Coram man shoots griz in self defense

By CHRIS PETERSON / Hungry Horse News

With the approach of winter and the urge to pack on that little bit of extra fat, grizzly bears have been finding trouble in the past few weeks, and more than a few have died because of it.

The latest incident came Oct. 27 when hunter Shawn Damschen of Coram encountered a sow grizzly with cubs while hunting near Marias Pass.

He was cow elk calling when he heard a crashing through the woods and saw three grizzly bears, two young and a sow, coming at him. Damschen yelled and the two younger bears ran off but the sow lowered her head and charged.

Damschen fired two shots from his rifle at approximately 10 feet and knocked the bear down.

After he shot the bear, Damschen was joined by a hunting companion, who heard Damschen yelling. The two immediately hiked out and used a cell phone to call Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Warden Perry Brown and reported the incident.

A few hours later, Brown and warden Kqyn Kuka met Damschen and his companion near the trailhead and accompanied them back to the site of the shooting. They followed a blood trail left by the bear and found the badly wounded animal moving in the brush. Brown had to fire a shot into the bear to dispatch it.

Upon investigating the scene the wardens found the shooting to be consistent with self-defense. FWP biologists believe the two bears that ran off were more than likely 2-year-olds and should have a good chance of survival. Normally grizzly bear cubs stay with the sow for two years and separate on their own in the spring.

IN OTHER bear news:

? FWP investigated the mortality of a 3-year old female grizzly bear approximately three miles west of the Bull River junction and Highway 200 last week.

FWP Warden Sgt. Jon Obst and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Wayne Kaseworm recovered the bear from the Clark Fork River west of Noxon. The cause of death was unknown at the time.

The bear was X-rayed in Kalispell and there was no sign of the bear having been shot.

A further necropsy indicated wounds consistent with being struck by a large object. Montana Rail Link reported that a train struck a possible grizzly bear the night of Oct. 20, between 8 and 9 p.m. along the Clark Fork River in the same area where the bear was recovered. GPS information retrieved from the bear's radio collar confirmed that the bear was on or near the railroad tracks when the last reading was taken before a mortality signal was received. This combination of information leads investigators to believe that the grizzly bear was struck by a train.

This grizzly was moved July 24 from the Stillwater Drainage near Trego to the Cabinet Mountains as part of the grizzly bear augmentation project for the Cabinets. Warden Capt. Lee Anderson notes that each grizzly bear mortality in the Cabinet Mountains area represents a setback for recovery efforts for that ecosystem.

? On Oct. 20, Randall Sharp of Noxon shot and killed a grizzly bear that was getting into the trash at his home. The bear had a collar and Sharp was cited for shooting a grizzly when no hunting season is in place. Sharp could have to pay restitution for the bear.

? On Oct. 24, FWP wardens recovered the body of a dead griz in the Fishtrap drainage of the Thompson River about 18 miles north of Thompson Falls. The body of the bear was significantly decomposed.

? On Nov. 2, a 5-6-year-old female grizzly was removed from Martin City where it was eating apples near homes. FWP grizzly bear manager Tim Manley moved the bear to the Packer's Roost area of Glacier National Park.

? In early October, wardens found a dead male grizzly in the Coal Creek drainage of the North Fork. That case is under investigation.

? On Sept. 29, a hunter ran into a sow with cubs and thought he shot the sow and another bear with a .44 caliber pistol near Babb, according to a story in the Glacier Reporter. An investigation by Blackfeet Fish and Wildlife Bear biologist Dan Carney found no dead bears in the area, however.

? On Sept. 20, a grizzly was hit and killed on Highway 83 near the Rumble Creek Road junction.