Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Grizzly Attack, Montana

This wasn't the only coverage of the attack. According to other reports they did NOT shout at the bear before it charged, though they may have as it charged. One of the guys did have a handgun (legal in Montana when bowhunting) and drew it, but the bear knocked it out of his hand before he could shoot--which is when they tried to use pepper-spray.

Always love it when so many people who've never seen a grizzly talk about what the big handgun they'd be carrying in bear country--and how it would have solved the problem, pronto.

Also loved the comment from somebody who apparently didn't read this story, and assumed they were carrying rifles.

I was thinking about when the bear was on his buddy.

You mean when a grizzly and human are rolling around, connected by the bear's teeth around the human's head?

i have been on the wrong end of the dance with a bear. those that think you have all the time in the world to sort out what to do are blowing smoke. the world takes on a fluid appearance and you are caught in quick sand. in my case there was no physical contact but i had a hard time walking away due to the load in my pants!
i am sure that it won't change anyone's opinion of bear spray or no bear spray but me and mine live with grizzlies 24/7/365 and we depend on it.
shoot and wound a 500 pound pizzed off bear and you are not going to improve his mood for the better. lay down a fog with the RIGHT spray between you and your chances improve . a 44 mag bullet is .429 inches in diameter. a 3ftx10 ft fog of spray is 30 square feet of barrier that can save you.
ymmv

I was thinking the same thing. Maybe he only had a .223, and was waiting for the right shot.

Zerk,

They were bowhunting, so didn't have rifles in their hands.

waiting for the right shot? don't happen unless your grubby fist is down the throat with gun in hand
it is impossible to imagine what this type of encounter is like.
like getting sucker punched while whispering love notes into your girls ear. the brain can't process what is really going on if it is a close charge, and most are because it is proximity that creates the situation. the bear see's you as a threat. in my case the bear realized i was no threat by the high pitched scream coming from somewhere very close to my position. i had a black hawk 41 mag, and a bow and spray. i used the spray.

Stalker: What is "the Right spray"? Thanks.

UDAP created by a survivor. get the big can . shoots 30 or so ft and billows . hope you are up wind. it stains
we ran over a can in moose camp and had to move camp. had a nice orange tiger striping on our white jeep.
i saved the holster and 5 years later the wife (who is allergic to any kind of pepper) found it in the bottom of my duffle bag. almost broke us up. it is strong. plus if the bear does come through and eat you it is easily identified by its pretty color.

G-bears been protected by endangered status for so long that they ain't worried about bipods or what their carrying for bear protection. Probably the original idea in the first place, to many bears to serve as deterent to excess nonresident hunting. those PETA type FWS people prolly dreamed it all up 40 years ago in the name of G-bear recovery. Well, well bet that deal cut short their hunting trip.

A few years ago a young man killed his hunting partner up here, on the Idaho-Montana border, in pretty much that situation...

HOLD STILL JOHN!

GLOCK!GLOCK!GLOCK!GLOCK!

John? John?....






Travis

I can't imagine bowhunting with a big game rifle.

Not without a spotlight anyway.




Dave

DIfferent report

HELENA, Mont. — A grizzly bear mauled a bow hunter in southwestern Montana, slashing a 16-inch (41-centimeter) cut in his head that required 90 stitches to close.

“I could hear bones crunching, just like you read about,” said Tom Sommer, as he recovered in a Montana hospital on Tuesday afternoon.

Sommer said he and a hunting partner were looking for an elk they had been calling Monday morning when his partner spotted a grizzly bear feeding on an elk carcass in the southern end of the Gravelly Range, just north of the Idaho border.

“The bear just flat-out charged us,” Sommer said. He said it closed the 30-foot (9-meter) distance in 3 or 4 seconds.

His hunting partner deployed his bear spray, which slowed the bear’s charge. Sommer said he grabbed his canister so quickly that he couldn’t release the safety and he couldn’t afford to look down as the bear closed in. He ran around a tree twice and dropped his bear spray in the process.

Sommer, who splits his time among Idaho, Missouri and Florida.

His hunting partner had been able to deploy the rest of his bear spray, ending the attack Sommer estimated lasted about 25 seconds.

“It could have been a lot worse,” he said.

Sommer found his bear spray canister. His hunting partner had some blood coagulation powder and they made a turban, stopping the bleeding after about 15 minutes.
They walked a mile back to their spike camp and rode mules another 4 miles (6.4 kilometers) out to their base camp, followed by a 2-hour ride in a pickup truck to get to the hospital in Ennis.

“Through it all I was very conscious, very level-headed and low key about it,” Sommer said. “Besides some scars, it doesn’t appear that I will have any problems.”

“I’ve been a hunter my whole life,” said Sommer, 57. “I have no grievance against the bear. He was just doing what bears do. But I would have shot him just the same.”

http://nypost.com/2017/09/05/grizzly-bear-mauls-bow-hunter-slashes-open-head/

Easy to Monday morning quarter back this one, which doesn't help him. I'm guessing he wishes he had either been more familiar with the bear spray or grabbed his handgun first. (I would have gone for the handgun myself but I wasn't there)

You are allowed to carry a side arm in Montana while Archery Hunting. You just are not allowed to dispatch an animal with it. But may use it ANYTIME for self defense.If you have a CWP it can be out if sight.

I would like to meet the guy who could roll around with a griz mauling him.

I'm sure he would find you equally impressive.




Dave

What is the law out there, can you have a handgun? Granted you need quite the cannon with a grizzly. Some states violate the 2nd Amendment when bow hunting. Sadly hunter put up with to much suppression of the 2nd Amendment. With the DNR you are guilty without committing a crime. Having a load gun, unless pointing it at something is not a crime.

IMO DNR are traitors to this country.

So can shoot a person with it, but must pepper spray on bears?

Don't worry about it, stupid. You'll never venture this far regardless.





Dave