Grizzly survives after charging hunter, getting shot near Condon
CONDON — A female grizzly with two cubs who was shot Wednesday when she charged a hunter in the Kraft Creek drainage near here has apparently survived.
The hunter immediately contacted Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, which tracked the bear on the ground and in the air as she moved west toward the Mission Mountains.
“The determination was made that the bear was not mortally wounded,” FWP spokesman John Fraley reported.
The hunter fired a shot after the grizzly charged to within 50 feet of him. Fraley said wardens discovered a deer carcass about 75 yards away that the grizzly and her two cubs had been feeding on.
The Flathead County Sheriff’s Department, Two-Bear Aviation and pilot Jim Bob Pierce helped FWP track the wounded bear.
The investigation continues, and Fraley reminded people to carry bear pepper spray when hunting in grizzly country, adding that experts say it is more effective than a firearm in stopping a bear.
[Great, so now there’s a wounded mother bear out there trying to avoid hunters and raise her two cubs in peace].
Photo Copyright Jim Robertson
Exposing the Big Game 
I HATE hunters Jim!
PS: What a beautiful photo Jim of Mom with Cub!
I hope she is left alone,and no one else spots her…she will be labled and killed
I’m not sure why she would be labeled. That wasn’t predatory behavior, that’s just a sow doing her job.
True…but now she is a wounded animal
Anyone recreating in bear country shold be REQUIRED to carry bear spray….when will people learn ?….oh ya forgot…., we’re talking about a culturally retarded segment of our society
haa! haa!
This was clearly a defensive attack on the part of the sow, which was protecting her cubs. Was this attack unnerving to the hunter? No doubt. But bear spray would’ve stopped the sow. Why would someone hunting in known griz country not carry bear spray? Probably because they WANT to shoot an animal rather than try to preserve its life. That’s the mindset we’re talking about here.
You are most likely right, Joanne. People do not realize that there is more suffering and injustice that surrounds the barbaric activity of hunting, than “just” the kill. Hunting wounds thousands of animals, orphans even more, and creates havoc in hunting area, which stress wild animals, and disrupts normal behaviors and activity. What a shame for that mother bear and her cubs.