Fatal grizzly encounter

[sapperJ24]

First fatal bear encounter of the year. I'm sure more information will come out in the following weeks.


MISSOULA, Mont. — Park County Sheriff Brad Bichler says a man who was reported missing in the Six Mile Creek area Thursday did not survive what is believed to be a grizzly encounter.

On Thursday, the sheriff's office said the man was overdue from a hike in the area south of Emigrant.

A Facebook post Friday afternoon said the man's body had been found and efforts would continue to bring the victim's body home.

Air crews searched Thursday night. Ground crews had to pause due to terrain and bear activity.

Ground crews restarted their search Friday morning.

Missing Park Co. hiker believed killed by grizzly

Park County Sheriff Brad Bichler says a man who was reported missing in the Six Mile Creek area Thursday did not survive what is believed to be a grizzly encounter. On Thursday, the sheriff's office said the man was overdue from a hike in the area south of Emigrant. A Facebook post Friday...

nbcmontana.com

 

[mxracer317]

Bear is innocent until proven guilty. Haha. Hey serious note, these predators have no fear of man. Hunting season needs to open up on them.

 

[elkduds]

Nasty business. Curious if bear spray or firearm was deployed.

 

[406dn]

Bear is innocent until proven guilty. Haha. Hey serious note, these predators have no fear of man. Hunting season needs to open up on them.

I have watched with my own eyes them running away from me when they winded me. So they do have some fear.

I suspect neither the bear or the man knew the other was there, until they realized it in close quarters.

 

[OntarioHunter]

Bear is innocent until proven guilty. Haha. Hey serious note, these predators have no fear of man. Hunting season needs to open up on them.

Many more human fatalities every year from fatal encounters with other hunters. Perhaps we need to open up a season on them too?

 

[wtrfwlhunter]

Sad to hear this. Good to know the bears are out...was wondering with the temps We’vr had the last week.

S-3, The amount of predators in NW Montana is unreal.

 

[S-3 Ranch]

The amount of predators in NW Montana is unreal.

That’s what I stayed up late last night reading, region 1 ? Sounds like it’s been messed up for awhile, sounds terrible mismanagement
is that state or federal law doing it

 

[Gerald Martin]

What’s up with Montana?
I keep reading about how F&G has let predators get out of control
and that wolves , bears, mountain lions, have destroyed the whole NW corner of Montana and whole east side of Idaho !
is it state or federal problems

What’s up with Montana is that we have grizzly bears. Grizzly bears act like grizzly bears. Sometimes that means they behave like the apex predators they are and humans get killed as a result.

As tragic as this situation is, different management policies or hunting won’t fundamentally change the nature of a grizzly bear.

As far as predators destroying anything… predators do what predators do. They have an effect on prey populations. Does that mean we should extirpate predators from the landscape like we did nearly all wildlife during the “settlement” of the West?

 

[Gerald Martin]

Sad to hear this. Good to know the bears are out...was wondering with the temps We’vr had the last week.

S-3, The amount of predators in NW Montana is unreal.

The amount of predators in NW Montana is somewhat overstated by the largest number of predators in NW MT and is probably closer to historic numbers than has been seen in the past 150 years.

There are definitely more wolves than were previously from @1900-2022.

Mountain lion and black bears have remained stable.

Grizzlies have increased slightly in some areas, dramatically in others.

Human predation has increased exponentially as well via habitat loss, highway mortality and hunting.

 

[S-3 Ranch]

What’s up with Montana is that we have grizzly bears. Grizzly bears act like grizzly bears. Sometimes that means they behave like the apex predators they are and humans get killed as a result.

As tragic as this situation is, different management policies or hunting won’t fundamentally change the nature of a grizzly bear.

As far as predators destroying anything… predators do what predators do. They have an effect on prey populations. Does that mean we should extirpate predators from the landscape like we did nearly all wildlife during the “settlement” of the West?

Yes , sounds like settlement is still a problem, a guy a ran part of a ranch for has land he has subdivided and it’s a problem with USF’s, Brask vs usfs

Owner of 320 Ranch vows to sue U.S. Forest Service

The owner of the 320 Ranch in Gallatin Canyon is vowing to sue the U.S. Forest Service, seeking vehicle access to a section of important grizzly bear habitat he has

www.bozemandailychronicle.com

 

[Gerald Martin]

Yes , sounds like settlement is still a problem, a guy a ran part of a ranch for has land he has subdivided and it’s a problem with USF’s, Brask vs usfs

Owner of 320 Ranch vows to sue U.S. Forest Service

The owner of the 320 Ranch in Gallatin Canyon is vowing to sue the U.S. Forest Service, seeking vehicle access to a section of important grizzly bear habitat he has

www.bozemandailychronicle.com

I hope he loses. We need less development in that area not more.

And… I say that as a construction manager building luxury homes in a resort community less than ten miles away from those properties.

The problem with everyone owning their little slice of wilderness is that it isn’t wilderness when that happens.

It’s pretty amusing to me to watch tourists come from all over the world to lay on the beach at the man made lake at the top of the mountain in Bigsky. Especially when that beach was hauled in from Bozeman by dump trucks and spread out with skid loaders a couple weeks before the tourists arrived to experience the wilderness.

I much prefer sleeping uneasy at night in the woods around Emigrant wondering if I am going to be eaten by a grizzly and wondering if I can get my elk out of the woods before a bear claims it .

 

[S-3 Ranch]

I hope he loses. We need less development in that area not more.

And… I say that as a construction manager building luxury homes in a resort community less than ten miles away from those properties.

The problem with everyone owning their little slice of wilderness is that it isn’t wilderness when that happens.

It’s pretty amusing to me to watch tourists come from all over the world to lay on the beach at the man made lake at the top of the mountain in Bigsky. Especially when that beach was hauled in from Bozeman by dump trucks and spread out with skid loaders a couple weeks before the tourists arrived to experience the wilderness.

I much prefer sleeping uneasy at night in the woods around Emigrant wondering if I am going to be eaten by a grizzly and wondering if I can get my elk out of the woods before a bear claims it .

Yeah, DJ Brask is a trip, he has some huge ranch’s in Texas , Wyoming, Montana, and yet would get freaky if our hunters built a outhouse or pole barn without his permission!
he is developing a substantial subdivision in San Antonio right over the aquafaer and world’s largest bat cave, I guess F the ecosystem everywhere

 

[OntarioHunter]

Personally, I hope Montana gets overrun with grizzlies, cougars, wolves, etc. If their consumption of humans increased exponentially maybe it might reverse the exponential destruction of that beautiful place by all the transplants seeking to rip up their own slice of the last best place. I would choose to be a homeless bum before ever marching in that sad parade. Perhaps if Montana started having real winters again it might put a damper on it. The fuel crisis - which will only get worse - is perhaps our last best hope.

 

[Red Fox]

Looks like MT is out front with an early lead, but I would bet that WY catches up soon

 

[mxracer317]

Many more human fatalities every year from fatal encounters with other hunters. Perhaps we need to open up a season on them too?

Sounds good. Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[mxracer317]

What’s up with Montana is that we have grizzly bears. Grizzly bears act like grizzly bears. Sometimes that means they behave like the apex predators they are and humans get killed as a result.

As tragic as this situation is, different management policies or hunting won’t fundamentally change the nature of a grizzly bear.

As far as predators destroying anything… predators do what predators do. They have an effect on prey populations. Does that mean we should extirpate predators from the landscape like we did nearly all wildlife during the “settlement” of the West?

At what point is enough grizzly bears for you? They’ve been on the endangered list long enough. I guess Montana, Idaho and Wyoming wanting to delist them is outta of ignorance on their part?

 

[mxracer317]

Personally, I hope Montana gets overrun with grizzlies, cougars, wolves, etc. If their consumption of humans increased exponentially maybe it might reverse the exponential destruction of that beautiful place by all the transplants seeking to rip up their own slice of the last best place. I would choose to be a homeless bum before ever marching in that sad parade. Perhaps if Montana started having real winters again it might put a damper on it. The fuel crisis - which will only get worse - is perhaps our last best hope.

But yet you have no problem going to Africa on your safari hunts and taking game that belongs on the savannah. As long as it doesn’t affect you, because it’s not in your backyard?

 

[R.K.]

Sad to hear this. Good to know the bears are out...was wondering with the temps We’vr had the last week.

S-3, The amount of predators in NW Montana is unreal.

(Possible) side note- Emigrant isn't exactly NW MT.

 

[Beignet]

At what point is enough grizzly bears for you? They’ve been on the endangered list long enough. I guess Montana, Idaho and Wyoming wanting to delist them is outta of ignorance on their part?

Sure, it’s probably time to delist and manage them carefully. But only because they’ve established a healthy population. Not for revenge because an occasional human gets killed when g-bears are out doing g-bear stuff.

On the flip side, endangered species can sure help keep rampant development in check. That’s a plus, but not the purpose of the ESA (so I’m not condoning using it as an anti-development strategy).

 

[mxracer317]

Sure, it’s probably time to delist and manage them carefully. But only because they’ve established a healthy population. Not for revenge because an occasional human gets killed when g-bears are out doing g-bear stuff.

On the flip side, endangered species can sure help keep rampant development in check. That’s a plus, but not the purpose of the ESA (so I’m not condoning using it as an anti-development strategy).

Totally. Never said to send them to extinction. Just said it’s time to delist and open up hunting season on them, and put a little fear into them.