October 23, 2011
From Missoulian
An adult female grizzly bear was shot and killed Saturday after
charging a pair of Kalispell elk hunters and injuring one of them
near the Continental Divide about four miles south of Marias Pass on
U.S. Highway 2, according to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks
officials.
Anthony Willits, 31, and Gregory Louden, 29, had earlier in the
day shot a bull elk, taken out a portion of the meat, and were
returning to the carcass when they encountered the sow and two cubs.
The men reported that as the sow grizzly charged them, they shot
it once before it bit Willits in the lower left leg below the knee.
Louden shot the bear three more times, killing it.
The men hiked out, called 9-1-1 and went to the Indian Health
Service in Browning where there were met by Montana FWP game warden
Travis Haworth.
From Browning, Willits was taken to Kalispell Regional Medical
Center, where he underwent surgery. His condition is unknown.
On Sunday, a team of two FWP game wardens, two U.S. Forest
Service law enforcement officers, an FWP bear management specialist,
and a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service special agent planned to return
to area to investigate and if necessary close the trail.
The Kalispell hunters' route south from U.S. Highway 2 was on
Forest Service trail 133 to trail 137 to the intersection of trail
136, where the attack took place.
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