Griz Attack in MT

“Here are the graphic details of our latest Griz attack (Billings Gazette)
Gazette Griz Story”

“"I told him to quit whining and get going," he said.”

“Yeah, that's right up there with "Just walk it off".”

“At least he was an orthopedic surgeon so he knew what parts of him the bear was eating.”

“Wonder if one of their dogs, if they had one, brought the griz to 'em?

btw - How many times have you heard someone say something like "the dog pisses off the bear, chases him, and the dog runs to and hides behind the owner, leaving the owner to face the bear" scenario?

All the time, right? How many times have you heard of it happening? I'll bet never...I never have.

Oops, sorry...wrong thread.”

“I haven't read the Gazette in a while, Aero. Thanks for the story.”

“Being bowhunters they were luring the elk (or the bear as was the case) into range with a scent or maybe a bugle. The problem with bowhunting is that you're hunting by stealth and not alerting the elk, bears, moose, or whatever else is out there with teeth and claws, to your presence. There were some good points in there too; like the bear ran past the guy who was curled up in the fetal position and went after his partner. Also, the fact that the victim's movement to his pistol may have provoked the bear. I think I know the victim's partner. If it's the right guy, he's got one leg and a prostheitc from the knee down. That must have been a sight seeing them "jog" back down the trail.”

“I read that article this morning too. I know it is illegal to carry a firearm when bowhunting in WY, wouldn't it be illegal in MT also?

I wonder if they will sew his ear back on?

Bumma!”

“Two hikers survived a grizzly attack in Yellowstone Park Monday when after they surprised a female and her 3 cubs when they crested a ridge. They were hiking off-trail near Columbine Creek, east of Yellowstone Lake, when they surprised the bears. The two hikers turned around and started back down the ridge when the bear charged. They dropped to the ground and remained still as is recommended when a grizzly charges.

The bear bit one of the hiker's on the leg and shook him for a few seconds before releasing him. The bear then approached the second hiker, who sprayed the bear in the face with pepper spray. The bear then retreated to her cubs. The two hikers returned to their camp, spent the night and flagged down a Park Service boat the next morning.”

“Sounds like they got off easy, good for them.”

“Aero, do you have a link to that story?”

“I just read it in the paper, but I just found it online here”

“Very cool, thanks! :-)”

“It appears they did the right thing. The sow really wasn't as interested in eating someone as protecting her cubs. The pepper spray apparently worked. It seems better than trying to shoot the thing and pissing her off rather than just irritating her.”

“sounds like they did what they should do under the circumstances. The only other thing they could do is make more noise when approaching "blind" spots.

Quietly cresting a ridge is a classic scenario for hunters in Alaska getting attacked. That and sneaking through thick brush.”

“THREE cubs!!!!!!!!????????

I always thought two was the max.”

“I totally agree. It's unfortunate the incident happened, but it sounds like the mother bear was acting on her protective instincts for the cubs.”

“Those folks have a REAL story now. Glad nobody was seriously hurt.”

“I liked these sentences of the article:

Crosson and a companion, who was not identified by the agency, were hiking off a trail up a drainage close to Columbine Creek when they crested a ridge and surprised the grizzly.

and...

Bear warnings have been posted near Columbine Creek and no off-trail trekking is allowed in the area.

”

“ooops.”

“i read the billings newspaper story and then went to the ynp website, where the nps has posted a similar story-it looked like billings excerpted its story from the nps release
question? was off trail hiking already disallowed at the time oof the incident or was it banned as a result?
nps makes is sound like the latter-billings indicates they were hiking illegally and therefore were subject to citations...no mention of this in either article, however”

“There's no Park regulation prohibiting off trail hiking in the backcountry unless it's been specifically designated. it's most likey the signes went up after the attack.”

“She was just doing what any protective momma would do. Gotta really hurt when a griz shakes you by the leg, huh?”

“I didn't see this in the paper Aero. Thanks for the story and link. Interesting. It sounds like they pretty much handled it the right way, good for them. (Please don't let me ever have to deal w/ this situation.)”

“The guys were on GMA (or one of the other morning shows) today. Interesting. The one really saved the others' life.

They had to go a difficult 3 miles after the injury, and spent the night in 35 degrees with no shelter other than what the friend could build on the spot.”

“There were two naturalists, one from the Czech Republic and the other from Russia, that were studying the bears in Michigan. When they turned up missing, a search was started to find them. Their camp was found, and signs of a struggle with bears was evident. Only two bears were found in the area, one male and one female. The female bear was killed, and the contents of her stomach showed that she had eaten the Russian. So the other bear was hunted down and killed, and you guessed it...The Czech was in the male.”

“Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!”

“Newgirl, not many bears between Roundup and Billings.

Beers, now that's another story.”

“A friend of mine got attacked about 8 years ago in the same general area of the Park. He and his partner had split up and were going to meet back at camp later. When he re-crossed a large meadow, he came upon a grizzly who had been sleeping in tall grass when he went through the first time. The guy spun around and ran towards a tree (to climb) and blew out his knee. His kneecap was shoved partway up the quadracep. he went into the "bear position" and had apparently crapped his pants. The bear shoved the guy once from behind with his nose and then left him alone. He had a long, painful crawl back to camp and ended up in Cody for knee surgery.”

“Ow. That's gotta hurt.”

“aero, I think I would have crapped my pants as well.

On Wednesday, Malinda & I were hiking in to Stockade Lake when we ran across a "BIG" pile of bear scat. Needless to say, I was a little on edge later when we were eating bagels with salami and cheese for lunch.

Sometimes I take bear spray, sometimes I don't. I believe I'll be more careful to be sure I have it with me in the future. I don't fancy having to assume the "Kiss Your A$$ Goodbye" position.”

“This story about surprising a bear is exactly what i'm wanting to avoid and my whole reason for carrying a gun while in ,AK and you guys were pokin fun at me for wanting to take a gun to Alaska with me....glad to hear the pepper spray actually works though.”

“Don, I was watching a polar bear special and the scientist who was doing the research was forced to use bear spray to fend off a huge male. It worked great.

A friend of ours is a guide in Alaska and he carries a 12 ga. loaded with 00 buckshot and a 44 mag. in a shoulder holster. He claims that unless you hit the bear in the head you're just spinning you wheels. Their heart rate is so slow that my the time it bled to death from any other hit, you'd be dinner. The reason for using buckshot is lots of pellets in a pressure situation. I'd go with the spray.

By the way, you need a shorter handle.”

“This is the style of 12 gauge very popular in Alaska.



I think it was in Herrero's book, but it had a drawing of the lethal zone with a target that included head, neck and base of neck inside the collar bone.”

“Geezr, I think you're right. I may have been living under a rock, but I don't recall hearing of any cases (Documented) where someone was able to bring down a grizzly with a handgun after in a close encounter. Has anyone ever heard of something like that. In most cases (other than a hunter or rancher plugging one from a distance) the bear is on top of you in no time and fumbling with a handgun, much less getting an accurate shot to a vital spot seems improbable. Nearly all the documented cases I've heard involved being more passive with maybe a shot of spray to the eyes.

I know, I know, it just ain't macho not to crank off a few rounds from the hip with the old 45.”

“BTW, the activist that was attacked by a grizzly while doing the buffalo study a few weeks ago in Yellowstone has more troubles than the Griz. It seems he was delinquent in child support and had changed his name. Someone out east recognized is picture in the paper and the next thing he knows, he's got a warrant out on him!!”

“Not claiming to be an expert by any means, but my recollection is that most grizz attack survivors had good success just using the duck & cover, without weapons of any kind. If I'm wrong about that, I have no worry that some TTer will correct me.

Of course, those of us with bear canisters can just use those, right? My question: are you supposed to throw the thing at 'em, or just use it as a shield. Maybe you use it to crap in so you don't get your pants all messy. The guy at REI didn't seem to know the answer....”

“You get one big enough to crawl into and seal up. Hold on and enjoy the ride!”

“Not to fulfill your prediction, martyb, but the duck and cover is only recommended if you are knocked down by a territorial or surprised griz. A hungry griz or black bear will just start feeding on you.

Herrera's book has one story of a researcher in AK who lied there playing dead while a griz slowly ate her.”

“oh never mind...”

“arm.”

“ohhhhh....”

“You showed amazing restraint there Violin.”

“Martyb, is your bear cannister a 55 gal. drum?”

“Have to be a little bigger to get a full-grown griz in there, don't you think?”

“You mean they have some smaller than the 55 gal. model?! Where can I find one? Now I can really cut down on pack weight!”

“Just got back from Yosemite. Heard stories of a bear with 3 cubs also. Two from the previous year and a yearling. Working the campsites hard to feed all those mouths.
There is one who has figured out that if he waited until he saw the canister opened by the hiker, then just walk right on in and take possesion, he scores the food.”

“Leaving a canister open and unattended has its risks.

If a bear continues to approach people with open canisters in their possession, that bear's days are numbered. I'd imagine that many Yosemite bears are ear tagged and easy to report to the park service.

Yosemite bears must learn to always fear people and loathe encounters with them. That conditioning must many times over overwhelm their sense of hunger or felt need to feed their offspring.”

“karma?


Bear mauling victim arrested
Man didn’t pay $23,000 in support

By Mary Lolli
Cox News Service

HAMILTON | A former Middletown man who was mauled by a grizzly bear near West Yellowstone is being returned to Butler County, where he is wanted on multiple charges of failure to pay child support.

Jeffrey Scheu, 36, was arrested Tuesday at an Idaho Falls hospital, where he had been recovering after being mauled Aug. 25 while he and a group of animal activists tracked a bison.

Aaron Aldridge, Butler County assistant prosecutor, said a grand jury indicted Scheu on July 18 on six counts of criminal nonsupport. He owes $23,000 in child support for one child, Aldridge said.

Butler County’s Child Support Enforcement Agency had been trying to locate Scheu for two years.

“We started tracking him and had located him at a campground in Yellowstone,” Aldridge said.

He said Butler County officials called police in Montana and asked if they would go to the campground and arrest Scheu.

“They said no problem, they were sending a unit out there anyway on a report of a bear mauling,” Aldridge said. “It turned out, the mauling victim was the man we’d been looking for.”

Aldridge said Scheu has waived extradition and will be returned to Butler County next week.”