Bear attack--1 dead--2 injured

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1 dead, 2 injured in bear attack at MT campground
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EmailPrint..By MATT VOLZ, Associated Press Writer Matt Volz, Associated Press Writer – 9 mins ago
HELENA, Mont. – At least one bear rampaged through a campground near Yellowstone National Park before dawn Wednesday, killing one person and injuring two others before campers sought shelter in their cars, wildlife officials said.

Tents were smashed in the 4 a.m. attack that left a male dead at the Soda Butte campground. A female suffered severe lacerations from bites on her arms, while another male was bitten on his calf and taken to a hospital in Cody, Wyo.

Wildlife officials did not release the identities or ages of the victims. A response team was being sent to piece together what happened.

"We don't know if it was one bear, two bears, a black bear or grizzly bear," Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks spokesman Ron Aasheim said. "Obviously, the bear's gone now. Will it come back tonight? That's the question."

Authorities cleared the campground after the attack was reported at 6 a.m., telling campers to go to their cars.

It was not immediately clear how many people were in the campground at the time of the attack.

The same campground was the site of a 2008 attack in which a grizzly bear bit and injured a man sleeping in a tent. A young adult female grizzly was captured in a trap four days after the attack and transported to a bear research center at Washington State University in Pullman.

The Soda Butte campground has 27 sites in the Gallatin National Forest near the northeastern entrance of Yellowstone National Park. It is located just off the rugged, mountainous Beartooth Highway about 125 miles southwest of Billings.

"It is a populated area for bears, not just grizzly bears but black bears," Gallatin National Forest spokeswoman Marna Daley said.

The campground, which is run by the U.S. Forest Service, has been closed, as well as two other nearby campgrounds, Daley said. Forest Service officials will consider closing more campgrounds after consulting with state wildlife officials leading the investigation, she said.

___

AP Writer Amy Beth Hanson contributed to this repor
 
Damn shame. The bears have been conditioned such that people = food.

If you're going to hike and camp in bear territory....

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I thought I read somewhere that for that very same reason they don't allow tents or tent trailers, only hard-walled campers and trailers to be used in Yellowstone, or maybe it was not that they don't allow it, they just don't advise it? Something like that anyways... Apparently also, the bears there are getting used to the bear spray (finding ways to get around it) and it's losing it's effectiveness. But then again, you never know what is truth or fiction on the internet.:D
 
It seems everyone was sound asleep since the attack occurred at 4AM. I doubt any bear deterrent would have been effective unfortunately.
 
I thought I read somewhere that for that very same reason they don't allow tents or tent trailers, only hard-walled campers and trailers to be used in Yellowstone, or maybe it was not that they don't allow it, they just don't advise it?

Tents are definitely not banned in Yellowstone and I've never heard of an advisory against them. There is one campground which doesn't allow tents or tent trailers, it's designated for hard shell vehicles only.

And FWIW this didn't occur inside the boundary of the NP but in a NF.
 
I was in yellowstone just weeks ago. Talking to the rangers, the backcountry campers tend to be very good about smellables and the bears have been trained to avoid the backcountry campsites within the park since they don't get food even if they smell it. This is not the case in the surrounding state forests, where bear encounters (of any sort) are much more common.

The campground at Fishing Bridge does indeed have a ban on everything but hard-sided trailers. The area has an extremely high bear population and an ouce of prevention...
 
Tents are definitely not banned in Yellowstone and I've never heard of an advisory against them. There is one campground which doesn't allow tents or tent trailers, it's designated for hard shell vehicles only.

And FWIW this didn't occur inside the boundary of the NP but in a NF.

Thanks for clearing that up.
 
That guy in the video already had a gun drawn and infront of him in the boat. I think he was aiming at the bear and missed... or hit it and the group played it off as a warning shot. No friggin way you are drawing your weapon and taking a warning shot at a grizzly charge, 10ft away. Way to play it up there, Tex.

Rat... you probably would have only succeded in shooting your own leg, bud.... lol:p:thumbup:

Rick
 
Yeah that gun came out of nowhere fast. I think he had it drawn after he saw the cubs.
 
It seems everyone was sound asleep since the attack occurred at 4AM. I doubt any bear deterrent would have been effective unfortunately.

The best deterrent for any type of animal you don't want around is a hunting season. Not only to reduce numbers but, the hunting pressure will teach them that humans are bad news.
 
I would have shot the bear(s). I'd put money on nobody there having any sort of weapon.

You're sleeping. You are awaken to a bear mauling you. Where's your gun? Do you have the presence of mind to locate it? Do you have the presence of mind to aim and dischage it? Unless you're sitting in a tree waiting for the bear, "I would have shot the bear" may be easier said then accomplished...given this particular scenario.
 
You're sleeping. You are awaken to a bear mauling you. Where's your gun? Do you have the presence of mind to locate it? Do you have the presence of mind to aim and dischage it? Unless you're sitting in a tree waiting for the bear, "I would have shot the bear" may be easier said then accomplished...given this particular scenario.

Add to that, wrapped up in a collapsed tent, tangled in a sleeping bag and probably being knocked around with another body or two... awfully tough situation, no matter what weapons you have.

I'd put more faith in bear spray than a firearm in that situation. If I couldn't get it aimed at the bear, at least I could douse myself to make my tender bits as unpleasant as possible....

:eek:

Condolences to the victims.
 
Damn shame. The bears have been conditioned such that people = food.

If you're going to hike and camp in bear territory....

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There was a poster some weeks ago going on about electing to protect himself from a bear with a knife (or was it actually hunting bears with knives, I no longer recall). I remain doubtful that either the can of pepper spray (from inside a tent?) would be effective against a determined bear attacker, nor most handguns unless you could pull off a perfect headshot at point blank range just prior to being bolled over. I'd be for want of a flamethrower if I knew it was to be a mature grizzly I would be waking up to, assuming I had time to reach for anything before being tossed like a ragdoll across the campsite.

4AM seems to be the hour that most dangerous animals seem to do the most damage, weapons notwithstanding. A bear has no respect for the sanctity of your typical nylon sided tent and will walk right over one, pinning you inside, or tearing through and reaching in for whatever interests them. If keeping food well sealed and out of reach isn't sufficient, it may still not be a mankiller type of rouge bear. A brash probe by a bear, usually a juvenile, still usually ends with the bear retreating.

It's a lightening strike type odds to actually be attacked by a bear, let alone fatally. Even among campers who take NO precautions at all despite common sense and the posted signs, you are slightly more likely to be bitten by a large shark and that's still in the million to one category. Hopes and prayers to those who survived for what could be a very long physical and emotional recovery.

-E
 
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I am not saying if I woke up with a bear chewing on me, I would rip out it's throat with my "bear" hands. I am saying that camping unarmed in bear country is stupid, and someone else in the campsite might have had a chance to kill the bear while it was mauling other people. Better to die with a gun in your hand than screaming "hit it with a frying pan."

A person is dead and you're busy chest-thumping and trying to make a cheap point about gun ownership before the body is even cold.

Classy.

The classy move is to chide others based on deliberate misinterpretation of their post. . . to make a cheap point that isn't even readily apparent. :yawn:
 
The best deterrent for any type of animal you don't want around is a hunting season. Not only to reduce numbers but, the hunting pressure will teach them that humans are bad news.

Up the number of tags issued.
:thumbup:
 
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