Two men shoot, kill grizzly bear in northwestern Montana; incident ruled an act of self-defense

Two Montana men shot and killed a grizzly bear on Saturday while scouting in the Whitefish Range ahead of hunting season. 

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks announced the killing in a news release on Monday. The release said one of the men was accidentally shot in the shoulder during the encounter. 

Investigators deemed the killing an act of self-defense. 

FWP said in the release that the two men were near the Smokey Range Trailhead off Canyon Creek Road in the Flathead National Forest. While walking through a thick part of the forest, they surprised a female grizzly with a cub. 

The release said the bears were within 15 feet of the men. The adult charged them, and they both shot the bear and killed it. 

FWP game wardens and the Wildlife Human Attack Response Team investigated the incident. They found the bear was being defensive, and shared their findings with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. That agency concurred that the men acted in self-defense. 

The bear was about 25 years old. It had been tagged for monitoring in 2009, and didn’t have a history of conflict with humans. 

FWP is still monitoring the site for the cub, according to the release.