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Hunter's widow files appeal
The Associated Press ^ | March 06, 2006 | The Associated Press

Posted on 03/06/2006 4:07:08 PM PST by 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.

(Excerpt) Read more at billingsgazette.net ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Extended News; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: aggressive; aggressivebear; aggressivegrizzly; bang; banglist; bear; elk; fish; fwp; greatfalls; grizzly; grizzlybear; hilston; hunting; management; maryannhilston; negligent; negligentmanagement; practices; recreational; scotus; us; useimmunityact; usfish; wildlife; wildlifeservice
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To: narby
There was a reason why my grandfathers generation hunted these things to local extinction.

You're right, they had reasons... not ~good~ reasons, but reasons nonetheless ;~D

41 posted on 03/07/2006 9:29:18 AM PST by HairOfTheDog (Hobbit Hole knives for soldiers! www.freeper.the-hobbit-hole.net)
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To: HairOfTheDog

The government admits to baiting bears.

Individuals have also been baiting bears.


42 posted on 03/07/2006 10:01:05 AM PST by george76 (Ward Churchill : Fake Indian, Fake Scholarship, and Fake Art)
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To: george76

Well, baiting bears is sometimes the best way to hunt them... but baiting bears to merely 'satisfy' them into not killing livestock is extortion... not gonna be a good idea in the long haul.


43 posted on 03/07/2006 10:04:22 AM PST by HairOfTheDog (Hobbit Hole knives for soldiers! www.freeper.the-hobbit-hole.net)
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To: george76

All part of the circle of life.

Seems like he died of natural causes to me.


44 posted on 03/07/2006 10:20:59 AM PST by pnome
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To: HairOfTheDog
You're right, they had reasons... not ~good~ reasons, but reasons nonetheless

Getting rid of predators that will come into your tent and eat you was a pretty good reason. And in a day when cowboys and miners and such lived in the wilderness for extended periods, getting rid of something that could kill you practically without warning was a good thing.

I'd prefer it if they weren't out there today. I don't like taking my life in my hands just to enjoy a hike in the woods. We can save the Griz genome in zoos.

45 posted on 03/07/2006 10:38:22 AM PST by narby (Evolution is the new "third rail" in American politics)
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To: narby

I think Grizzlies have a place, and so do hunters. "I don't like taking my life in my hands just to enjoy a hike in the woods." is scaredypants wildlife management.

If you want to walk in the woods without bears, go to Central Park. If you want to walk in the woods where bears are, bring a big gun. Life isn't about eliminating all conflict with the natural world, but rather mastering it.


46 posted on 03/07/2006 10:43:22 AM PST by HairOfTheDog (Hobbit Hole knives for soldiers! www.freeper.the-hobbit-hole.net)
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To: HairOfTheDog
Life isn't about eliminating all conflict with the natural world, but rather mastering it.

The grizzly danger was gone from a great deal of the country, and there was no good excuse to bring it back merely to massage the feelings of people living on 5th avenue.

Grizzlys have their place, in the zoo.

47 posted on 03/07/2006 10:47:02 AM PST by narby (Evolution is the new "third rail" in American politics)
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To: narby

There's lots of other room for Grizzlies than just the zoo. I'll concede only that where they conflict with the dwellings of man, they should be hunted. But a grizzly-free back-country just so we can go play in the woods doesn't pass the test.


48 posted on 03/07/2006 10:55:19 AM PST by HairOfTheDog (Hobbit Hole knives for soldiers! www.freeper.the-hobbit-hole.net)
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To: HairOfTheDog
But a grizzly-free back-country just so we can go play in the woods doesn't pass the test.

And spending tax money bringing grizzlys back to areas where they were eliminated is certain to get people killed merely to make some feel good. It's yet another example of the government endangering our citizens for no positive good.

49 posted on 03/07/2006 11:02:14 AM PST by narby (Evolution is the new "third rail" in American politics)
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To: george76

I thought all momma bears with cubs are overly aggressive.

I guess the motto is never bring an elk carcas to a grizzly bear fight, of course picking up your rifle and shooting grizzly may help if you do...


50 posted on 03/07/2006 11:06:13 AM PST by WV Mountain Mama (I don't need to visualize whirled peas. I'm a mom, I've SEEN them.)
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To: WV Mountain Mama

Bears kill humans to eat.

It is just the old media being politically correct, when they say...it is just the mother defending her cubs.

Do you remember the "Bloomdale's little brass bells" joke ?


51 posted on 03/07/2006 11:14:56 AM PST by george76 (Ward Churchill : Fake Indian, Fake Scholarship, and Fake Art)
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To: george76

No idea about the bells, except that tourists put them on their shoes so the bears can find them easier. I coached 2 girls from Alaska and they both said that if I went there and wanted to get really close to nature, whistle while I walked through the woods. I walked up on a black bear on our farm once and it did scare the crap out of me.

I also think getting eaten by a grizzly is right there with shark on top of the "suck scale" of ways to die.


52 posted on 03/07/2006 11:24:22 AM PST by WV Mountain Mama (I don't need to visualize whirled peas. I'm a mom, I've SEEN them.)
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To: WV Mountain Mama

One version of joke is when the city lady (hiking with little brass bells) asks the farmer when will she be in bear country.

His response is , she will know that she is in Bear country when she sees Bear scat with little brass bells.


53 posted on 03/07/2006 11:48:01 AM PST by george76 (Ward Churchill : Fake Indian, Fake Scholarship, and Fake Art)
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To: Sir_Ed

I'm assuming you had a 'noise maker' in your pocket. Hunting whitetail in the UP of Michigan, you kick up a black bear on occasion. Those puppies climb trees.


54 posted on 03/07/2006 11:57:29 AM PST by Westlander (Unleash the Neutron Bomb)
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To: Sir_Ed

well, at least your alive!


55 posted on 03/07/2006 4:04:30 PM PST by drhogan
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To: Sir_Ed

when we were up in British Columbia a few years back, there were articles in the local papers about an experienced hiker (he was handicapped in some way, but i can't remember how) who went out hiking alone and never came back. they had not found him by the time we left, so i guess SUMfin ate him.
while we were there, there were several sightings of mountain lions in the area.
lots a kool critters up north!
when we went hiking, we kept talking real loud so the bears would hear us and hopefully stay away.


56 posted on 03/07/2006 4:22:43 PM PST by drhogan
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To: HairOfTheDog

yeah, but in Central Park we got rats the size of kodiak bears--and they hunt in packs of 40 or more.
you walk in Central Park, you better have some kinda automatic rifle and some grenades. and one a them new rat bazookas!


57 posted on 03/07/2006 4:26:59 PM PST by drhogan
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To: WV Mountain Mama

so, all those articles i read about making noise in the woods were probably WRITTEN BY THE DAMN GRIZZLY BEARS!!!
man, them critters is sure TRICKY!!


58 posted on 03/07/2006 4:53:40 PM PST by drhogan
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To: ApplegateRanch

You are funny. Loved that Golden Gate Park remark.

Cheers - Dinah


59 posted on 03/07/2006 5:00:36 PM PST by Dinah Lord (fighting the Islamic jihad one keystroke and one prayer at a time...)
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To: drhogan
so, all those articles i read about making noise in the woods were probably WRITTEN BY THE DAMN GRIZZLY BEARS!!!

Probably ;~D

Truth is... The advice to make noise IS sound advice in black bear country. Black bears are mostly herbavores and scavengers without great vision at distance, and would flee contact with people if they hear you coming. I've happened upon black bears twice riding my horse in the woods of Washington state. I don't like that... I do try to make noise when riding through really thick areas when berries are ripe, because bears use the same trails I do to get around, there berry poop is all over the trail, and I don't want to surprise one... Or surprise my horse by seeing one! I have a friend who can sing... I don't mind when she sings on trail.

The key is to make an important distinction between black bears and brown/grizzly bears. Making noise does not help you where grizzlies, cougar or other stalking predators are concerned. The full bell joke is "Outdoorsmen should be able to recognize the difference between black bear poop and grizzly bear poop: Black bear poop is small, contains lots of berries. Grizzly bear poop is large, has little bells in it, and smells like pepper."

I'm told I'll never see a cougar, they'll always be behind me. Not a comforting thought ;~D

60 posted on 03/07/2006 5:20:12 PM PST by HairOfTheDog (Hobbit Hole knives for soldiers! www.freeper.the-hobbit-hole.net)
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