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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| Man - 1, Grizzly - 0 |
| 2003-10-15 |
| James Beeman picked up a .410-gauge shotgun when he went outside his Fortine-area home to investigate a commotion from his chicken coop around 4 a.m. Sunday. Wearing a headlamp and expecting a skunk, Beeman saw two bear cubs run from the damaged door of the chicken coop. Then an adult grizzly bear emerged with a chicken in its mouth. "Holy shit....." The bear dropped the chicken and charged from 15 feet. Beeman fired, with the muzzle of the gun roughly three feet from the bear, which crumpled to ground, dead at Beeman’s feet. Next to his soiled underwear. It turned out to be an astounding shot, considering a .410 is a light gun and the shell contained a light load typically used for quail hunting. But it hit the bear squarely in the nose, the only soft, vulnerable place on a grizzly skull. Pellets likely penetrated the length of the nasal cavity to the brain. The wad from the shell was imbedded in the bear’s nose. Note to Mr. Beeman - buy lottery ticket. And a 12 gauge. "What’s the likelihood of that?" said Ed Kelly, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks warden captain in Kalispell. "I know guys with .375s who couldn’t have made a kill like that. He’s just a lucky, lucky guy." Amen to that! |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #20 Raj: grizzly bear is what they call a brown bear when it lives along the Alaskan coastline -- same species, Ursus arctos. The brown bears on Kodiak island are a distinct subspecies, due to their isolation. Useful reading can be found at this location (Alaska Department of Fisheries & Game). |
| Posted by: snellenr 2003-10-15 9:44:42 PM |
| #19 Jabba - don't you watch all those National Geographic specials about people feeding the Grizzlies in Yellowstone? The upper 10% of Yellowstone is in Montana. There are some pretty tall, empty mountains all along the western third of the state. What's really scary is that a guy spotted what he claims was a grizzly (photos are a bit fuzzy, but sure looks like a grizzly to me) on the Front Range near Evergreen. We're talking major urbanized mountains, with several thousand people per square mile. Not quite as nerve-wracking as the lady that lost two English sheep dogs to a cougar on the EAST side of Colorado Springs, but it sure makes me nervous! |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2003-10-15 9:22:27 PM |
| #18 Raj: Treadwell and Huguenard were killed by brown bears, not grizzlies. Jeesh, I didn't know there were grizzlies in Montana. |
| Posted by: Jabba the Nutt 2003-10-15 8:48:39 PM |
| #17 I have seen Grizzlies in the Alaska wild. If they are hungry, they'll kill you. If you frighten them, they'll kill you. If you look them in the eyeballs, they'll kill you. If they are with their young, they'll kill you. That's why gun control isn't talked about much in the frigid state. |
| Posted by: Imam Hotep Bejesus 2003-10-15 7:13:18 PM |
| #16 Yeah, JFM, the rest of the story... My son's shetland sheep accidently stepped on Henrietta's foot, so the hen got lame. The other chickens started mercilessly pecking Henrietta and we found here a bloody pulp. We nursed her back to health in the garage, but she lost the will to live. Gave her a funeral and left her in the tall grass. The neighbor's dog found her and there were feathers and bones from here to sunday. So ends my sad story from Ma Nature.... |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2003-10-15 6:43:12 PM |
| #15 The bear dropped the chicken and charged from 15 feet. Beeman fired, with the muzzle of the gun roughly three feet from the bear, which crumpled to ground, dead at Beeman’s feet. Guy probably played a lot of Doom to develop reactions like that (but you really ought to use the chainsaw against demons...) |
| Posted by: snellenr 2003-10-15 6:10:49 PM |
| #14 Alaska Paul A truly remarkable story. That hen had more cojones than most women. Sorry, I learned Spanish when I was four and simply couln't resist. |
| Posted by: JFM 2003-10-15 5:34:03 PM |
| #13 I say boy! I'm not a chicken, I'm a bear. A grizzly that is. |
| Posted by: Foghorn Leghorn 2003-10-15 5:20:04 PM |
| #12 I had a big black bear walking around a chain link fence in my son's chicken yard figuring how to get in and snatch some chickens for lunch. One of his chickens (a golden comet hen named Henrietta) stood her ground 3 ft from the fence and was jumping up and down and screaming at the bear (in her chicken voice). The other hens headed for the coop. When all the others were safe, Henrietta headed for the coop. That hen had more cojones than most people. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2003-10-15 3:13:20 PM |
| #11 Rather: What did WE do to make them hate us? dorf |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-10-15 2:34:25 PM |
| #10 Grizzly bears: Why do they hate us? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2003-10-15 2:28:33 PM |
| #9 What happened to the poor little orphaned bear cubs? figured this was another baseball-related story for a second |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-10-15 1:52:56 PM |
| #8 Now why doesn't the Rachel Corrie 2-Dimensional Peace Brigade attempt to face these bears? Just go onto Induhmedia and call them zionists… |
| Posted by: Atrus 2003-10-15 1:48:36 PM |
| #7 Ask and ye shall receive, Penguin: Warden Jim Roberts and Tim Manley, the grizzly bear management specialist in Northwest Montana, have been pursuing the bear's two cubs-of-the-year. At one point, the cubs were chased high up a tree, too high to dart with sedatives because of the risk of them being hurt in a fall. |
| Posted by: Steve 2003-10-15 1:46:59 PM |
| #6 Since Fred's watchbill says I am the designated PAOOD (PETA Activist of the Day), I'm forced to ask the following question. What happened to the poor little orphaned bear cubs? |
| Posted by: Penguin 2003-10-15 1:08:57 PM |
| #5 I hear ya Old Patriot. I wuz once attacked by a killer rabbit. Luckily I had a concealed paddle. |
| Posted by: Jimmuh 2003-10-15 1:01:53 PM |
| #4 I can sympathize with Mr. Beeman. Being attacked by a wild animal at close range is a terrifying event. I was almost trampled by a large buck the day before deer season opened with I was 16. I had nowhere to go, the deer had nowhere to go but through me. I cut loose with three shots from a Browning 16-gauge at about 12 feet. The deer dropped at my feet. All three #6 shot loads - including wadding - were imbedded in the throat and neck of that deer. I still have nightmares about that at least once a year. Glad Mr. Beeman was lucky. We've lost a few homeowners here in Colorado over the years, and to black bears, a bit smaller than Grizzlies. Last year, we even lost an experienced hunter to a wounded elk. Like the saying goes, "sometimes the dragon wins". |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2003-10-15 12:53:53 PM |
| #3 I would go with the over on this bet. There are more wolves, coyotes and bears coming showing up in places they haven't been for years. Had a mound of coyotes in my back yard several years ago ... in Kentucky. Didn't see the roadrunner, though. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2003-10-15 12:51:16 PM |
| #2 ...or Man - 1, Grizzly - 2 (Treadwell, Huguenard). |
| Posted by: Raj 2003-10-15 12:44:07 PM |
| #1 Actually, it should be Man - 1 Grizzly - 1 if you're keeping a running tally. Ol' Treadwell gave the grizzlies an early lead. :) |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2003-10-15 12:34:59 PM |