Gunshot cause of hunter’s death in grizzly bear attack
by Duane Williams, KLCB-KTNY Radio
September 25, 2011
Last week we told you of the tragic death of a grizzly bear and a hunter in the Buckhorn Mountain hunting area 15 miles northeast of Moyie Springs just inside Montana.
Now, the Montana State Crime Lab medical examiner notified the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office that Steve Stevenson’s, 39, death was caused by a single gunshot wound to the chest.
A hunting party from Winnemucca, Nevada, consisting of four adults, had entered the Buckhorn Mountain hunting area from the Idaho side of the Montana/Idaho state line, and split into pairs. One pair of hunters, Steve Stevenson, age 39, and Ty Bell, age 20, encountered a bear that they misidentified as a black bear. Bell shot and wounded the bear. The bear was in actuality a young boar grizzly bear. They tracked the bear into an area of heavy cover where Stevenson was attacked by the wounded grizzly bear. In an attempt to stop the grizzly bear’s attack on Stevenson, hunting partner Ty Bell shot the bear multiple times. One of those rounds struck Stevenson in the chest.
The investigation by the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office and Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks is continuing. The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office does not expect to release any further information regarding this case for at least another three weeks.
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Story by Duane Williams, KLCB-KTNY Radio, www.todaysbestcountryonline.com e-mail: klcb@frontiernet.net.
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