BEAR ENCOUNTER

ABROSOKA - BEARTOOTH WILDERNESS

SOUTHWEST MONTANA

OCTOBER 12, 2000

On October 12, 2000, I was hunting with Dave Poncin, a guide employed by Hell's A'Roarin Outfitters in Gardiner, Montana. We had been hunting elk daily since October 5, 2000. That particular morning we had headed north from camp into the north fork of Bull Creek Drainage in the Abrosaka- Bear Tooth Wilderness Area on the north edge of Yellowstone Park. We arose at 2:30 a.m. and had breakfast about 3:15 a.m. We were on horseback a little after 4:00 a.m. and either had been on horseback or on foot until 9:00 a.m. As we approached a group of pine trees Dave stopped and spotted movement in the brush ahead. He warned there was a bear. I then noticed there was a second bear and we attempted to retreat. After only a second or two of delay the bears noticed us and the sow immediately charged, followed by three two year old cubs. I discharged my .300 Winchester Magnum just as the bear got to me. She grabbed me below the knee and left two puncture wounds, one of which penetrated my left calf and fractured the fibula. The bear then went on past me and went down. As she tried to get up Dave finished the bear off with a single shot with from his .44 Magnum revolver. We evaluated our situation and assessed my injuries. Finding them not to be too serious, we decided to leave the area.

We took several photographs to satisfy the Fish and Wildlife Service that the shooting was justified. We then walked a half hour where our horses were tied. It was then a two and half hour ride back to camp where we dressed my wounds and put on some dry clothes for the next portion of our trip. We then had a 16 mile, 5 hour horseback ride out through Yellowstone Park to the Slough Creek campground. We then exited Yellowstone through the Mammoth Springs entrance in Gardner and had about a three hour truck drive to Bozeman where I was admitted to the Bozeman Deaconess Hospital. I remained there two days following surgery to remove bone fragments from my lower leg. All in all it was an experience from which I escaped with relatively minor injuries. Both Dave and I realize how lucky we are not have been seriously injured or killed. Having reviewed the situation thoroughly, I really do not know of anything different that we could have or should have done to avoid the attack. The sow pictured here was accompanied by three two-year old cubs all of whom should be old enough to survive on their own.

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