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Two grizzly bears killed by hunters

By SCOTT McMILLION, Chronicle Staff Writer

State and federal officials are investigating the deaths of two grizzly bears in southwest Montana.


 Both of them died at the hands of hunters.

One was shot last week near Cooke City, according to Sam Sheppard, warden captain for the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

Two out-of-state hunters were hunting black bear there and began following some tracks, Sheppard said.

However, the hunters apparently were unable to tell the difference between black bear and grizzly bear tracks.

When they found the bruin they'd been following, the male bear then took a couple of hops toward them before running parallel to their path.

One of the hunters then killed the animal, Sheppard said.

The second death was discovered last week, at the state's Mount Haggin Wildlife Management Area near Anaconda.

That bear, a 450-pound male with classic grizzly bear features, had been killed with an arrow. A hiker discovered the carcass.

The projectile pierced both lungs and clipped the aorta before passing through the body.

With that kind of wound, Sheppard said, it's unlikely the bear could have moved more than a couple hundred yards before dying. The archer would have had to be fairly close to make a shot that powerful, he added.

It's the first confirmed presence of a grizzly bear in that area for a long time, Sheppard said.

"It's not a place you would expect to see them," he said, but grizzlies are spreading out in this part of the state.

"Anywhere in southwest Montana, you could run into a grizzly bear," Sheppard said.

Investigators are hoping to determine whether the archer intentionally killed the bear and abandoned it or thought it was a black bear, then left it on the ground when the mistake was discovered.

Grizzly bears are protected by both state and federal law, though Montana laws allow people to kill a grizzly if they believe they are in danger.

Investigators are trying to determine if that was the case in the Cooke City incident.

Sheppard also said FWP is rethinking its bear identification program, which requires bear hunters to study the difference between grizzly and black bears and pass a test before they can purchase a black bear license.

FWP also is considering adding more information about bear identification and hunting in grizzly country to its hunter safety classes.

Scott McMillion is at scottm@dailychronicle.com

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