Wyoming Grizzly Bear Attack Stopped with 44 Magnum Revolver

As part of a previous Freedom of Information Act request, AmmoLand obtained details of the defensive shooting of a grizzly bear with a revolver, which happened at Paint Creek, Wyoming, in 2010.

On September 2, 2010, an archery hunter and his guide were hunting for elk from a camp at the end of Henry’s Mill Road. This is the head of the Paint Creek drainage in Wyoming. Paint Creek is in the mid-eastern part of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, about 20 miles NNE of Cody. The hunter and guide left the camp at about 6:30 in the evening. The hunter had a Colt Anaconda .44 Magnum revolver in a hip holster with a thumb break on his backpack belt. The holster looks similar to a Bianchi.

The revolver is stainless steel with a 4-inch barrel. The hunter carried the revolver with an empty chamber in the first position to come under the hammer when the revolver is cocked because he had encountered situations where he had found the hammer unintentionally cocked when carried in that holster. The hunter carried a recurve bow and arrows as well as a backpack. The temperature was about 70 degrees. The attack started at 7 p.m., about an hour before sunset.

The guide noticed the bear a little before the hunter did. He said the bear had taken an aggressive posture broadside to him, approaching the hunter with its head low to the ground. It all happened very quickly.

The hunter heard sticks breaking above him, uphill on a steep slope. Looking above him, he saw a grizzly bear about 15 yards away, and the bear started toward him rapidly. He drew and attempted to fire, with a double-handed hold, in under two seconds as the bear closed to within five yards. The hammer fell on the empty chamber. He lurched and pivoted to his left to avoid the bear, rapidly cocked the hammer, and fired, this time one-handed, from a sitting position at the junction of neck and shoulder. He fired the shot from a distance of 10-12 inches as the bear passed him.  The bear immediately veered and spun in circles, counter-clockwise, biting at its side, then running straight downhill into the timber.  At this time, the hunter saw the second bear, which was slightly smaller, about 15 yards away, and not aggressive. He assumed the second bear was a cub. He watched the second bear for about five minutes before he and the guide returned to camp. The hunter had a couple of minor scratches above his right knee, which did not require medical care.

The hunter, guide, and investigator returned to the scene of the incident the next day. As they approached the area, a strong scent of something dead and ravens in the trees suggested a dead animal.  Investigators found a dead cow and calf uphill of the site where the attack occurred.  A necropsy later determined the cow and calf had not been killed by the grizzly bears.

The three men were able to follow bear tracks down to the timber, where they found a blood trail. The trail did not indicate a large loss of blood but was easy to follow for about half a mile until the bear stopped bleeding. The bear was never located.

On April 14, 2011, the Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Wyoming sent a letter to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Office of Law Enforcement in Lander, Wyoming, officially declining prosecution in the Paint Creek grizzly bear shooting.

About Dean Weingarten:

Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of Constitutional Carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.