Idaho archery hunters shoot, kill grizzly bear after it attacked and bit one of them

BOISE, Idaho — Two archery hunters in East Idaho shot and killed an adult male grizzly bear last Sunday after the animal knocked one of the men down and bit him.

The men were hunting elk on the Caribou-Targhee National Forest near Island Park when they had a “surprise encounter” with the bear, according to a news release from the Idaho Department of Fish and Game.

Officials said the men deterred the bear by shooting and killing it with their sidearms. Fish and Game Upper Snake Region spokesperson James Brower told the Idaho Statesman in an email that the hunters weren’t carrying bear spray, a strong mace that is recommended in grizzly territory.

Grizzly bears in the contiguous United States are protected under the Endangered Species Act, which means it’s illegal to hunt or kill them unless in self-defense. Fish and Game said an investigation into the incident has cleared the hunters.

The man who was bitten was taken by air ambulance to Eastern Idaho Region Medical Center to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries, according to the news release.

Regional Supervisor Matt Pieron said in the release that he’s “extremely grateful that both of these individuals survived this encounter.”

In the last several years, hunters, hikers and cyclists have had multiple encounters with grizzlies in the Island Park area, which is part of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem habitat and has one of the highest concentrations of bears south of the Canadian border.

Last fall, hunters shot and killed two grizzlies after separate encounters near Island Park. A homeowner shot and killed a bear in the same area in June. Fish and Game has also killed grizzlies in the area after they became comfortable with humans or pursued human food sources.

Several of the most recent grizzly attacks in Idaho also occurred near Island Park. In 2021, a trail runner was struck by a female grizzly with a cub after an encounter near Kilgore. Brower said the runner was not carrying bear spray.

A hiker was bit on the stomach by a female bear with cubs while hiking in Henrys Lake State Park in 2020. That bear was killed in September 2023 after it fatally mauled a woman in Montana and broke into a home. Brower said a hunter was also injured by a grizzly near Island Park that same year and hiked out of the Caribou-Targhee on his own after using bear spray.

Another hunter was injured by a grizzly near Sandpoint in North Idaho in 2020 and received stitches after using bear spray and hiking out of the area.

There have not been any fatal grizzly attacks in Idaho in recent history, Brower said, though some in Montana and Wyoming have occurred close to the states’ borders with Idaho.

“Attacks that result in injury are pretty rare in Idaho, but that doesn’t mean that anyone should let their guard down,” Brower said. “The grizzly population is growing and their range is expanding.”

Idaho officials have advocated for years to remove federal protections for grizzlies. The animals were briefly delisted in 2017, at which time Idaho set up a hunting season and issued a single grizzly tag. The following year, a U.S. District Court judge reinstated protections, canceling the planned hunt.

The federal government is still weighing a proposal that could reinstate grizzlies in the Bitterroot ecosystem in Central Idaho and western Montana.