September 18, 2011 in City

Hunters mistook grizzly for black bear

Survivor’s father offers details on deadly mauling

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Two hunters who had a deadly encounter with a young male grizzly bear Friday were certain it was a black bear when they shot it, said a third member of their hunting party.

The bear killed Steve Stevenson, 39, after it was shot by Ty Bell, 20. Bell is originally from Bonners Ferry, Idaho, but recently moved to Winnemucca, Nev.

Ty Bell could not be reached for comment. His father, Bill Bell, who was hunting nearby, said there was no way his son could have known it was a federally protected grizzly, not a black bear, despite his knowledge about the two species’ distinguishing characteristics.

“The thing that people don’t understand is that not all grizzlies have a certain color,” he said. “Not all grizzlies, especially young grizzlies, have the pronounced features of the hump or the dished face. A lot of the younger bears, you can’t tell that they are grizzlies.”

John Fraley, spokesman for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, told the Associated Press that differentiating between grizzlies and black bears can be difficult – hunters in Montana are required to take an identification course, which says color and size are unreliable indicators of species type – but that the two species behave differently.

“Anytime you have a wounded animal it can be dangerous,” Fraley told the AP. “But usually, grizzlies are considered more aggressive than black bears.”

Montana’s bear identity training course says grizzly populations are on the rise.

“Montana’s grizzly bear populations continue to expand,” the training slideshow reads. “More grizzly bears in more places means that you’re more likely than ever to have an encounter – especially in the western half of Montana – if you spend any time outdoors.”

The attack occurred in a remote, mountainous, heavily wooded area in the Buckhorn Mountain area along the northern Montana/Idaho state line about 10 a.m. Friday. Authorities with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, which responded to the attack, said GPS coordinates put the attack right on the border.

Bill Bell said his son and Stevenson studied the 400-pound bear for several minutes from about 60 yards away before mistaking it for a black bear.

“As far as my boy figured, there was nothing there that could tell him that it was a grizzly,” he said. “Up until the time that my boy pulled the bear off my hunting partner, he believed it to be a black bear, until he (saw) its claws. Up until that point, he was totally convinced it was a black bear.”

Ty Bell shot and wounded the bear, which then walked off into the brush, Bill Bell said. The two waited for 45 minutes for the bear to die, then tracked it into the brush. The bear then got up and started running at Ty Bell, he said.

“Before they could really take control of the situation, both of them fired at the bear, trying to stop him or slow him down,” he said. “I believe right after they shot, Steve hollered at the bear and that’s when the bear focused his attention on Steve. I think partially it was to save my son. Steve could see what was about to happen to my boy.

“That bear … carried Steve down the hill for about 30 yards through the brush. Ty, when he ran up and this bear was on top of Steve, he shot the bear three or four times and killed him and had to roll the bear off of Steve only to find out he couldn’t resuscitate Steve or bring him back to life.”

Ty Bell called for help from his cellphone and waited at the scene until authorities arrived, Brent Faulkner of the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. Stevenson’s body was removed by helicopter and taken to the Montana State Crime Lab in Missoula for an autopsy. The bear’s body was also removed by helicopter; it was taken to a Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks laboratory in Bozeman for necropsy.

“There are multiple reports of additional grizzly bears in the area,” Faulkner said in the news release. “Hunters are advised to use caution.”

Stevenson’s family told the AP he was an active outdoorsman who had made previous hunting trips to the area. Stevenson was married and had two daughters, ages 14 and 10.

“He was a great friend to everyone, great fun,” his mother, Janet Price, told the AP. “A wonderful man.”

Bill Bell said he and his son are also avid hunters and that he has hunted and worked for decades as a professional guide in the area in which Stevenson was killed.

“I have guided and hunted in that area for the past 30 years,” he said. “It’s something we’ve done for all of our life, in that same area. My boy was raised into that.”

Bill Bell said backlash from commenters on online news sites is adding to the families’ pain.

“They weren’t standing in either my boy’s shoes or Steve’s shoes when this happened,” he said. “Until you’re standing in those same shoes, you shouldn’t cast a judgment. People have misread this whole story.”

The U.S. Forest Service, David Thompson Search and Rescue and multiple Idaho agencies also responded. The death is at least the third fatal grizzly encounter in the U.S. since July. Grizzly bears are listed as threatened species and killing one in the lower 48 states is a federal offense that can carry civil and criminal penalties of up to $50,000 and a year in jail. It is not known at this time if Ty Bell will be charged with shooting the bear.

19 comments on this story so far. Add yours!

• 

  oneanddone on September 18 at 6:00 a.m.

  Ditto, to drywitt99. It’s also revealing that this 20 year old immediately recognized it was a grizzly by its claws. Perhaps that was the intended goal all along.

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  Orphan on September 18 at 6:47 a.m.

  A 400 lb grizzly should have a hump and the facial shape to see that it is a grizzly. A 400 LB grizzly is big for the lower 48, I have seen much smaller adult Grizzlys in the 300 lb range. Black bears come in a lot of colors, grizzlys come in a lot of shades.

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  dataxman on September 18 at 7:09 a.m.

  lewis - do you cheer when someone is killed down at the meat packing plant? On the farm? Or the semi driver hauling the cattle?

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  dataxman on September 18 at 7:11 a.m.

  norpass - I agree with you. Always annoyed me about the Indians using bow and arrow to kill a grizzly - then making a necklace out of the claws like somehow they did something brave.

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  SpokyDaBear on September 18 at 7:46 a.m.

  Did you read the whole story? The Grizzly with a preacher holding a sharp rock in a convenience store robbing an ATM.

  That’s why they killed him…

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  The_Seer on September 18 at 8:46 a.m.

  I am a hunter. I don’t hunt bear because I don’t care for the meat and I’m not a display hunter, I do it for the food. All organic protein source. More people should try it, the deer herds are overpopulated and lots of them starve every winter because of their increased numbers. Feed you and your family while preventing animals from suffering. Sounds win/win.

  Even though I don’t hun bears, I’d know the difference between a 400 lb Griz and a black bear. Every time.

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  mrd on September 18 at 9:03 a.m.

  The 20 year old made a huge mistake and the families will pay for that mistake forever in many ways. Let the investigation continue and see what results are determined. The insensitive comments solve nothing and only demonstrate the writers cruelty.

• 

  misjustice on September 18 at 9:12 a.m.

  Live by the sword, die by the sword.

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  Evil_vortex_of_Spokane_politic on September 18 at 9:21 a.m.

  I was thinking of sending some of our politicians, Grizzly masks to wear for Halloween…

  Maybe we should require making the grizzlies in Idaho wear orange since the hunters dont.

  mrd..isnt the grizzly also paying the price.. and I feel so insensitive.

  60 yards and a bunch of minutes to pick your aimpoint, what was he hunting with a .22 and wherwas the bullet impact at?

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  northofthe49th on September 18 at 11:11 a.m.

  I have to agree with the drywitt99. Experienced hunters watching the bear from 60 yards away should have no trouble identifying the species. This is sounding like a poaching incident that went horribly wrong. If the bear had just fallen dead, we’d never have heard about it, but someone would have a nice new rug.

• 

  force_vector on September 18 at 11:24 a.m.

  Poaching is a very serious charge to make without having been there. Careful.

• 

  northofthe49th on September 18 at 4:06 p.m.

  It’s true that I was not there, and I am not saying it was poaching. I was echoing drywitt99’s comments at the beginning of the thread regarding the particulars as we know them, and the questions that come from that.

  It just seems very odd that experienced hunters would make such a mistake. I live in the middle of Grizzly country and all the hunters I know check very carefully through their binoculars and scopes to make sure they have the right bear. As it turns out, the two guys I know who have been mauled, both of whom are hunting guides, were attacked by wounded grizzlies that a client had shot and injured. Both guides survived.

  In any event this case is a huge tragedy for the family and friends of the hunter who died. The elephant in the room is the question of how this happened.

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  force_vector on September 18 at 4:21 p.m.

  north - I agree. Huge tragedy all around. It is odd that such a mistake would be made. However, to assume it was on purpose is a leap unjustified without more facts. I’d rather give the benefit of the doubt when the alternative is to assume the worst about someone I don’t know.

• 

  nslopeofw on September 18 at 8:41 p.m.

  All you “know it alls” are full of bs if you claim you can tell a young griz from a blackie 100% of the time. Fact is, young griz can be very dark, and depending on the light, and other visibility factors, mistaken identity has happened a lot more than you super-identifiers think.

  But, the bottom line is a human being died. I dont care how it happened, just that he is dead. All you people cutting on him should remember that. End of story!

• 

  somsai on September 19 at 5:38 a.m.

  I’ve flagged as inappropriate all comments claiming these people were poaching or wishing death on others or celebrating the death of this father and husband. I’d urge others to do the same in the hopes that the moderators see and remove some of the vile comments before anyone from the families involved see them.

  That said, this sounds like a horrible tragedy and a simple case of mistaken species a very simple thing to do. I will say they should open up a season on grizzlies or make tags automatic when purchasing an elk, deer, or black bear tag. There was another instance this weekend of a wrangler and some tourists running into a griz, and of course the two fatalities from earlier this summer.

  At sometime the authorities are going to need to change policy on this unpredictable predator.

• 

  drywitt99 on September 19 at 5:53 a.m.

  That’s absurd somsai!

  Its obvious they were poaching.

  As I am certain the investigation will confirm.

  But you are correct about any comments viewed as dismissing this man’s tragic death.

• 

  BlondeSquawker on September 19 at 7:56 a.m.

  BlondeSquawker wrote on September 14 at 1:36 p.m.:
  “One thing I know about grizzlies is that you have to hit them in the right spot, with the right gun or you can easily end up dead. He did not abide by the federal laws in place to protect these creatures.”

  Well, it appears I predicted this type of scenario in the comments about the hog farmer who killed a grizzly cub in north Idaho recently.

• 

  misjustice on September 19 at 9:14 a.m.

  I don’t view the death of the human as tragic. He assumed the risks associated with hunting bears, and he is dead. Predictable, perhaps, sad for his family and friends, probably, but not tragic. So flag this, somsai…

  This summer was the summer of Grizzly attacks, not that different from the summers of Shark attacks…the media are obsessed over the recent interactions of man and bears…much as they are when it’s man and sharks.

• 

  northofthe49th on September 19 at 11:05 a.m.

  There is no way it is inappropriate to speculate how this happened. I have spent 30+ years travelling in the bush - for work and pleasure - and have never failed to ID a bear. It’s an important skill to learn in bear country. Also, never forget that black bears are also dangerous. The only fatality this year in BC was the doing of a black bear.

  At a quick glance, you may not be sure of species, but with a bit of stalking and watching it only takes a minute or two. Now figuring out sex - that can stump even the experts unless there are cubs, or signs of lactation to ID a sow, or the sheer size of the animal puts the bear in the boar category. I have never met a hunter or outdoorsman here who cannot quickly ID species.

  Which brings us back to the tragedy that occurred here. The presumption of innocence trumps all, and the only witnesses who can speak have told their story, so it seems a case of wrong identity. Nevertheless, there are nagging questions.

  Where these actually experienced hunters? They hunted in the area for years so I assume they are.

  Another poster claims - hearsay evidence I know - that this occurred in a high elevation area. If so, that’s clearly grizzly country, and experienced hunters would know this. So, although the story sounds simple enough - there are questions that arise.

  Also the hunters had seen sign of a grizzly, and planned to leave if they saw one, and yet they shot a large bear that they thought was a black bear. Knowing that grizzly bears don’t tolerate the presence of black bears, and having seen signs of a grizzly, would you not hesitate and check carefully when you did see a bear, knowing that it was more likely to be a grizzly since you have just seen its sign?