Victim in Mont. grizzly attack was shot by friend <cite id="yui_3_3_0_1_1316889289848428" class="byline vcard">By MATTHEW BROWN - Associated Press | AP – <abbr title="2011-09-24T01:03:55Z">17 hrs ago</abbr></cite> tweet22 Share7 Email Print U.S. slideshows Celebrities over 65 <cite>18 photos - 20 hrs ago</cite> Chelsea Clinton <cite>16 photos - Thu, Sep 22, 2011</cite> Diana Nyad attempting another Cuba-Florida swim <cite>15 photos - Fri, Sep 23, 2011</cite> See latest photos » BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A hunter attacked by a wounded grizzly in a Montana forest was killed not by the bear, but by a gunshot fired by a companion trying to save him, authorities said Friday. Lincoln County Sheriff Roby Bowe said an autopsy determined 39-year-old Steve Stevenson of Winnemucca, Nev., died of a single gunshot to the chest. The cause of death was determined by a medical examiner with the Montana State Crime Lab. The shot was fired by 20-year-old Ty Bell, also of Winnemucca, as he attempted to stop the bear's attack. No charges are expected, Bowe said. The autopsy found bite marks on Stevenson's leg caused by the bear. "We're fairly convinced it was obviously an accident," Bowe said. "But the county attorney will review the final report once we're done." Bell and Stevenson were on a black bear hunting trip with two other people in a thickly-forested region along the Montana-Idaho border when the attack occurred Sept. 16. The foursome had split into two-member teams, and early in the day Bell shot and wounded what he thought was a black bear, which are considered less aggressive than grizzly bears. Bell and Stevenson waited about 15 minutes until they thought the bear had died, then tracked the 400-pound grizzly into thick cover, according to Stevenson's mother, Janet Price. When the bear turned on the men, Stevenson yelled at the animal to distract it and keep it from attacking Bell, Price told The Associated Press last week. When the animal instead went after Stevenson, Bell fired multiple shots trying to kill the animal, Bowe said. It was unclear how many times the bear was hit, or whether the bullet that killed Stevenson had first hit the bear. Bowe said that possibility was under investigation. The bear also died. It is illegal to kill grizzly bears in the lower 48 states, where the animals are protected under the Endangered Species Act, and the case is also under investigation by federal wildlife agents. Grizzlies were largely exterminated across the lower 48 last century, but their population has rebounded dramatically in recent decades. The grizzly shot by Bell was one of about 45 of the animals that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates live in the Cabinet-Yaak Ecosystem Area in northwest Montana and northern Idaho. Ron Aasheim with the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks said the case underscored the potential danger hunters face when pursuing wounded animals. "Anytime you follow a wounded animal, but particularly a predator like a bear, you have to be very careful," he said.
Totally amazing.... these FlatLanders ought to stay out of the woods, especially in Bear Country, if that is the best they can do..... YMMV....
Absolutely freaking amazing. I guess that guy should have picked his hunting buddies better. Apparently, you need to take your hunting buddies to a range and have them qualify before taking them out into the woods. I think an annual "Who's your buddy? Award" (also known as the "Dick Cheney Award") should be started. This kid gets the first one. The trophy should be a big, chrome plated Dick (Cheney, that is).
Just recently an idiot up north ( and I'm being nice!) shot his own dog when he saw a rattlesnake in the yard.....He swears he was aiming at the snake, but hit the dog, that was 12 feet away! Maybe it was the combination of the moonshine and drugs? I'm hoping a "lot" of them will get together and go hunting! (as in whole bunches!)
I'm going to cut this guy some slack on the bear killing, and also on shooting his buddy. We weren't there, and the details are murky beyond a dead man and dead bear. Murky especially because the press will ever seize on the worst possible picture, and evidently so does law enforcement if we are to believe the press's ongoing obsession with the whole episode. Pretty clearly, those guys got themselves in a position they were not prepared to handle. More's the pity, and the survivor does not need his nose rubbed in it; he'll punish himself to the end of his days. Enough, already, says me, and maybe me only.
quote by ghrit, "the survivor does not need his nose rubbed in it; he'll punish himself to the end of his days." if he doesnt then he need to be shot
I agree, ghrit I'm sure if it were a genuine accident, and there's no prima facie evidence apparent that it wasn't, then I'm confident that Mr Bell is rueing the day he ever decided to go bear hunting with that group of people. My earlier post was merely to point out that involvement in the death of a person has many consequences, depending on one's role in the person's death. Some of the consequences my be psychological distress, and some may be of a legal / justice nature. The incident will be investigated as part of a coronial inquest, and then...if appropriate, further legal action may be taken. My reference to the Montana statute is indicative that deliberate intent may not be necessary to find oneself being placed in the dock. Let the appropriate investigations take place and due process according to the law be followed to determine the facts of the matter as best they can be determined. Let the incident be a cautionary tale for the hunter who is unskilled for the task of despatching dangerous game. If a hunter can't competently kill game without a significant degree of probability that wounded game will escape, then they should first spend more time at the range working on their accuracy until they are competent enough to make one shot kills with almost certainty; or leave their gun at home and play 'big white hunter' on their nintendo...where no one can get hurt if he misses.
As I scroll my "Todays Posts" list I keep seeing this subject: "which is deadlier, man or bear? And by default I have known the answer. Reading the story didn't change it. Man. Man can and will kill ~anything~ and for the most lame-brain reasons or even; none at all. That is not generally true in the animal kingdom. Not even close. As for this story . . . . I have to wonder . . . if my friend was being mauled to death and I really believed we both knew he was in the midst of a slow gruesome death . . . . . would I, could I, seriously consider . . . . awww, nevermind. . . .
There is at least one animal that kills it's own for pleasure or other reasons. Chimpanzees have been documented waging war and indulging in murder.
Agreed. And yes, I recall seeing a documentary on Discovery or History about this; Chimps murdering. Breathtakingly brutal murders. Just like humans have been known to do.
Coyotes and wolves kill for pleasure when food is so plentiful they become bored. Some of the big cats do the same. Housecats always kill for pleasure even when stuffed. jim
