“They were dressed in hospital clothing which was a little odd to start with," Terri Lynn James of Shedhorn Sports said. "He had a pretty big gash in the back of his head that you couldn’t see that was bandaged and the other guy had injuries around his groin area but they were in good spirits.”

James posted on Facebook : "Workin at Shedhorn today, a couple of guys came in just after the Grizzly attack! They had guns but said the bear spray is what finally did the trick!"

Shedhorn Sports owner Rob Gallentine and FWP agree that both of the hunters that stopped into Ennis, bruised and bandaged, were prepared - and that may have been what saved their lives.

“Things have changed so much in the past 10 years or 20 years, you know, where you just wouldn’t want to hike the Madisons or the Gravellys or any of the mountains without bear spray," Gallentine says.

The second attack happened about 6:30 p.m. as two archery hunters from Washington were walking north toward Cottonwood Creek. They said they heard a noise and saw a bear charging at them. The bear struck one of the men, who initially fell face-down. During the mauling, the man ended up laying on his back with the bear on top of him. The man’s hunting partner shot at the bear with a pistol, and the bear stepped away but did not leave initially.

The bear charged two more times but did not make contact with the hunters again as both hunters fired shots at it until it departed. It’s unclear how many shots were fired or whether any of them hit the bear.

The two men were able to leave the area on their own. The injured hunter was treated initially in Sheridan and was later transferred to Butte.

The U.S. Forest Service on Tuesday closed Cottonwood Road, which runs through the area where the attacks occurred. Prior to the closure, FWP wardens and Forest Service law enforcement officers notified other hunters in the area. Both agencies also searched for several hours for a bear in connection with the attacks, but none was located. The investigation will remain active this week despite challenging weather conditions.

Further management action is pending the outcome of the investigation.

Attacks from grizzly bears are most common in surprise close encounters with humans. Bears are especially active during the fall months as they seek protein- and calorie-rich foods in preparation for hibernation. This is also when many hunters are in the field.

https://www.krtv.com/news/montana-and-regional-news/investigation-continues-into-2-grizzly-bear-attacks-in-sw-montana

 

[gramps]

Oh yeah that bear spray really saved their bacon——not! Pretty bad shots too!
gramps

 

[Mobuck]

"Pretty bad shots too!"

A couple of friends(one a Montana resident) and I hunted south of Bozeman off and on for about a decade. We listened to another hunter describe the aftermath of his successful use of a handgun during a grizzly attack. He fired a total of 4 shots IIRC. The first was a "warning" that plowed dirt/rocks 3-4' to one side of the aggressive bear. The remaining 3 shots were all hits with the final at approx 10' striking the 350# sow in the upper forehead. I thought that was pretty decent shooting.
THEN the real trouble started. Even though the man left his backpack where he stood during the attack and led the wardens directly back to the location, they weren't satisfied. Everything he had with him at the time was impounded(bow, handgun, backpack, camera, and even the vehicle he left parked at the road). The guy had to hire a lawyer and it still took him most of a year to recover his equipment. In the meantime, the handgun had rusted over most of the exterior, the bow appeared to have been trod upon, the batteries in the camera had leaked ruining the camera, and while sitting in the impound his pickup had been infested with rodents causing all sorts of damage. Now, there may have been reasons why the bunny cops were skeptical of his report or they may have just wanted to get the message out that you'd better have tooth marks before shooting a griz.

 

[contender]

"Tis' the season!"

We are living proof of our own "success."
Each year,, we seem to get more & more reports of serious animal attacks upon people. Not just by bears either.
And we can thank the environmentalists,, who pushed for such restrictive protections,,, that controlling animal numbers is nearly impossible. Combine that with the loss of habitat,,, and more people venturing into the spaces these animals live,,, conflicts will and are happening.

I'm not saying we should wipe out any species,, just allow the true biologists & the knowledgeable folks make the rules. Then the issues with bears, cougars, wolves, & other animals could be better balanced. With a good balance,, we can reduce the number of human/animal encounters.

Jim Shockey & I had a brief discussion on the grizz that broke into a cabin & killed a woman & baby. He was livid in his feelings against the politicians who refused to allow controlled hunting in a manner that he felt could have prevented this. He spoke of actually seeing that grizz & COULD have killed it before it attacked these folks. Regulations prevented it.

In this case,, it's possible the same bear was involved,, and yet,, again, maybe not. Luckily,,, these hunters survived,, and were able to at least do something to defend themselves. Sometimes,, people aren't so prepared or lucky. (Remember the girl attacked & killed by dogs we recently discussed?)

 

[BearBio]

Musta read a different article. The one I read (Quoted above in the OP) says the bear spray drove off the first bear and the two hunters appear to have minor injuries since they walked to their truck and
were released from the hospital that day! The second hunters were charged and attacked THREE times despite using a pistol. That hunter suffered more serious injuries.

James posted on Facebook : "Workin at Shedhorn today, a couple of guys came in just after the Grizzly attack! They had guns but said the bear spray is what finally did the trick!""

 

[BearBio]

From another article:
U.S.
Three hunters mauled in grizzly bear attacks at Yellowstone: 'He was in their face before they even had chance to grab a gun'

Three hunters were badly hurt in two separate grizzly bear attacks in Montana on the same day, state officials have said.
All three suffered “moderate to severe” injuries after being mauled by a lone bear in the Gravelley Mountains on Monday, according to the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks agency.
It is not known if the same grizzly was involved in both attacks, which happened less than 12 hours apart in the same area southwest of the city of Bozeman.
In the first attack, a bear charged at two men hunting in the mountain range at 7.30am on Monday, officials said.

One of the pair was able to drive the grizzly away with bear spray while it was “on top of” his friend, according to a worker at an outdoors shop the men visited later that day.
The employee, Terri James, said the hunters thought they may have startled the bear as it was sleeping.
“They said he was up and in their face, just right there on them before they even had a chance to really even grab a gun or do anything, which I think is important for people to know,” she told NBC Montana.
She added: “The bear was on top of one of the men, and the other one was able to get to his bear spray. He sprayed the bear, and that’s what made the bear leave.”
The men sought medical treatment in the small town of Ennis. After leaving hospital they visited the shop to buy new clothes and seemed in high spirits, according to Ms James, who posted pictures of the bloodied hunters on Facebook.

 

[Bear Paw Jack]

I've said many times I do NOT believe that bear spray is as effective as FWP people and Biologists that work for FWP claim. It is not a miracle product.
Quote [The other man deployed bear spray; when the spray reached the bear’s face, the bear let go of the first hunter and attacked the other hunter. The man continued spraying the bear’s face, and the bear eventually let go and left]
The man that used the bear spray was attacked anyway. I suppose if you use enough you may survive. There are many things that may work better than nothing. Bear spray is one of those. Many folks believe a firearm of some kind (frequently a handgun) as they are easier to carry than a rifle if you are archery hunting. What's not said, is it should be of an adequate caliber, and the user should have adequate skills. If you don't have a handgun of adequate caliber, or your skills aren't adequate to hit your target, yes maybe you should also carry bear spray. There is a lot of pressure to carry bear spray as opposed to a firearm by FWP and the biologists who work for same (because they are more concerned with the bear than the person) not to mention the folks that bear spray as they can't assume everyone that goes out into the bush, have an adequate handgun, or the adequate skills to do themselves any good.

I didn't read anywhere that the victims said the bear spray may have "done the trick", the salesman said it. The second group of victims, used a handgun to protect them. They had no reason to quit shooting, just because the bear stopped for a second, and should have continued to fire while they were still in danger.

Mobucks, description of what happened to the hunters that used firearms to protect themselves and how FWP handled the situation, is a major example of the fact that FWP would rather see the bears eat someone, than have the victims protect themselves with a firearm. That's what is criminal, and proves the point.

In Alaska, people have the law on their side in using DLP laws to protect them. Not all states have forward thinking politicians.

The point of posting the article, is that as TY said, the environmentalist whackos make it nearly impossible to protect yourself, in spite of numbers continuing to go up, and want to give animals the benefit of the doubt rather than humans. FWP and biologists that work for FWP are frequently the same environmentalist whackos that have made it difficult to protect yourself, but they make exceptions for those of their ilk, to be able to protect themselves. Yes it can happen to you.

 

[gramps]

Let me see, the spray FINALLY drove the bear away, so it could attack a second group of hunters. Yeah, real successful. If the first group could get close enough to spray, they were close enough to kill it! Then there wouldn’t have been a second mauling! Now the FWP has to close down the area!
gramps

 

[BearBio]

Bear Paw Jack has a habit of screaming that anyone who disagrees with him is a liar, despite any evidence to the contrary! He believes if he cries loud enough and often enough someone will believe him.
For the readers: a clarification on Jack's misinterpretation of the article:

" I didn't read anywhere that the victims said the bear spray may have "done the trick", the salesman said it. The second group of victims, used a handgun to protect them. They had no reason to quit shooting, just because the bear stopped for a second, and should have continued to fire while they were still in danger. "...….Bear Paw Jack

"They had guns but said the bear spray is what finally did the trick!"" ……….From the clerk quoting what the HUNTERS ACTUALLY SAID!

BTW: As I have often said here and other places: I carry bear spray and a .454 (Reeder custom Super Blackhawk).

Also: No one has said it was the SAME bear! It MAY be!

 

[gramps]

According to the "Occam's razor" theory, it was the same bear.
https://www.google.com/search?q=occam's+razor&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-us&client=safari
gramps

 

[AJGUNNER]

You might have seen my post a few weeks ago.
http://www.rugerforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=280824

This article was sent to me yesterday by my cousin. It really hit home since I was in this exact area of Montana fishing last week with my uncle and cousin from Alaska. Neither of them leave the house even to go out for the mail (200 yards away) without packing their 454's. Neither of them brought a handgun to Montana. I had brought a S&W model 60 loaded with a single round of bird-shot followed by 4 rounds of 158gr JHP. Of course I was thinking more along the lines of a big fat rattlesnake than a big fat bear.

We fished lots of rivers, streams, and spring creeks. On the Madison river we were having lunch when a F&G guy pulled in and parked in one of the empty campsites. We went over and chatted with him for a few minutes looking for fishing advice. We had noticed the bear proof garbage cans so my cousin asked if they really get bears down in the valley, to which we were told "we almost closed this campground just last week (5 days prior) due to a big grizzly right here in this campground". Kind of got our attention since this was only our 2nd day there.

That night while fishing just outside of Ennis we were walking down stream and passed a couple of guys going up stream. They told us about a "big bull moose" right around the corner and a cow with a pair of calves about another 1/2 mile up. Me not seeing moose to often, wanted to continue so we could check them out. Both uncle and cousin that see moose almost daily, wanted nothing to do with chasing after the moose, especially the cow with calves, so we jumped in the river and fished our way back upstream for the evening.

If any of you have fished some of the other rivers in the area beside the Madison, you know that access is tough and the riversides are extremely brush choked. Anytime I found myself alone as they ventured up stream and I went down, I found myself talking out loud to the bears---Hey Bear---Hey Bear---Just Me Bear. Gladly we never had an encounter, but we did see a few semi fresh piles (hard to tell with recent heavy rains) full of berry seeds. The choke cherries were fully ripe (and tasty) and all over the place. On the Beaver Head River, we walked through lots of wild blue berries that we not yet ripe. Seeing the berries and scat sure does get your mind grinding on what if.

I looked up more info on the location of the bear incidents and as best as I can tell, it looks like these took place about 5-10 miles right above the campground where we had chatted with the F&G guy. While 5-10 miles seems like a long ways, and the first mile is pretty much open grass/sage ground, guess you never know when a bear might want to take a dip in the river.

I am thankful that I didn't need to use my pea shooter. Lesson learned---next time I will be packing a Redhawk in 44 loaded with 300gr Buffalo Bore, and not a 357. Heck 300 grains of hard lead should kill a snake just as proficient as bird shot if I do my part. While I won't get into the debate on bear spray vs handgun, I will say that for some reason a properly loaded Redhawk in a holster gives me far more comfort than an aerosol can zipped up inside a fishing vest.

We had a terrific week of fishing but much like any good time, we left wishing we had another week. See a few pics below.








Sure hope I can still wade like my uncle when I am 80yo like he is.


We were treated to the first snow of the season.


Always nice to have a clear back casting area.


This pretty much shows some of the tough stream side access.


This was the fatty of the trip---guessing 4lbs and certainly topped 20 inches.


This one, as well as all the fish we caught were released unharmed to be caught on another day.


Each of these fish photos is from a different river. Due to heavy downpours the clarity was more than a bit off on a few days. See if anyone can guess which rivers these were taken on.

 

[BearBio]

MOOSE scare me also! More than bears!

 

[powder smoke]

Bear Paw Jack has a habit of screaming that anyone who disagrees with him is a liar, despite any evidence to the contrary! He believes if he cries loud enough and often enough someone will believe him.
For the readers: a clarification on Jack's misinterpretation of the article:

IMO Bear Paw Jack has more credibility than You! just STOP IT! Your barking up the wrong tree! ps

 

[BearBio]

Maybe, if he would get his quotes right!

 

[protoolman]

Having lived in that area most of my life until the last 15 years or so I can tell you the locals believe in super Blackhawks and the college kids and tourists buy bear spray. I hear grizzlies like the bear spray as it makes a nice picante sauce. My uncle at 92 still relies on his 95 Winchester in .405 when he's out and about in bear country. I go with hand cast 320 grains in my .45 Colt blackhawk at 1340 fps. It has heaps better range that a pepper spray.

 

[BearBio]

"I hear grizzlies like the bear spray as it makes a nice picante sauce. "

And I hear the earth is flat and the moon is made of green cheese! Believe those also?

However, I sometimes carry my OM Blackhawk with 300 gr at 1200 fps in addition to bear spray or my Reeder 454 Casull.

 

[gramps]

"I hear grizzlies like the bear spray as it makes a nice picante sauce. "

And I hear the earth is flat and the moon is made of green cheese! Believe those also?

However, I sometimes carry my OM Blackhawk with 300 gr at 1200 fps in addition to bear spray or my Reeder 454 Casull.

Nothing like having your bases covered! 8) Kill the bear, cut off some meat, and have seasoning at the ready!
gramps

 

[BearBio]

LOL!

 

[protoolman]

"I hear grizzlies like the bear spray as it makes a nice picante sauce. "

And I hear the earth is flat and the moon is made of green cheese! Believe those also?

However, I sometimes carry my OM Blackhawk with 300 gr at 1200 fps in addition to bear spray or my Reeder 454 Casull.

I dunno? I guess I'll take your word for it! Just pointing out the local opinions on things. I see you're not so convinced carrying both products? I've used spray for years on dogs with mixed results I'll stick with the guns. Better yet when possible my 45-70.

 

[BearBio]

" I see you're not so convinced carrying both products? "

Huh??? Where did you get that? I said:

"However, I sometimes carry my OM Blackhawk with 300 gr at 1200 fps in addition to bear spray or my Reeder 454 Casull." Explanation: Outside of certain areas, such as Alaska, Federal employees cannot carry firearms while on duty without authorization).

Also, relying on experience on dog spray is like comparing a stealth fighter with a Spad XIII from WWI!
1. Dogs and bears are completely different animals.
2. Bear Spray is a completely different formulation than dog spray.
3. How each species reacts is different.

As far as experience goes, I have (for various trainings Army, Bear Protection Class, etc.) been tear gassed (Army), Maced (demonstration), bear sprayed and dog sprayed (accident)==all are different.

 

[Bull Barrel]

I have found even the cows (moo) don't like Kaws (Kawasakis) off the beaten path in that area.
They are very protective.