https://idfg.idaho.gov/article...killed-hunter-unit-6



Grizzly bear mistakenly shot and killed by a hunter in Unit 6


Press Releases and Articles

Friday, June 14, 2024 - 3:15 PM MDT


A subadult male grizzly bear was recently mistaken for a black bear and killed by a hunter in the Panhandle Region

On June 10, a hunter shot and killed a subadult male grizzly bear he mistook for a black bear.

The bear was killed in unit 6 of Idaho’s Panhandle, an area not commonly used by grizzly bears. After identifying the bear at the scene as a grizzly, the hunter contacted Idaho Fish and Game and has cooperated with the investigation.

Most of Idaho’s grizzly bear populations are in the northern Panhandle area and the area in and around Yellowstone National Park in Eastern Idaho. But young male grizzlies may wander long distances and into areas where people don’t expect to encounter them. These young male bears typically wander through an area, but don’t remain there.

Grizzly bears are protected under state and federal law, and bear hunters are responsible for proper identification of their target. All hunters are encouraged to review their bear identification skills to avoid mistaken identity.

Size and color of the animal are not reliable indicators of species. It’s best to look at multiple features in order to make the right call. Grizzly bears typically have short, rounded ears, a dished facial profile, a prominent shoulder hump and 2-4 inch long claws.

Now is as good of a time as any to freshen up on your bear identification skills and your ability to know the difference between a defensive and predatory encounter by using our online resources.

Please contact the Panhandle Regional office at (208) 769-1414 with any questions.

Follow us on the Panhandle Region Facebook page for regular updates and news.

Some of us who are having to deal with a bear around every corner, after a massive "conservation" effort. would not consider this a bad thing.

Shows me the G bear population is doing well and expanding.

quote:

Originally posted by p dog shooter:
Shows me the G bear population is doing well and expanding.

Do you think the grizzly population is not growing?

People think fish and game are morons for a reason:

Turns out the guy sent video of a bear at his bait that he thought might not be a black bear. Fish and game told him it was a black bear. The guy kept the evidence which saved him from being charged by Idaho Fish and Game. Should keep the feds off him as well.

quote:

Originally posted by Randy Routier:

quote:

Originally posted by p dog shooter:
Shows me the G bear population is doing well and expanding.

Do you think the grizzly population is not growing?

Like I stated Randy the G bear population is well and growing

Maybe you miss read.

Hunter shot grizzly after Idaho officials said it was a black bear
June 19, 2024 Updated Wed., June 19, 2024 at 9:04 p.m.

By Michael Wright
michaelw@spokesman.com
(509) 459-5508

The hunter who killed a grizzly bear northeast of St. Maries last week did so after Idaho wildlife officials said it was a black bear.

The Idaho Department of Fish and Game announced late Tuesday that it had finished investigating the June 10 killing of a subadult male grizzly over a bait site in the lower St. Joe River drainage, an area where the threatened species is not normally seen.

The agency also revealed for the first time since the killing that its staff played a role in allowing the bear to be killed.

Two days before the bear was shot, the hunter sent Idaho Fish and Game video of a bear at a bait site about 5 miles northeast of St. Maries. The hunter was concerned that the bear could be a grizzly, according to Idaho Fish and Game.

After seeing video of the bear, Fish and Game staffers told the hunter that it was a black bear.

The hunter, whose name has not been released, killed the bear. Shortly after, he realized it was a grizzly and reported it to Idaho Fish and Game. The hunter was not cited.

In the release, the agency said it “regrets the mistake made by its staff, the undue stress the situation caused for the hunter and the loss of the grizzly bear.” The agency also said it is “reviewing its staff’s part in the incident as a personnel matter.”

Telling the difference between grizzly and black bears can be challenging, and size and color aren’t always reliable indicators. Grizzlies usually have prominent shoulder humps, rounded ears and a dished facial profile. Their claws are also longer than that of black bears.

The agency posted two videos from the hunter online Tuesday night. One shows two bears at the site – one a big, fat black bear, the other a skinny, brownish bear with a slight shoulder hump.

The second shows just the skinnier bear, apparently the grizzly.


Fish and Game staff misidentified it as a black bear “because it lacked some common features of a grizzly,” according to the news release.

TJ Ross, an Idaho Fish and Game spokesman, said the telltale features of a grizzly aren’t always as obvious in younger bears. He said the hump wasn’t as prominent as they’d normally expect, and the ears didn’t have the typical shape or proportion to the face.

He also said the location of the bait site played a big role in their misidentification.

“That was a big part of what happened there,” Ross said. “It is not a place where grizzly bears appear very often.”

It was in Idaho’s big game unit six, which begins at the divide between the St. Joe and Coeur d’Alene river drainages and stretches south. The nearest established grizzly population is about 50 miles northeast, in the Cabinet Mountains of northwestern Montana.

Most of Idaho’s grizzlies are much farther north in the Selkirk Mountains or in eastern Idaho near Yellowstone National Park.

Grizzlies are known to wander long distances, however, and they occasionally surface in areas where people aren’t used to seeing them.

Nick Gevock, the Sierra Club’s Northern Rockies field organizer, said it makes sense that one would find its way into the mountains of the lower St. Joe River drainage.

“There’s a lot of wild, really good grizzly bear habitat through there,” Gevock said.

He also said the incident shows “why we shouldn’t be baiting black bears, period.”

Three environmental groups – WildEarth Guardians, Wilderness Watch and Western Watersheds Project – filed a lawsuit over the allowance of black bear baiting in grizzly habitat in Idaho and Wyoming in 2019. A judge ruled against the groups in 2023, and they’ve appealed the suit to the Ninth Circuit Court.

It’s the second consecutive year that a black bear hunter has shot a grizzly in North Idaho. Last June, a hunter was issued a citation for killing a grizzly north of Priest Lake.

https://idfg.idaho.gov/article...rizzly-bear-shooting

Link has the two videos the hunter sent in to IDFG.

Interesting videos.

quote:

allowance of black bear baiting in grizzly habitat

We allow baiting for black bear here in Alberta, but not in areas where a Grizz might be. Apparently here even the "experts" were wrong.

Honestly, only after knowing it was Griz, that little dark hump tells me that it looks like one
Been baiting for decades, my choice would be neither one as the black one is rubbed and and the brown one is young…period
Of course that’s just me and my own opinion and I’m glad he had the video and he won’t get in trouble and also hopefully learns from that that you don’t have to shoot every bear you see
Plenty of years when I didn’t shoot bear because I didn’t see good solid old boar

quote:

Plenty of years when I didn’t shoot bear because I didn’t see good solid old boar

I like eating bear. Old boars do not make the best eating.

quote:

Originally posted by p dog shooter:

quote:

Plenty of years when I didn’t shoot bear because I didn’t see good solid old boar

I like eating bear. Old boars do not make the best eating.

But they make great trophy…touché and that is what makes us as hunters great as each of us have difference of opinion and at the same time we can agree and disagree without getting upset with each other
I think, biggest thing for any hunter is when you appreciate others trophies without envy

Yes we each have a reason to hunt.

In my life I have seen bear hides being worth up to a couple hundred dollars for a big one.

That is what I received for the hide of my 510 pound bear. How many rugs and sculls does one need.

To being worth so little you can not give them away.

Then the cost of taxidermy has sky rocked that it can be a real burden on lower income hunters.

I love hunting bears. I love eating them.

They definitely make super gulash

quote:

Originally posted by M.Shy:
They definitely make super gulash

My favorite is a roast in slow cooker with cream of mushroom soup. Until the meat is falling apart.

The only thing is I’m always on guard with potential trichinosis and that is I only make dishes that cook the shit out of it so the speak
Thing is, testing doesn’t always show it

https://dnews.com/local/enviro...47-97a19dbb0c06.html


Environmental groups threatened lawsuit over Idaho’s allowance of bear baiting in griz country

Eric Barker Jul 16, 2024 Updated 4 hrs ago


A coalition of environmental groups said Monday they intend to sue the state of Idaho for putting grizzly bears at risk by allowing hunters to use bait to attract black bears.

The WildEarth Guardians, Western Watersheds Project, Friends of the Clearwater and Wilderness Watch filed a 60-day notice of intent to sue Gov. Brad Little, members of the Idaho Fish and Game Commission, and Idaho Fish and Game Director Jim Fredericks. They contend the hunting practice of using bait to attract black bears puts protected grizzly bears at greater risk of being killed.

“Idaho is violating the Endangered Species Act when it issues licenses to black bear hunters to use bait sites in grizzly bear habitat,” said Greg LeDonne, Idaho director of Western Watersheds Project in a news release. “It puts grizzly bears at risk not just of being killed accidentally when they are mistaken for black bears, but of becoming habituated to human food sources and being killed when they display nuisance behavior.”


As evidence they point to a June 10 incident when a black bear hunter shot and killed a grizzly bear at a bait station near St. Maries. The hunter had taken video of the bear days before he shot it, shared with Fish and Game officials because he was worried it might be a grizzly. The people he shared it with wrongly told him it was a legal black bear.

The hunter, who reported the incident once he realized the bear was a grizzly and cooperated with an investigation, was not cited.

Idaho has an estimated grizzly bear population as high as 200 animals. Most of them live in three distinct areas — the Selkirk Mountains near the U.S.-Canada border; the Cabinett Mountains northwest of Sandpoint and near the Idaho-Montana state line; and in the Island Park area west of Yellowstone National Park near the state’s border with Wyoming.

Idaho contends grizzly bears should not be protected by the ESA and is suing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for rejecting the state’s petition to remove the animals across the entire country from ESA status.

Grizzlies are protected as threatened under the ESA and cannot be hunted. Black bears are managed by the state and are a popular big game species pursued by hunters. The state has long allowed black bear hunters to use bait. It also allows black bears to be hunted with dogs.

The groups asked the state to “remedy the situation” before in the next two months and said they will pursue legal action if it doesn’t.

Barker may be contacted at ebarker@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2273.