Two men were recently pursued by a grizzly bear near Bozeman, Mont., resulting in one of the men drawing a gun and shooting the bear in self-defense.
Bear encounters can be dangerous, and a number of bears and other dangerous predators are shot and killed every year. “Bear aware” behavior can help in preventing them, but only up to a point.
Grizzly Shot In Self-Defense Near Tom Miner Basin
A pair of fishermen were charged by a grizzly near the Tom Miner Basin, a wilderness area in the Custer Gallatin National Forest near Yellowstone National Park, outside Bozeman, Mont. The two were walking through dense brush on August 30th when the bear charged, according to Bozeman CBS affiliate KBZK.
One of the anglers drew a gun, shot the bear, and alerted authorities after the incident. The bear was found dead.
Wildlife officials believe the attack was defensive in nature, meaning they stumbled across the bear and startled it. The bear was defending itself (in its view), forcing the two to defend themselves.
The Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks Department is investigating the incident.
According to ABC News, another bear was shot the next day in the nearby Buck Ridge Yellow Mule area of the Custer Gallatin National Forest, only a few miles away. A grizzly attacked two people in a hunting party who were out on the Yellow Mule trail, injuring one, resulting in the injured person needing to be evacuated by Life Flight to Bozeman’s Deaconess Hospital.
The Yellow Mule area was closed so authorities could search for the bear, which fled the scene after being wounded.
These incidents came just five days after a bear was shot and killed outside Whitefish, Mont., according to Buckrail, by a pair of hunters who came upon a sow and her cub. The sow charged, resulting in gunfire. One of the hunters was shot in the shoulder during the exchange and had to be airlifted to receive treatment.
Being Bear Aware Helps… Until It Doesn’t
Bear shootings are investigated just like any other; a person has to prove they were justified in killing the animal.
The normal precautions for traveling through bear country – often called being “bear aware” – can absolutely prevent a person from having a bear encounter, but they only go so far. In at least two of the instances above, the people who had to shoot the animal came across it suddenly.
You can absolutely be near a bear and have no idea of its presence if the brush is thick enough, and vice versa. While bears have good eyesight and hearing, their strongest sense is their sense of smell, which is more powerful than a bloodhound’s.
If that bear has already been smelling humans because it’s in an area frequented by them – such as a national park – it’s absolutely possible for the animal not to know someone is coming until they’re very close indeed, which is why many bear attacks occur when an animal is startled by a person a fairly short distance away.
Bear attacks tend to be mostly defensive in nature (startled/territorial male, sow defending a cub) but are occasionally predatory.
Ammoland.com has a running feature on successful bear defenses with handguns, and as of June 2023, the record is a 98 percent success rate in 170 bear attacks and four documented failures, so a handgun is absolutely capable of stopping a bear attack.
Grizzly bears, having been extirpated from more than 90 percent of their historic range, are only known to exist in three of the lower 48 states, with transient or rumored populations in two more. Black bears exist in more than 20 US states.
Ergo, while being “bear aware” and following best practices for bear country is recommended, having the means – and ability – to defend yourself is certainly a wise practice as well.
