BILLINGS, Montana — Investigators say the man who was attacked by a wounded grizzly bear did not die from the mauling, but rather a gunshot from the friend who was trying to save him. The hunting trip from hell happened on Sept 16 along the Montana-Idaho border where four people had gotten together to hunt some black bear. After splitting into groups of two,*20-year-old Ty Bell shot what he thought was a black bear. He and his hunting partner,*39-year-old Steve Stevenson, waited around for 15 minutes and began tracking the bear they figured was now dead.*They eventually found the bear but unfortunately for the men, the bear was very much alive and wasn’t a black bear at all. There are only about 45 grizzly bears in the entire*2.4-million acre*Cabinet-Yaak Ecosystem, and Bell happened to shoot one of them. The grizzly, being pretty pissed off about getting shot, turned on both men and started for Bell. Stevenson, in a heroic attempt to save his friend, began making noise to distract the bear. I can’t imagine what Stevenson was thinking when he realized his plan worked and the grizzly focused its attention on him. Bell wasn’t about to let his friend be mauled to death and fired multiple shots at the grizzly bear that was now mauling Stevenson, killing the animal. Sadly, he also killed Stevenson by accidentally putting a bullet into his chest. Investigators are still trying to determine how many of the multiple shots fired by Bell actually hit the bear, but have*indicated*they think one of the bullets*may have passed through the bear and hit Stevenson. No matter what, Bell may want to pick up a new hobby as this one just doesn’t seem to be working out for him. I do feel bad for Bell, even though I’m not sure how he thought a grizzly was a black bear, as according to his stepmother he’s getting some backlash from the community. Bell may also face charges for killing the grizzly, as they are protected under the Endangered Species Act.
This article is from The Dreamin' Demon, the Internet's self-appointed buzzkill.


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