Posted on 09/17/2011 6:30:21 AM PDT by marktwain
A grizzly bear killed a hunter before being fatally shot Friday near the Boundary County, Idaho, limits, the latest in a series of deadly grizzly bear attacks in the Northwest.
Three men from Nevada were hunting bears in a remote area of Buckhorn Mountain near the Montana border when the grizzly attacked one of them and was shot and killed by a group member, authorities say.
The fatal grizzly attack comes as Idaho’s congressional delegation has proposed to amend the Endangered Species Act to reiterate that it’s OK to shoot a grizzly bear in self-defense or in defense of another person after a North Idaho man who shot and killed a grizzly cub on his property paid was charged. It’s also one of at least three fatal encounters in three months between people and grizzly bears in the region.
Officials initially thought Friday’s attack occurred in Idaho but used a GPS device to place the attack in Montana. Boundary County spokesman Mike Weland said a dispute between Idaho authorities and Lincoln County, Mont., sheriff’s officials had to be resolved Friday evening before the victim’s body was removed. Search and rescue crews from Idaho and Montana are at the scene, as well as a helicopter and officials from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Weland said.
The three hunters have family in Boundary County and have been taking an annual trip to the area for years, Weland said. They had tags from Montana to hunt bears and were armed with rifles, Weland said.
“The bear season just opened yesterday over there,” Weland said Friday.
Authorities say they are waiting for family to be notified of the man’s death before they release his name.
Weland said the circumstances of the fatal attack and subsequent shooting are still being investigated, but that the bear was shot while it was attacking.
Legislation proposed by U.S. senators and representatives from Idaho last week to reiterate the lawfulness of self defense against grizzlies is in response to a North Idaho man who shot and killed a grizzly cub in May after it and two others wandered onto his property and were seen near his children’s 4-H pig pen.
Jeremy Hill, 33, of Porthill, was charged with a federal crime, but it was dropped last week and he paid a $1,000 fine for a noncriminal infraction.
Experts say the number of grizzlies, which are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, appears to be increasing in the area as the number of encounters between the bears and humans, though rare, increases. Montana recorded six encounters in May alone, including four that ended with the grizzlies shot and killed. No humans were killed in those attacks, but two hikers were killed on separate occasions in Yellowstone National Park in July and August.
In July 2010, a camper was mauled to death by a grizzly bear at a campground just outside of Cooke City, Mont., near Yellowstone.
Twelve people were killed by bears in Montana and Wyoming in the 30 years prior to last summer, according to The Billings Gazette.
I never wrote that I didn't believe you, and my question was not intended to insult you. You did write that the wolves were slaughtering native herds to extinction, which triggered my questions.
I spend quite a bit of time up there, and I have many friends that reside there ... many of them are ranchers. A pilot friend of mine flys for the State of Montana doing population studies on a variety of animals.
While I by no means an expert, I have read and heard much in the way of argument regarding the wolves.
You might also be surprised to learn that I contribute all I can for the conservation of elk and other big game in your part of the world, not to mention the ridiculous non-resident hunting fees that I've paid over the years.
Just because my residence is located so far down south doesn't mean that I am that far removed from what goes on up there. I am not amongst the enemies to your way of life.
Thanks for your last couple posts.
I didn’t mean to suggest that all of Louisiana is a bog either-—lol.
I figured you had spent considerable time upcountry, simply from your interest and your passion. I only wish I could likewise spend time down your way...I was in N.O. just once for a week, maybe 15 years ago, and I liked it juuuust fiiiine...
Yes, we’re on the same team. In fact we’re darned near neighbors. My place is over on the river in Park County and my closest cousin has a big joint up above Gallatin Gateway.
Again thanks for your thoughts. If you ever care to fish on the Yellowstone or the Shields let me know, by Freepmail if you wish.
Take care.
Dude...if you don’t think wolves were NATIVE to just about every state in the Union at one time....I want what you are drinking!!! : )
ROFLOL....not where I live!!
They will thank-you...for taking the varmits!!
Doooood...that comment is so ignorant I don’t even know where to start.
But I suppose I might ask you how many breeding pairs of CANADIAN GREY WOLVES (canis lupus occidentalis) you have in Oklahoma?
I think a guy like you would be a natural to start a movement to get some for Oklahoma, and see how that all works out for you in 10 or 20 years.
You might begin with your local Sierra Club. You already have their number, right? And they probably already have yours.
The above is what I replied to.
Are you saying...and are the experts saying...that grey wolves were not NATIVE, there?? I think you are mistaken....
You know you can rack me up as an S.C. member...if you want. But you would be wrong. Fact is...you know nothing about me..noob.
For a noob you are pretty cheeky...Must be...what 23 yrs old????
Cut me some slack....dumbass. And before you go off kilter....I've been a dumbass more than enough times...to know one, when I see one.
Don’t try it is NC, SC, FLA or several other southern states.
FMJ is for the geneva convention and paper. 22lr is for reducing pelt damage.
Look, you can hear different stories from all sides on this issue.
I’m not a biologist or even a rancher—just a hunter who spends a lot of time around ranchers and outfitters.
There’s a ton of information out there and much of it tendentious and contradictory. Here’s a short piece that touches on the issue in terms of what kind of animals are/were where, etc.
http://www.howlcolorado.org/2010/04/05/wolves-may-face-yet-another-threat-in-montana/
The wolves up here now are big and hunt in packs and they will hunt to slaughter. I was talking to an ex-guide buddy this morning who has been out bow-hunting and he noted once again how skittish and just flat-out nervous the elk are, just as they have been the past three or four years.
That may sound silly but you hear it again and again from guys who aren’t given to talking b.s. The elk aren’t hanging out where they used to and their patterns and behavior are different and unhealthy. Of course part of the problem is that the wolves have been strictly protected and face no natural predation and so even THEY don’t act as they probably otherwise would.
We both started talking again, as we have the past couple years, about how in the fall the elk have taken to hanging out down in the valley near the farms and hay meadows closest to town and the highway and where landowners have taken to allowing “lucky” hunters to come in and shoot them, like fish in a barrel, in hopes of driving them away from the hay supplies and back up into the mountains and timber.
But you know what? Those elk will stay down there near the buildings and the roads and take the losses inflicted on them rather than flee back up to the timber...because the wolf packs are up there and the elk would rather face a limited firing squad than the brutal alternative.
Imagine that. Elk running in circles around a fenced-in field like horses in a barn fire. And yet they won’t bolt back up to their natural habitat.
As my buddy said, “That just ain’t right.”
Have you ever dined at the Rib & Chop House in Livingston? Good ol' LSU graduate opened that place. We drive all the way over there for a plate of calamari, and the bison ribeye is fabulous. LOL
Closer even than you think.
I have a little piece of bare ground just south of Wilsall that I once intended to build on but haven’t done it. Friend of mine told me he was driving up there early the other morning and saw 40 elk wandering around between the river and highway.
At the risk of reigniting the battle—lol!—we sagely agreed that the unexpected visit probably had to do with the wolves in the Crazies, which have the smaller herds traveling here and there in places where they usually aren’t.
That’s the theory among us non-experts anyway.
Funny, I was just chatting the other day with someone about the people behind the Chop House opening but I can’t remember what was said. Locals sure love it—and the place is always busy, ain’t it?
I’m pleased to make your acquaintance. You’ll have to let us know if you folks fly-fish at all. Both of our little spots offer river access, which is not a huge deal, but it can mean getting a line in the water in less time & with less hassle. Of course, you are probably on the Gallatin already, which is some very fine fishing indeed.
Listen, we’ll buy y’all (did I say that right?) a round at the Bank Bar in Wilsall one of these days. Let us know when you’re in the area...
Not to hound (pun intended!) you two but here’s a story from today’s Billings paper.
If the link allows you to access the comments page you can see the reaction of most of the locals. Yes, yes, the Panama-hat-tie-dyed dress crowd comes in with all kinds of ideas for “coexistence” with the noble lupus.
Problem is at the same time the beautiful wolfies are busy killing everything in sight. Even if, temporarily, they is out of sight.
I won’t bug you guys again with this stuff. Just seemed kind of timely.
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