BOZEMAN — An elk hunter reported shooting and killing a grizzly bear northwest of Gardiner over the weekend.
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks bear management specialist Kevin Frey said the man was hunting in the Tom Miner Basin when he came up on a bear “at very close range.” He said the bear attacked him and he shot it.
The Gallatin County sheriff’s office filed a report about the shooting on Sunday morning.
Frey told the Bozeman Daily Chronicle (http://bit.ly/1OfjtVR) that investigators plan to interview the man.
The grizzly is the third killed by hunters in recent weeks. Two other hunters reported shooting grizzly bears near Gardiner and near West Yellowstone in late October. In both cases, the hunters said they shot the animals after bear spray failed to stop them from charging.