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Third grizzly bear shot in northern Wyoming
10/23/03
CODY, Wyo. (AP) - A third grizzly bear has been killed by elk hunters in northern Wyoming.
The adult grizzly was killed Saturday night west of Meeteetse.
''Three is pretty close to average'' during elk season, said Mark Bruscino, Game and Fish bear management officer.
The latest grizzly encounter occurred at an elevation of 9,800 feet at the head of Piney Creek in western Park County, said special agent Tim Eicher of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The death marks the first time a hunter has shot a grizzly in the Greybull River drainage in recent history, Bruscino said.
All three grizzly killings have involved elk hunters around timberline in areas of whitebark pine, a favorite food of grizzlies, Eicher said. The hunters involved reported all the shootings, and all said the shootings were in self defense of a charging bear.
The two other bears were killed in the Crandall area of northern Park County earlier.
The Saturday incident involved three hunters - two brothers and a son who live in Wyoming. After killing an elk, but before approaching the carcass, the men said the bear charged them, Eicher said.
The bear was killed with one shot.
The grizzly was male, a ''big, old healthy bear,'' Eicher said.
One of the hunters had bear spray but said he had no time to use it after initially fumbling for the canister, Bruscino said.
The incident remains under investigation.
With general elk hunting season ending this week, Eicher said he expects fewer people will be traveling around high elevations where the grizzlies are.
''And the bears are starting to den,'' Bruscino said.
10/23/03
CODY, Wyo. (AP) - A third grizzly bear has been killed by elk hunters in northern Wyoming.
The adult grizzly was killed Saturday night west of Meeteetse.
''Three is pretty close to average'' during elk season, said Mark Bruscino, Game and Fish bear management officer.
The latest grizzly encounter occurred at an elevation of 9,800 feet at the head of Piney Creek in western Park County, said special agent Tim Eicher of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The death marks the first time a hunter has shot a grizzly in the Greybull River drainage in recent history, Bruscino said.
All three grizzly killings have involved elk hunters around timberline in areas of whitebark pine, a favorite food of grizzlies, Eicher said. The hunters involved reported all the shootings, and all said the shootings were in self defense of a charging bear.
The two other bears were killed in the Crandall area of northern Park County earlier.
The Saturday incident involved three hunters - two brothers and a son who live in Wyoming. After killing an elk, but before approaching the carcass, the men said the bear charged them, Eicher said.
The bear was killed with one shot.
The grizzly was male, a ''big, old healthy bear,'' Eicher said.
One of the hunters had bear spray but said he had no time to use it after initially fumbling for the canister, Bruscino said.
The incident remains under investigation.
With general elk hunting season ending this week, Eicher said he expects fewer people will be traveling around high elevations where the grizzlies are.
''And the bears are starting to den,'' Bruscino said.
