3 Montana Hunters Injured in 2 Separate Grizzly Bear Attacks Just Hours Apart on Same Day
In less than 12 hours, three hunters were left injured following two separate grizzly bear attacks at a national forest in Montana, wildlife officials said.
Both attacks on Monday occurred on the west side of the Gravelly Mountains at the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest, the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks said in a statement on Tuesday. It is unknown whether it was the same bear who attacked the hunters.
The first two men were attacked around 7:30 a.m., when the bear charged the hunters while they were heading south from Cottonwood Creek, west of Black Butte, the department said. While both men were able to escape the animal, they suffered injuries but were able to drive themselves to get medical treatment in Ennis.
Later that day, a similar attack happened in the same area as two different male hunters were heading north toward Cottonwood Creek, the department said, leaving one hunter injured before the bear ran off. He was later treated for his injuries in Sheridan and Butte.
The department reminded everyone to “be cautious when in the field as bears are active during the spring, summer and fall months.”
“Wardens with Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks are asking hunters to leave this area while the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest closes Cottonwood Road,” the department said.
After being treated, the hunters were spotted at Shedhorn Sports, a sporting goods store, where employee Terri James shared they were buying new clothes.
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James later posted photos to Facebook detailing the events of that day.
“Guys in their hospital jammies after being attacked by a grizzly! They had bear spray and they said that saved them!” she wrote.
She also posted a more graphic photo of one of the hunter’s injuries after the attack, showing his face is covered in blood.
While she added that the pair “had guns,” James reiterated that it was “the bear spray” that “finally did the trick!”
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“The bear was on top of one of the men, and the other one was able to get to his bear spray,” James later told NBC Montana. “And he sprayed the bear, and that’s what made the bear leave.”
She added that the men said the bear was likely asleep 20 feet away from them when they accidentally startled it, leading to the attack.
“The prevailing lesson learned here is hunting with a partner can save your life in many cases,” Morgan Jacobsen, a spokesman for Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, told the Bozeman Daily Chronicle.
The department reminds people to never approach a bear should you encounter one. Instead, back away slowly and leave the area immediately.
