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Be bear aware as general big game season opens

Posted at 5:54 PM, Oct 20, 2018
and last updated 2018-10-20 19:54:48-04

As general big game season opens on Saturday, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks is reminding hunters to be bear aware.

Wildlife officials said grizzly bear populations continue to grow in the western half of the state, but not all hunters are prepared for an encounter.

To keep yourself safe on the hunt, FWP recommends you carry bear spray and know how to use it. They also recommend hunting with a partner and ensuring someone else knows your hunting plan.

Hunters are also advised to remove harvested game quickly and be careful if you are returning to a carcass to finish packing it out.

Just last week an Idaho man bowhunting near Gardiner was attacked by a grizzly with her cub.

Bob Legasa said he and his hunter partner surprised the bear when she was just 12 yards away.

The hunting partner was able to end the attack using bear spray and Legasa was treated for injuries at a Bozeman hospital.

Click here to learn more about how to “Be Bear Aware” in Montana.

-Reporting by Joe Huisinga/MTN News

A 900-pound male grizzly bear that wandered into a garage on the Birch Creek Colony west of Valier has been relocated.

The bear was captured on Wednesday, and on Thursday was taken to Pike Creek west of East Glacier on the Rocky Mountain Front.

“Members of the Colony tried to deter the bear from the residential area,” said Wesley Sarmento, a bear management specialist with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. “However, the bear ran into an open garage to escape from people.”

Colony members called Sarmento, who tranquilized the bear and relocated it. He estimated the bear to be about eight years old.

“Members of the Colony said the bear wasn’t causing any problems,” Sarmento said. “It just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

FWP said in a Facebook post that they disclose where bears are translocated for public safety, and because it is state law. They note that typically after a release, a bear will remain in the area for a couple weeks and then often return to their normal home range (although there are exceptions where they stay).

FWP says that relocations work best at solving certain issues – like a bear showing up near a home. While the bear is away it gives us time to get attractants secured so the animal will be less likely to return to the areas near people.

FWP noted that it is “very unlikely” that this bear will return to the area near the Colony garage. They have no evidence that this bear obtained human food and expect this bear to avoid people and settlements in the future.