Hunter's widow files appeal

The Associated Press ^ | March 06, 2006 | The Associated Press

[george76]

Suit says state at fault in grizzly mauling...

The widow of a hunter mauled by a grizzly bear while he was gutting an elk has filed an appeal with the Montana Supreme Court after a district judge here dismissed her lawsuit against the state.

Mary Ann Hilston contends negligent management practices led to the death of her husband...in the fall of 2001.

She filed a lawsuit in federal court in September 2004, claiming the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks knew there was an aggressive grizzly bear with two cubs prowling the Clearwater Wildlife Management Area northeast of Missoula at the time of her husband's death.

A judge dismissed FWS as a defendant, and determined federal court wasn't the proper venue for a suit against FWP.

Hilston then filed a wrongful death suit against FWP in state District Court.

She argued that the agency knew an aggressive bear had taken over a hunter's elk carcass in the management area just days before her husband's attack.

In addition, the suit claims that FWP's practice of planting livestock carcasses in the area to draw bears away from surrounding ranch lands created an increased risk of conflict between bears and humans.

The FWP failed to warn hunters of the risk,...

Hilston's attorneys filed an appeal to the state Supreme Court on Tuesday.

Robert Vermillion, one of Hilston's attorneys, said the case revolves around the Montana Recreational Use Immunity Act.

[xcamel]

Reality bites.

[Dog]

Dog say....never hunt an animal that can hunt you.

[narby]

There was a reason why my grandfathers generation hunted these things to local extinction. Arrogant lefties today think they know better.

[Brilliant]

To me, it sounds like grounds for the Darwin Award. What the heck was he doing gutting an elk in grizzly country?

[sarasmom]

I am by no means a hunting expert, and the little I know about deer and elk hunting would not fill a page...
That said, what little I do know is based on southern and southwestern hunts, and there are very few bears here.
If one is hunting in an area with a known bear population, does that change how, when or where you would field dress the carcass?

[thackney]

If one is hunting in an area with a known bear population

Then one should not hunt alone.

[airforceF4]

Buddy System is the best protection. I'm a fisher...and I'm never alone for the sport. Sorry about the tragedy, but that's the risk of hunting of any type.

[george76]

One guts the elk where it is shot. It is way to heavy to carry for a horse, so it has to be cut up for several horses.

Maybe he was preparing to hoist the meat up so bears or wolves could not get it.

That said, no one should hunt alone in Montana...

Sorry for the family where Dad was trying to put some food on the table.

[org.whodat]

What the heck was he doing gutting an elk in grizzly country?

After this question you should change your user name.LOL

[drhogan]

i was wondering about that. it seems that if you were kneeling over an animal carcass in bear territory, you'd need another person to stand guard.
(however, i'm not a hunter, so i'm just guessing here.)

[thackney]

Up here, hunting alone is just not a smart thing to do.

[GladesGuru]

The nice goober from the gooberment agency can do no wrong. Repeat ten times.

Frank Craighead, Sr. warned NPS that closing the garbage dump at Yellowstone would result in hungry bears killing and eating people. By the way, he started the field of grizzly bear research.

ParcMan ignored Craighead, closed the dump, and that season two young women were killed and eaten. And bears had never before eaten a human in Yellowstone. Killed, yes; but not eaten. Until ParcMan ignored the leading grizzly research scientist, that is.

Note - No ParcPerson was killed. So the NPS policy of
Agenda Uber Alles! is intact.

If an individual owns an animal, and that animal causes property damage or injury or loss of life, that individual is responsible for the behavior of that individual's animal.

Yet the goobers in the gooberment claim to own the grizzly bears and also claim not to be responsible for their behavior.

Sounds like bureaucratic baffle-gab enforced by a Communism Lite court to me.

[drhogan]

i sure wouldn't think so.
i'm a long islander, where we don't have such fierce critters, but i sure wouldn't do ANYTHING alone in places where grizzlies live.
and it seems like the smell of an amimal carcass would be exactly the sort of thing to attract a grizzly. and i would guess that the position you would be in when you gut a carcass would be a pretty vulnerable position.
whenever i have been in places where a lot of bears live, i have been warned about carrying anything that might attract the bears.
the long island equivalent would be to throw a bunch of bloody fish guts in the water, then jump in and expect sharks to ignore you.

[Cheapskate]

I'm sure the grizzely will be glad to hear her appeal.

[Brilliant]

Well, maybe he needed to find a different place to hunt. That was asking for it.

[Brilliant]

Let me put it this way.... I'm alive, he's dead. That makes me more brilliant than he.

[hoosierham]

iT IS WRONG NOT TO HOLD GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES LIABLE FOR THIER ACTIONS OR INACTIONS ;THE KING CAN DO NO WRONG SHOULD LONG AGO HAVE BEEN REJECTED.

[drhogan]

"Hunting in Grizzly Contry

Never hunt alone in areas where grizzlies live.

One hunter should keep watch while a second guts a downed animal"

---

i found this on-line

[TYVets]

There was a reason why my grandfathers generation hunted these things to local extinction.

Arrogant lefties today think they know better.

I read an article that at least one western state said they had a surplus and wanted to open a hunting season for grizzlies.

If that does not fly, I would suggest trapping and releasing grizzlies in red states.

The arrogant lefties should have the true nature experience of having a grizzly in their back yard.