Idahostatesman.com
Wounded grizzly bear in Idaho could pose danger
Published: September 22, 2012 Updated 4 hours ago By KEITH
RIDLER — Associated Press
BOISE, Idaho — State wildlife officials say a grizzly bear
wounded by hunters Saturday in the vacation area of Island Park in eastern
Idaho could pose a public safety risk.
Steve Schmidt of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game said five
hunters went to retrieve a downed elk when the grizzly charged. The hunters
told wildlife officers they fired about a dozen shots before the bear turned
and ran, leaving behind a blood trail from being wounded.
Schmidt said officials have decided to wait until Sunday to search
for the bear due to the risk involved.
"Very dangerous," he said. "We don't want to put
our employees at risk. If the bear is seriously wounded, it will likely expire
between now and tomorrow when they go back in there to find it, assuming they
can find it. We don't know how badly the bear is injured."
Schmidt said hunters reported wounding the grizzly in the Chick
Creek area east of U.S. Highway 20 in a fairly remote area south and east of
the Buffalo River. The highway in that area crosses the Buffalo River about 12
or 15 miles west of Yellowstone National Park. It's unclear where between the
road and the park the hunters might have been.
"Without GPS coordinates, we don't really know," he
said.
Schmidt said an archery elk hunting season is open in the area,
with many archery hunters taking part. He said the elk that the five hunters
were retrieving had likely been killed by an archery hunter.
He said it appeared the hunters fired at the bear with a shotgun
and several handguns, but no rifle. He said he didn't have details on the size
of the bear.
"I think the situation is they had an elk that was down,
and they probably gathered a few guys to go in and help bring it out," he
said.
Schmidt said he didn't have the names or hometowns of the hunters.
Besides archery hunters in the area, Schmidt said Island Park has many vacation
homes.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will help with the search for
the bear and was investigating because grizzlies are a threatened species.
"We will be investigating the scene," Schmidt said. "And
we will be interviewing about what the hunters saw and did."
The wounding of the grizzly followed an incident in eastern
Idaho on Sept. 14, when a 67-year-old archer from Midland, Mich., was bitten on
the arm by a grizzly bear. In that incident, the man was helping his hunting
partner retrieve a bull elk carcass killed the previous evening along Sheridan
Creek in Clark County when the grizzly charged from the brush, bit the man on
the bicep, then quickly returned to the trees.
The two hunters walked four miles back to their truck, and the
injured hunter was treated at a medical clinic in Ashton and released.
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9/22/12 BOISE, Idaho: Wounded grizzly bear in Idaho could pose danger | State | Idahostatesman.com
Biologists estimate the Greater Yellowstone area has at least
600 grizzly bears.
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Monday September 24, 2012
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Idaho officials fail to
find wounded grizzly bear
BOISE, Idaho (AP) - Wildlife officials in eastern Idaho
say they were unable Sunday to find a grizzly bear wounded a day earlier by
elk hunters as they tried to retrieve a six-point bull elk carcass in the
Island Park area west of Yellowstone National Park.
Steve Schmidt of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game
said a team of seven well-armed wildlife officers reported finding the blood
trail of the bear near the elk carcass but that it disappeared after about
460 yards headed towards Moose Creek.
Schmidt said the team of five Fish and Game officers and
two U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officers flushed a grizzly bear from the
carcass Sunday when they arrived, but it's unknown if that's the same bear
wounded on Saturday.
Fish and Wildlife is investigating along with Fish and
Game because grizzly bears are a threatened species. Schmidt said the group
contained a grizzly bear expert who identified the track of the wounded bear
as an adult grizzly, but couldn't estimate its size or determine its gender.
"The blood trail petered out and they did not find
the bear and they could not follow the trail any father," Schmidt said.
"At this point their belief is that the bear is not critically injured.
It's very possible the bear might recover from whatever injuries it has, but
that's unknown, of course."
He said the trackers, who were in the area for about six
hours, didn't find large amounts of blood on the ground, but just a smear of
blood here and there, "so it did not appear to be seriously
injured." He said there are no plans to resume searching for the bear.
The elk was killed by an eastern Idaho archery hunter
whose name isn't being released. The hunter and four others told officials
they went to retrieve the elk Saturday morning when the bear charged. The
hunters said they fired about a dozen shots with handguns and a shotgun
before the bear turned and ran, leaving behind a blood trail.
Schmidt said the area where that occurred is about three
quarters of a mile east of U.S. Highway 20 and south and east of the Buffalo
River in the Targhee National Forest. The highway in that area crosses the
Buffalo River about 12 or 15 miles west of Yellowstone National Park. The
nearest residence is about a mile away.
Schmidt said signs are being posted on entrance roads to
the area warning of grizzly bear activity. He said the elk carcass had been
covered with debris by one or more grizzlies, a typical behavior of grizzlies
feeding on a large carcass.
The wounding of the grizzly followed an incident in
eastern Idaho on Sept. 14, when a 67-year-old archer from Midland, Mich., was
bitten on the arm by a grizzly bear. In that incident, the man was helping
his hunting partner retrieve a bull elk carcass killed the previous evening
along Sheridan Creek in Clark County when the grizzly charged from the brush,
bit the man on the bicep, then quickly returned to the trees.
The two hunters walked four miles back to their truck, and
the injured hunter was treated at a medical clinic in Ashton and released.
"We need folks to understand that because of the hot,
dry summer, the potential conflict with bears is higher than in past
years," Schmidt said. "Bears are searching more widely than they
have in past years looking for food. The berry drop they might be exploiting
this time of year did not do well because of the hot, dry summer."
He said people visiting the forest should be alert for
bears, carry bear spray, and not travel alone. He said hunters should make an
effort to get killed game out the same day. If that's not possible, he said
hunters should approach the area cautiously when they return.
"The three states that surround the Greater
Yellowstone area have all heard stories of grizzly bears who fairly quickly
moved in on an elk that was downed by hunters," he said.
Biologists estimate the Greater Yellowstone area has at
least 600 grizzly bears.
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