Hunter kills grizzly north of Yellowstone National Park

A hunter shot and killed a grizzly bear Tuesday in Beattie Gulch north of Gardiner in what wildlife officials say was self-defense – the sixth time in recent months a person has shot at a grizzly in Montana.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks said the bear reportedly charged the hunter before the hunter shot it “at close range in self-defense.” FWP said an animal carcass was found near where the bear was killed, and the bear specialists “determined the bear was likely acting defensively.”

The shooting was reported the day it occurred, and staff from FWP and federal agencies confirmed the bear was killed in the shooting. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is investigating the shooting.

The shooting of the bear marked at least the sixth in Montana since the start of June. In September, a hunter shot and injured a bear near Freezout Lake. Days earlier, a bear attacked a man near Big Sky. A person shot at the bear but likely did not injure it, officials said.

On Aug. 30, a grizzly charged at anglers and was shot and killed in the Tom Miner Basin. Four days before that, a hunter shot and killed a grizzly bear and accidentally shot their hunting partner in the shoulder in the Whitefish Range. And on June 5, a hunter shot and killed a grizzly that had charged them. Most of the bears that were shot were deemed as being defensive, and the people who shot them were found to have acted in self-defense.

Wildlife officials have also euthanized several grizzlies since July that were deemed to be food-conditioned and were breaking into people’s homes or attacking people in Montana.

Grizzly and black bears are starting their yearly phase where they eat as much as they can before going into their dens for the winter to hibernate, which coincides with Montana’s hunting season.

People recreating in bear country are advised to keep bear spray with them at all times, be trained how to use it, to make noise when hiking in bear country, follow proper food storage orders, stay away from animal carcasses, and to field dress game and remove it from the kill site as soon as possible.