Grizzly Bear killed by Archery Hunters
Elk
ISLAND PARK — Two men shot and killed a grizzly bear in self-defense while hunting west of Island Park Reservoir Friday. The archery hunters were moving through thick brush hunting elk when an adult male grizzly charged toward them from a short distance away, according to a news release from Idaho Fish and Game.
Your link is to a grizzly that was killed in Yellowstone. Not the same story you were describing.
Rarely do we here of the hunters getting a shot off.
Why did you shoot the bear 32 times. BECAUSE IT WAS ALL THE BULLITS I HAD OFFICER.
Pretty common occurrence around island park. Lots of grizz in that neck of the woods. There was a jogger killed out there in montana this summer, but just a few miles from island park.
I want to know what they shot it with and how many times.
^^^ something big enough and enough times to get the job done.
My guess is a .44 mag if in grizz country.
additional links in the story above indicate 3 different bears were killed in self defense by handguns in only a couple of weeks time. yes it would be nice to know the details on caliber, and number of shots fired. (and a fourth bear was killed after it broke into a home, was linked to the death of a jogger)
“There was a jogger killed out there in montana this summer, but just a few miles from island park.”
There’s also an article at that same link stating that the bear killed after breaking into that house was the same one that killed the jogger and also mauled a guy out hiking a few years ago. So she had a bit of a history…
Article says both maulings were deemed to have been defensive attacks… Not much consolation. But with their numbers on the rise, I’d think it might cause some folks to reconsider the policy of leaving the bears alone after a defensive attack. The problem with that (seems to me) is that those bears are learning that those are fights they can win…
Most nowadays are carrying the 10mm.
It could be anything HDE. As stated above, the 10 mm has been marketed as the go-to bear gun the last few years, and many have bought into the hype. This is the very reason I'm curious. Most Alaskans carry something bigger and often opt for the 454.
Big gun, also means the ability to get off more than one shot, in the heat of battle. Not everyone can handle a 454. One thing to carry it. It's another to be able to use it effectively . I want the biggest gun I can carry into the fight, but have to be comfortable with it. A reason the 10mm is popular.
A year ago or so somebody posted a study on handgun grizzly kills and surprisingly many if not most of them were killed with a 9mm. And if I remember correctly every defense attempt with a 9mm was either successful at killing or turning away the bear. I'm not recommending a 9mm for Bear defense but it sounds like they've worked in the past. The number of incidents involving 9mm's probably has to do with how common they are.
My buddy, a 40+ year AK resident and avid fisherman/hunter calls a 44 mag a "5 shooter" - 5 for the bear and 1 for you when it doesn't stop. He has a 500 S&W on his person or in his lap driving his 6-wheeler. And has a short barreled 12 ga 870 with slugs in camp for back up. I take a .480 Ruger Super Redhawk and learned how to use in one handed. I pray I never need it.
^^^ we're talking about bowhunters in ID, not Alaskan guides. I doubt many bowhunters in the lower 48 carry a .50 cal pistol.
Thanks for the experience validation though about your buddy. I would've wondered had you not...
Corax you got it. On top of that when they relocate these bastards the next time they come across you or I they're like "there's that SOB right there!" that put me in that trap and had me as angry after banging me around in that box for 2 hours as I've ever been! Bears are smart. The government is conditioning them to be killers.
Grizzly bear management seems to be more political, than based on sound science . As their numbers increase and they are not hunted , their fear for humans will be even less resulting in more bear attacks . In Canada its very political. Their range is expanding into areas they have not been seen for a long time . Being a bowhunter that can't carry a sidearm , I hope my pepper spray won't fail me . The last deer I took , I saw it go down and before I field dressed it , I hiked back to my vehicle and brought my 12 Guage with slugs and 1 buckshot then I dressed the deer . Solo hunt . I returned the next day to the area and a bear had dug the area up and the guts were consumed . Grizzly generally dig more than black bears . In BC we have a very healthy Grizzly population and politics stopped the hunt .
Cheesehead Mike. It's this article. Ammoland updates it frequently and they have compiled over a hundred years of Bear vs Pistol. All calibers have had success killing or deterring attacks.
Corax, i wonder how they are so sure they were dealing with the same bear? Collar?
That's why I love hiking in barren ground Grizz country in Canada with no sidearm due to our stupid laws.
APauls … I just had a close call with a sow/cub in bc last week. First time I’ve had my pepper spray out of the holster. I’d rather have a 10mm. Yikes.
I'm taking my 44 mag to Alaska this fall. The 10mm is next to the 44 cartridge for reference.
Nice rock collection thornton.
Yes the 44 hits harder than a 10 mm, however, I think the advantage of a 10 especially in a glock 20 is number of rds and recoil is less, giving the ability to put more shots on target. My 4 in 44 is a brute on recoil where as the G 20 is a dream to shoot. Loaded with some buffalo bore heavy rds it would do the job quite well. To each their own for the weapon of choice just make sure you practice a lot, and prey you never have to use it.
I don't trust any handgun cartridge to do the job. But, any are way better than nothing. I carry a .45 LC loaded up to 454 Casull levels in big bear land. It's a handful but I have shot it a lot. Nothing is free. Bullet size, energy, recoil, capacity, weight all come with a trade-off.
Yes the 44 hits harder than a 10 mm, however, I think the advantage of a 10 especially in a glock 20 is number of rds and recoil is less, giving the ability to put more shots on target. My 4 in 44 is a brute on recoil where as the G 20 is a dream to shoot. Loaded with some buffalo bore heavy rds it would do the job quite well. To each their own for the weapon of choice just make sure you practice a lot, and prey you never have to use it.
Conflicting thoughts on more shots on target. My old gunsmith who has since died, was a long time police officer in the 80's and 90's when the dept switched from S&W revolvers to semi auto Berettas and semi auto S&W 9mm. They did a study on shots that connected with perpetrators, revolver vs semi autos. The study showed shot percentage on target fell dramatically when semi autos were used. To back this up, I had a patient last week that had stabbed an officer while 3 other officers were surrounding him. All 4 officers shot at him a total of 16 times, and he was only hit 4. Not of which were vital hits. He mentioned this in his health history, and I looked up the news report from the late 90's out of curiosity to confirm his story. This adds up with the mag dumps on all the police shooting videos. Many of these suspects survive. I own both calibers, but became convinced the revolver was the way to go after reading about the guy who accidentally dropped the mag on his 10mm while the bear was chewing on him. I've seen this happen on numerous police videos as well.
Thanks Patdel. I inherited it from my Grandpa. All I've ever found is a scraper.
“i wonder how they are so sure they were dealing with the same bear? Collar?”
DNA, IIRC. Same type of evidence used to prosecute…. Serial Killers….
Think about that for a second…
I’m 100% for preserving endangered species, but (NOT being constrained by politics!!) I think the line should be drawn when the individual members of the species in question begin to endanger people. Why euthanize a bear AFTER a foreseeable incident??
That’s a highly simplistic view of things, but OK, I’m an arrogant, speciesist bastard, and I’m OK with that. I also recognize that the folks making these decisions are often constrained by political considerations and are often unable to do the right thing for Crap reasons. Meanwhile, the people imposing the political constraints are claiming some bogus moral high ground and have completely insulated themselves from any culpability when TSHTF.
Dat ain’t Right.
Meet "Teddy" An Alaskan Brown Bear in RARE rearing position. Museum quality mount. Anyone know where I can sell him? I'm on FB forums, gunbroker, armslist, guns america. Hes NOT on the endangered species list as long as you live in a FREE state.
Good luck with selling that mount Brad.
Glad the hunters are ok and another grizz gone. It’s out of control up here.
I'll pass Brad, looks like Joe Biden getting at the ready to sniff.
Montana Fish and Game have confirmed a grizz in unit 410. They have been warning hunters to be cautious.
What museum?
Any other photos of the mount showing other details and abhors by chance. ?
How bad are the griz in NW MT? I will be outside Libby & Troy MT in late Oct. & early Nov. Highest point is just over 6,000 feet. Within 5 miles of highway 2. I have hunted area with LOT'S of griz in the past few years. I just want to know what to expect.
The American Prairie group has stated they and the bureau of Indian affairs welcome griz and wolves into the breaks and unit 410 to be a part of the buffalo and wildlife ecosystem. Many resident hunters support the American Prairie goals. How dumb can Montana hunters be ?
Grizz can literally be about anywhere in that ecosystem now Don. Just be bear prepared as you would any other grizz hunt and act accordingly. You'll be fine.
KHNC and I had our fill of close Grizzly encounters, on Day 1 of our NW Wyoming hunt.
After a close encounter with a good bull the evening before, we woke up to a silent elk morning. We eventually set up about 50 yards apart, and did a "call and response" cold calling thing, near a good bedding area.
After about 25 minutes, I heard something coming in at a gallop, I thought, "here we go"! I watched 3 grizzly whiz by me at 20 yards in the timber, and stop right between Kenny and I. I could see one of them sniffing around in there at about 30 yards.
Kenny had the same thing going on from his position, but thought it was elk, until he was able to glass back into the Timber. Pulled his 40 cal, stood up, and ordered the bears to get the hell out of here! Thankfully, they bugged out, and so did we, in short order!
Thinking lightning doesn't strike twice, I set up a tree saddle in the afternoon, about a mile in from camp, over a hub of well used trails. Cut my hand with my limb saw, thank goodness the bleeding stopped pretty quick. I had just settled in up there with my bow hung, for maybe 15 minutes, when I heard something coming in at a dead run, looked behind me to see the same 3 bears ( a Mom with 2 cubs as big as she was) run right past my tree.
Heard something else behind them, huge boar is hot on their heels chasing them. Whips past my tree, stops, walks to the base of it, sniffing around, looks right up at me at 20 feet, huffs at me, turns and continues to chase after the others. Apparently blood on the ground can stop a grizzly on a dead run !
This happened over a mile from were we were that Morning. Managed to take a pic of him after he basically looked up and told me "I'll kill you later"!
This is our second time hunting that Unit, and we are done with that crap. We had to add bears into our calculations, for the next 8 days, wherever we were. Really complicates things!
They were all over the Plains and back East when the settlers came through. It's been documented there were quite a few in Georgia.
That’s nuts Jeff…he looks at me like that he woulda had a 10mm or 44mag pointing back lol
Being a Long time wing shooter, if I go hunt grizzly country I will have a light weight 20ga with 5slugs or buckshot in it in hand at all times. The bow will stay strapped to my pack until the closing yards come into play.
I have a lot mor confidence I could get a good bead on a charging bear than I ever would a pistol.
"I have a lot more confidence I could get a good bead on a charging bear than I ever would a pistol".
X2 Blake. I grew up chasing wild pheasants/ quail/ ducks, etc., in River Jungle habitat. Much more confidence in my speed and accuracy with a shotgun, than a pistol.
That's to many bears around to enjoy that hunt like you wanted to. There was a reason why the pioneers got rid of them and wolves
Man Jeff, that would keep me up at night! Them bastards need to be hunted.
