I have to agree with Hornet, chunk that fella up, get it hung in a tree and come back next day with your frames to pack him out. Also, for $100 you can pick up a basic GPS that is a god send when you have to find your way back to a critter that you shot near end of dayight. Those elk woods look a lot different at night than they do in in daytime!

Tough call on this one but here is my opinion:

He should have never given up his rifle and left with a bear instigator.. if he wants to pack a pistol pack a 44 mag minimum with 300+ cast bullets. What people don't realize is that black bear attacks are way more common than Grizzly attacks and take out way more people. I would be packing a GPS(Yes I hate them) but they are a lifesaver in a situation like this. He should have had pepper spray on him I think a couple of shots with that and they would have retreated albeit temporarily. Quarter your Elk without creating a gut pile. Simple to do and highly effective. Buy a bear tag .

I wouldn't be there with just a .45 acp either.

I like the idea of hanging the meat if he had the time.

Without the bear tag, shooting the bear would be poaching. He had the option of backing away from the kill. If the bear followed him off the kill, then perhaps the option of shooting the bear becomes legit (if its likely to attack), but I don't think the hunter has the right to shoot the bear to protect the elk. Thats the hazzards in bear country. If your going to hunt in bear country you should know what you can and can't do. I don't know if shooting a bear to protect an elk kill is legal in CO, but if I was hunting there I would know (and I would have a bear tag if in season).

As far as not being able to find the kill site later, that just tells me these guys weren't prepared at all. Its big country, and you need to know how to travel in big country. I am no expert in that, I live in MO and can usually hear cars/roads from everywhere I hunt. When I was in NY, I carried a compass and had to use it once to get out. It is amazing how easy it is to get lost temporarily, nothing wrong with getting lost. But you need to know how to find your way out. That also means you need to know how to mark a spot of a kill to get back too it. Would have saved these guys 2 days, which could have been spent hunting for another elk.

--Jim

You wont kill a bear by shooting its feet, as for the second and third one, Ida shot them both dead. I allways carry a bear stick (7mm)

Scott

e-mail me [email protected]

I'm sorry for the graphics of this picture but I think it will make you think diferent about NOT killing a bear if you feel your life's being threatened.
I got this picture in an email the other day and it's of a man attacked and eaten alive by a Bear. I don't have any more details of the incident but I won't think twice about killing a bear if I feel necessary... This pic might make help you make a fast decision...

That picture looks totally fake. I realize that is what can happen around bears but the picture I'm sure is Bogus.
Look at the shoes..... those are not real shoes..... look at the laces, again.. fake looking for sure. And how come there is 100% fake leaves covering the lower portion of the picture?
Also... a leg sticking up even bent in the air like that? Com'on with the kind of chew marks on it noway. Also the hands..... how could anyone in that situation have there hands crossed like that as if to think they just let it happen?

Bear country is bear country..... it has its dangers but that pic is a total scam.