Man kills bear along popular trail
Troopers say Anchorage resident justified in shooting charging grizzly
The Associated Press
Sept. 25, 2004
ANCHORAGE--An Anchorage man was justified in using a .44-Magnum handgun to mortally wound a charging brown bear, Alaska wildlife troopers said.
Muldoon resident Gary Boyd, 57, was walking his boxer puppy Wednesday afternoon along the "tank" trail in the Chugach foothills north of Campbell Creek when he heard something crashing through the brush behind him.
"I thought it was a moose, but then I saw it was too low for a moose," said Boyd, a former Army helicopter pilot and retired maintenance chief. "I just had time to pull my pistol and spin around."
A male brown bear was less than 20 feet away.
The bear, estimated at 750 pounds, had apparently been guarding the remains of a moose taken in a Fort Richardson bow hunt about 75 feet off the gravel track used by hikers, bikers and dog walkers.
"I fired the first shot, and I aimed at its shoulders," Boyd told the Anchorage Daily News. "When the first shot didn't faze it, I fired the second time, and it turned in to the ditch, and I shot three more times, and it went down."
With one shot remaining in his .44-caliber Magnum revolver, Boyd called Anchorage police on his cell phone and walked out a trail to the end of Klutina Street to meet wildlife State Trooper Kim Babcock. It was about 12:30 p.m.
Babcock and Boyd found the bear still alive but unable to move. Babcock finished the animal with a shotgun slug to the heart, while Boyd shot it in the head.
Babcock said Boyd acted appropriately in defense of his life and was glad he had been armed and had the skill to hit the animal with so little time at such close range.
"He didn't have a choice," Babcock said.
Boyd, who has lived in the neighborhood for 30 years, said he has not hunted in about 10 years but always carries the handgun for protection. He has practiced "a quick draw" over the years.
"I feel terrible about having to kill it, but I tell you it was me or him," he said. "I'm glad the instincts and the training paid off."
The incident marked the second time in a few weeks that a bear has been shot along the Chugach foothills by a hiker. On Aug. 25, Gabriel Winters killed a black bear sow that he said charged him.
Through early September, another three brown bears had been shot this summer and fall in Anchorage. Four black bears had also been killed in defense of life and property, and two black bears died in vehicle collisions.
Military officers who came to the scene told Babcock and Boyd that the area would be posted and closed to further public access.
The trail, which extends north from Far North Bicentennial Park through the foothills east of Muldoon neighborhoods, crosses land that Army officials say is off limits to recreation without permission. But residents and others regularly ride bikes, hike, jog and walk dogs along the trail.
Babcock and Boyd said they were surprised that someone else had not been attacked earlier in the day. The animal, a boar in its prime, measured 8 1/2 feet.
"We hadn't had that bear dead within three minutes when 12 cross-country runners from the high school came by," Babcock said.
Troopers say Anchorage resident justified in shooting charging grizzly
The Associated Press
Sept. 25, 2004
ANCHORAGE--An Anchorage man was justified in using a .44-Magnum handgun to mortally wound a charging brown bear, Alaska wildlife troopers said.
Muldoon resident Gary Boyd, 57, was walking his boxer puppy Wednesday afternoon along the "tank" trail in the Chugach foothills north of Campbell Creek when he heard something crashing through the brush behind him.
"I thought it was a moose, but then I saw it was too low for a moose," said Boyd, a former Army helicopter pilot and retired maintenance chief. "I just had time to pull my pistol and spin around."
A male brown bear was less than 20 feet away.
The bear, estimated at 750 pounds, had apparently been guarding the remains of a moose taken in a Fort Richardson bow hunt about 75 feet off the gravel track used by hikers, bikers and dog walkers.
"I fired the first shot, and I aimed at its shoulders," Boyd told the Anchorage Daily News. "When the first shot didn't faze it, I fired the second time, and it turned in to the ditch, and I shot three more times, and it went down."
With one shot remaining in his .44-caliber Magnum revolver, Boyd called Anchorage police on his cell phone and walked out a trail to the end of Klutina Street to meet wildlife State Trooper Kim Babcock. It was about 12:30 p.m.
Babcock and Boyd found the bear still alive but unable to move. Babcock finished the animal with a shotgun slug to the heart, while Boyd shot it in the head.
Babcock said Boyd acted appropriately in defense of his life and was glad he had been armed and had the skill to hit the animal with so little time at such close range.
"He didn't have a choice," Babcock said.
Boyd, who has lived in the neighborhood for 30 years, said he has not hunted in about 10 years but always carries the handgun for protection. He has practiced "a quick draw" over the years.
"I feel terrible about having to kill it, but I tell you it was me or him," he said. "I'm glad the instincts and the training paid off."
The incident marked the second time in a few weeks that a bear has been shot along the Chugach foothills by a hiker. On Aug. 25, Gabriel Winters killed a black bear sow that he said charged him.
Through early September, another three brown bears had been shot this summer and fall in Anchorage. Four black bears had also been killed in defense of life and property, and two black bears died in vehicle collisions.
Military officers who came to the scene told Babcock and Boyd that the area would be posted and closed to further public access.
The trail, which extends north from Far North Bicentennial Park through the foothills east of Muldoon neighborhoods, crosses land that Army officials say is off limits to recreation without permission. But residents and others regularly ride bikes, hike, jog and walk dogs along the trail.
Babcock and Boyd said they were surprised that someone else had not been attacked earlier in the day. The animal, a boar in its prime, measured 8 1/2 feet.
"We hadn't had that bear dead within three minutes when 12 cross-country runners from the high school came by," Babcock said.
