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JFootin
08-30-2012, 09:52 AM
Montana rancher shoots black bear that broke into home

(http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/08/29/montana-rancher-shoots-black-bear-that-broke-into-home/?test=latestnews)

GREAT FALLS, Mont. – A Montana rancher shot and killed a black bear that scaled a tall fence and broke into his house to rummage for food this week along the Rocky Mountain Front.


Lane Yeager discovered damage when he returned to his home near Choteau on Monday evening. The young male bear had broken through a screen and entered an open window, wrecked a lazy Susan and tore off a door to get to food in the trash and in the pantry.


"It was dark out. I was headed for the light switch when it ran across ahead of me," Yeager told the Great Falls Tribune (http://bit.ly/Pt70wM)http://global.fncstatic.com/static/v/all/img/external-link.png. "That's when I knew I had an issue."

Mike Madel, grizzly bear management specialist with the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, said the bear had probably been in the house for an hour.

Yeager dispatched it with a rifle.

"I killed it so someone else wouldn't have to," Yeager said. "We're fat with grizzlies, but the black bear was off the beaten path."

Yeager's children, ages 10 and 12, were at their grandmother's for a visit.

"It's hard to explain to the kids whether they're safe in the house," he said Tuesday.

The parks department and Defenders of Wildlife, a conservation group, had erected a tall, electric fence around Yeagers' yard so the children could play safely in grizzly bear country, but Madel said the fence wasn't powered on Monday night.

"Black bears can climb better than grizzlies" and it could have scaled the fence, Madel said.

Yeager said having the fence on with dry grass growing around it was a fire concern.

"Why should I have to be fenced in on my own ranch?" he asked.

Drought conditions had wildlife managers fearing increased bear conflicts, but the chokecherry crop has been good, and that is a key source of food for bears.

Madel said he can only think of four or five instances of bears breaking into homes along the Rocky Mountain Front in the past 25 years.

In 2003, Yeager's neighbor and Late Show host David Letterman had a similar visit to his property. Letterman said the black bear broke into the kitchen and ate beef jerky, frosting and bananas. A ranch worker scared the bear off with firecrackers.

wyntrout
08-30-2012, 10:01 AM
Some Darwin Award wannabe from San Diego was just recently chasing a large bear around with a camera... as noted on his video camera... totally ignoring the quarter-mile separation mandated by his permit and the Alaska Denali Park Ranger warning briefings! The BEAR made made him lunch. I guess the guy was a tree-hugger and believed in the right to BARE Arms!:D

I don't want to get that close to big bears... grizzlies OR Brown/Black bears with a GUN, let alone a CAMERA!:eek:

Wynn:)

JFootin
08-30-2012, 11:00 AM
Black bears are common here in WNC, and there are increasingly frequent reports of sightings in neigborhoods and backyards, often mothers with cubs or occasionally a solitary adolescent male. A female gave birth to a couple of cubs in my elderly friends' yard a few weeks ago.

muggsy
08-30-2012, 11:58 AM
Black bears aren't generally a problem unless you get between a mother and her cubs. From my experience they are more afraid of you than you of them. Having said that, it's always more comforting to veiw them while holding on to a .44 Mag. :)

Bawanna
08-30-2012, 12:04 PM
I've heard the same about bee's. I helped paint a friends house and found a nest. He told me they wouldn't bother me if I didn't bother them. So I left about 10 ft each side of the nest unpainted, he was painting on another side.

He asked why I did that and I said I didn't want to bother them.

He painted it after I left. I asked how many times he got stung, after some prodding he admitted he got it at least 11 times.
Guy has been stung more times than anyone I know, I think he's immune.

I'd rather take on a black bear with an NAA than a bee. I got no use for bee's, or snakes neither for that matter.

OldLincoln
08-30-2012, 12:52 PM
"We're fat with grizzlies, but the black bear was off the beaten path."

The parks department and Defenders of Wildlife, a conservation group, had erected a tall, electric fence around Yeagers' yard so the children could play safely in grizzly bear country, but Madel said the fence wasn't powered on Monday night.

Yeager said having the fence on with dry grass growing around it was a fire concern.

"It's hard to explain to the kids whether they're safe in the house," he said Tuesday.

"Why should I have to be fenced in on my own ranch?" he asked.


I bet this guy voted for Obama! He lives in an area with a lot of grizzly bears running loose, yet has the government put in an electric fence for his family's safety, but he can't even keep the weeds down so he can turn it on. Probably waiting for the government to come back and mow his weeds.

Then he's bitching because he can't explain to his kids that they live in a dangerous place and asks why he should have to be fenced in. I bet he thinks the military should place guards around his property. This lugnut obviously should stop playing survivor and move back to town. He and his family simply aren't equipped to deal with the wilderness.

Bawanna
08-30-2012, 01:09 PM
Funny this thing called interpretation.

"The parks department and Defenders of Wildlife, a conservation group, had erected a tall, electric fence around Yeagers' yard so the children could play safely in grizzly bear country, but Madel said the fence wasn't powered on Monday night."

I read it as the government insisted on installing the fence that he didn't want on his ranch. Why should he have to be fenced in on his own property.
I suspect he'd rather dispatch a few when needed but the save the whale and everything else group insist on protecting the poor misunderstood bear.

You could be right, and maybe I'm right but I read it completely 180 from what you read.

If he did vote Obummer, I hope the bears win.

fitpro
08-30-2012, 01:30 PM
Funny this thing called interpretation.

"The parks department and Defenders of Wildlife, a conservation group, had erected a tall, electric fence around Yeagers' yard so the children could play safely in grizzly bear country, but Madel said the fence wasn't powered on Monday night."

I read it as the government insisted on installing the fence that he didn't want on his ranch. Why should he have to be fenced in on his own property.
I suspect he'd rather dispatch a few when needed but the save the whale and everything else group insist on protecting the poor misunderstood bear.

You could be right, and maybe I'm right but I read it completely 180 from what you read.

If he did vote Obummer, I hope the bears win.
^^^That was my interpretation as well. I don't think he wanted the government messing with his property but I could be wrong. If he he did vote for osama, GO BEARS!!!:p

OldLincoln
08-30-2012, 06:11 PM
How does that mesh with "It's hard to explain to the kids whether they're safe in the house,". If you live in grizzly country you better teach your kids early on they are not safe anywhere and what to do if they even see one up close.

I admit I'm a bit paranoid about grizzles as I equate them to something akin to "Aliens" with Sigourney Weaver.

http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMjAyMjY4ODM5NV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTYwMjY3OTc4._V1._ CR0,0,336,336_SS100_.jpg

jlottmc
09-01-2012, 12:08 PM
I would consider the 44 mag as the bare minimum, and a 12ga with slugs a more viable option for bear. A 375 h&h would be morerer and betterer though. Of course I'm one of those guys that say no battery is complete without a good rifle and shotgun.