IDFG Investigation into Unit 6 Grizzly Shooting

[mike.adams.467]

I’ll just leave this here for discussion…

F&G concludes investigation in Panhandle Region grizzly bear shooting

Additional details are available surrounding the grizzly bear killed on June 10 in Unit 6.

idfg.idaho.gov

 

[steelheadmike]

1. I'm glad that IDFG didn't cite the hunter. It would have been unreasonable for them to issue a citation when their own staff misidentified the bear.

2. How the heck did IDFG misidentify the bear??!! The first video with the black bear in it shows the differences pretty dang well. The hump and face shape are not super pronounced but they are there. Hopefully, IDFG can wipe the egg off their face and take possible G-bear sightings in the future more seriously, especially with the range expanding.

 

[Robobiss]

Awesome the guy didn’t get a citation but…

How in the world did anybody think that was a black bear? Is it one of the fish and games classic “we don’t want to deal with managing and informing the public of those critters here so we pretend that they don’t exist” kind of deals? They have been denying the existence of lions in my state for years despite multiple trail camera, cell phone,and now ring camera photos and videos.

 

[InkedElkSlayer]

THAT, is an interesting article. Only way he is getting out of this without a citation is doing exactly what he did. Only other thing would have been if the IDFG employee was literally in the stand with him and told him to shoot.

… Imagine the next Monday morning Staff Meeting.

 

[Redthies]

1. I'm glad that IDFG didn't cite the hunter. It would have been unreasonable for them to issue a citation when their own staff misidentified the bear.

2. How the heck did IDFG misidentify the bear??!! The first video with the black bear in it shows the differences pretty dang well. The hump and face shape are not super pronounced but they are there. Hopefully, IDFG can wipe the egg off their face and take possible G-bear sightings in the future more seriously, especially with the range expanding.

Both videos are titled “hunter submitted sub-adult grizzly”. Bear in the first video I would call a black bear, but second video is definitely a grizzly.

Which video did F&G say guy could shoot?

 

[Turkeygetpwnd38]

I'm happy the hunter didn't get a citation. While it might be obvious to some, he was unsure and cautious enough to check with the literal "source" and got bad information.

It's a terrible look for IDFG and overall negative for all bear hunters. I have to imagine this will be brought up as fights continue for state management, delisting and general attacks on bear hunting as a whole.

 

[huntnidaho]

Nice of F&G to add the full context. I bet that hunter was not happy to see part of the story on the IDFG Website and in local area newspapers in the days before. I would be. That said, I'd have a real hard time convincing myself that that was a black bear, F&G info be damned.

 

[Turkeygetpwnd38]

Both videos are titled “hunter submitted sub-adult grizzly”. Bear in the first video I would call a black bear, but second video is definitely a grizzly.

Which video did F&G say guy could shoot?

Watch the first video until the end, the young grizzly comes in, same bear as the second.

 

[Robobiss]

Both videos are titled “hunter submitted sub-adult grizzly”. Bear in the first video I would call a black bear, but second video is definitely a grizzly.

Which video did F&G say guy could shoot?

If you watch the first video long enough the blackie is run off by what is very obviously the sub adult grizzly in question.

 

[Robobiss]

Nice of F&G to add the full context. I bet that hunter was not happy to see part of the story on the IDFG Website and in local area newspapers in the days before. I would be. That said, I'd have a real hard time convincing myself that that was a black bear, F&G info be damned.

Even the black bear in the first video knew it wasn’t a black bear.

I could see the blackie saying something along the lines of “that guy is a lot smaller than me but for some reason I feel like my life is in danger” before he hightailed it. Small black bears bullying the big ones at bait piles isn’t exactly a normal occurrence IMO. That would have been a pretty good first clue. It was/is dead obvious anyways.

 

[Jimmy]

 

[Pacific_Fork]

Wow! Glad the hunter is free of charges.

 

[TVW]

This was shot about 5 miles from my house as the crow flies.

The guy who shot it spends more time in the woods hunting and trapping than probably everyone who has commented on this thread so far combined.

Lots of Monday Morning Quarterbacks here.

 

[Tick]

Accidents happen. Glad he didn't receive a citation. All F&G staff probably recieved a memo prohibiting advice in the future.

 

[Robobiss]

This was shot about 5 miles from my house as the crow flies.

The guy who shot it spends more time in the woods hunting and trapping than probably everyone who has commented on this thread so far combined.

Lots of Monday Morning Quarterbacks here.

I’m not necessarily talking bad on the guy that shot it, moreso the Fish and Game.

From the videos presented it’s more than obvious that it’s a grizz and not a black bear. Theres no question with the hump and the way it walks. If he would have shot it at the end of the video I would be crap talking him because in those specific conditions, it’s obvious and would be obvious to anyone who has seen a black bear before and has even seen the movie “grizzly man”.

Maybe when he shot it a few days later, after the fact it was at last light, in poor weather conditions, with a bunch of bears on the bait, who knows? Add in the fact that the agency that manages wildlife said “go for it”, and you can hardly fault the guy.

He did what he was supposed to do, the big failure is with the F&G.

 

[cbat]

It is easy to sit at home in your chair and be right every time. Try that sitting in the dark woods looking at a dark animal against a dark background. We have let some pretty good black bears go just because we could not be 100 percent sure it was not a dang grizzly. Let me edit this. We were hunting known grizzly areas.

 

[MattB]

Maybe he did it to rub the agency’s face in it?

 

[Robobiss]

Maybe he did it to rub the agency’s face in it?

Begs the question, doesn’t it?

Why other than that do you give the blackie in the first video that’s blatantly bigger the pass to shoot the bear that’s obviously immature and smaller a couple days later? Maybe it was last light on the last day of the season, interesting scenario for sure.

 

[Nine Banger]

Begs the question, doesn’t it?

Why other than that do you give the blackie in the first video that’s blatantly bigger the pass to shoot the bear that’s obviously immature and smaller a couple days later? Maybe it was last light on the last day of the season, interesting scenario for sure.

I was filling in the same blanks. When I first started watching the video I was thinking "dang, that's the blackest, brown chin, big eared grizzly I've seen since the Montana Bear ID test photos," and then the other bear came in and I thought "OH, yeah, that's a grizzly". I wonder what the circumstances were.

 

[Nine Banger]

Maybe the staff member that was reviewing the first video was busy and jumped the gun on the feedback/ID and didn't watch the video long enough to see the second bear.