Sometimes it's the four legged critters you need self defense against!
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MT) Shotgun blast kills charging grizzly 10-14-03
Date: Oct 15, 2003 2:01 AM
http://www.dailyinterlake.com/NewsE...mmand=search&db=news.db&eqskudata=0-734891-41
Shotgun blast drops charging grizzly
By Jim Mann
The Daily Inter Lake
Two aggressive grizzly bears have been shot, one by a hunter and one by
a Fortine homeowner.
A Kalispell man shot a stalking grizzly bear in the Swan Mountains and a
Fortine man shot a grizzly at close range, narrowly escaping as the bear
charged from a chicken coop.
James Beeman picked up a .410-gauge shotgun when he went outside his
Fortine-area home to investigate a commotion from his chicken coop
around 4 a.m. Sunday.
Wearing a headlamp and expecting a skunk, Beeman saw two bear cubs run
from the damaged door of the chicken coop. Then an adult grizzly bear
emerged with a chicken in its mouth.
The bear dropped the chicken and charged from 15 feet. Beeman fired,
with the muzzle of the gun roughly three feet from the bear, which
crumpled to ground, dead at Beeman's feet.
It turned out to be an astounding shot, considering a .410 is a light
gun and the shell contained a light load typically used for quail
hunting.
But it hit the bear squarely in the nose, the only soft, vulnerable
place on a grizzly skull. Pellets likely penetrated the length of the
nasal cavity to the brain. The wad from the shell was imbedded in the
bear's nose.
"What's the likelihood of that?" said Ed Kelly, Montana Fish, Wildlife
and Parks warden captain in Kalispell. "I know guys with .375s who
couldn't have made a kill like that. He's just a lucky, lucky guy."
Kelly said the shooting was a "justifiable case of self defense."
The bear was a 350-pound female.
Warden Jim Roberts and Tim Manley, the grizzly bear management
specialist in Northwest Montana, have been pursuing the bear's two
cubs-of-the-year. At one point, the cubs were chased high up a tree, too
high to dart with sedatives because of the risk of them being hurt in a
fall.
In a separate bear encounter on Oct. 3, Dr. Roger Brown, a Kalispell
plastic surgeon, shot a grizzly bear high in the Swan Mountains.
Brown had been scouting for mountain goats in preparation for a hunt
with his son and grandson. He was returning to camp in the evening,
hiking in rough terrain just south of Holland Peak and Rumble Lake, when
he encountered a grizzly bear along a small creek.
According to a written account Brown provided to wardens, he tried to
slowly back away from the bear, but it continued to approach, then
stopped, then approached again.
After 20 minutes of advancing on Brown, the bear approached within 30
yards and then charged him. Brown fired his rifle at the bear, and it
ran off.
John Fraley, information officer with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks,
said the bear was clearly exhibiting aggressive "stalking" behavior.
Brown went back to his camp. The next morning he returned to the spot he
had seen the bear. He followed a blood trail for about a half mile, but
then stopped looking for the bear, thinking it had probably survived to
travel much farther, Kelly said.
Brown finished his hunt, hiked out and reported the shooting to wardens
on Oct. 7.
"This is a justified shooting," Kelly said. "There is no doubt about
it.
We've reviewed this with the county attorney. The only thing I don't
like about it was the delay in reporting it. Legally, everything he did
was fine."
Kelly said it's unknown if the bear survived. The delay in the report
made any kind of follow-up pursuit of the bear with dogs impossible.
Except in cases of self defense, it's a federal offense to kill grizzly
bears, which are protected under the Endangered Species Act.
================================
MT) Shotgun blast kills charging grizzly 10-14-03
Date: Oct 15, 2003 2:01 AM
http://www.dailyinterlake.com/NewsE...mmand=search&db=news.db&eqskudata=0-734891-41
Shotgun blast drops charging grizzly
By Jim Mann
The Daily Inter Lake
Two aggressive grizzly bears have been shot, one by a hunter and one by
a Fortine homeowner.
A Kalispell man shot a stalking grizzly bear in the Swan Mountains and a
Fortine man shot a grizzly at close range, narrowly escaping as the bear
charged from a chicken coop.
James Beeman picked up a .410-gauge shotgun when he went outside his
Fortine-area home to investigate a commotion from his chicken coop
around 4 a.m. Sunday.
Wearing a headlamp and expecting a skunk, Beeman saw two bear cubs run
from the damaged door of the chicken coop. Then an adult grizzly bear
emerged with a chicken in its mouth.
The bear dropped the chicken and charged from 15 feet. Beeman fired,
with the muzzle of the gun roughly three feet from the bear, which
crumpled to ground, dead at Beeman's feet.
It turned out to be an astounding shot, considering a .410 is a light
gun and the shell contained a light load typically used for quail
hunting.
But it hit the bear squarely in the nose, the only soft, vulnerable
place on a grizzly skull. Pellets likely penetrated the length of the
nasal cavity to the brain. The wad from the shell was imbedded in the
bear's nose.
"What's the likelihood of that?" said Ed Kelly, Montana Fish, Wildlife
and Parks warden captain in Kalispell. "I know guys with .375s who
couldn't have made a kill like that. He's just a lucky, lucky guy."
Kelly said the shooting was a "justifiable case of self defense."
The bear was a 350-pound female.
Warden Jim Roberts and Tim Manley, the grizzly bear management
specialist in Northwest Montana, have been pursuing the bear's two
cubs-of-the-year. At one point, the cubs were chased high up a tree, too
high to dart with sedatives because of the risk of them being hurt in a
fall.
In a separate bear encounter on Oct. 3, Dr. Roger Brown, a Kalispell
plastic surgeon, shot a grizzly bear high in the Swan Mountains.
Brown had been scouting for mountain goats in preparation for a hunt
with his son and grandson. He was returning to camp in the evening,
hiking in rough terrain just south of Holland Peak and Rumble Lake, when
he encountered a grizzly bear along a small creek.
According to a written account Brown provided to wardens, he tried to
slowly back away from the bear, but it continued to approach, then
stopped, then approached again.
After 20 minutes of advancing on Brown, the bear approached within 30
yards and then charged him. Brown fired his rifle at the bear, and it
ran off.
John Fraley, information officer with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks,
said the bear was clearly exhibiting aggressive "stalking" behavior.
Brown went back to his camp. The next morning he returned to the spot he
had seen the bear. He followed a blood trail for about a half mile, but
then stopped looking for the bear, thinking it had probably survived to
travel much farther, Kelly said.
Brown finished his hunt, hiked out and reported the shooting to wardens
on Oct. 7.
"This is a justified shooting," Kelly said. "There is no doubt about
it.
We've reviewed this with the county attorney. The only thing I don't
like about it was the delay in reporting it. Legally, everything he did
was fine."
Kelly said it's unknown if the bear survived. The delay in the report
made any kind of follow-up pursuit of the bear with dogs impossible.
Except in cases of self defense, it's a federal offense to kill grizzly
bears, which are protected under the Endangered Species Act.
