From Fox news:
. . . bowhunter in Idaho who had shot an elk the night before and was tracking it by a trail of blood found his quarry - and a grizzly bear that was claiming the dead animal.
The unidentified man was bitten on the shoulder by the ferocious bear near Sheridan Creek, west of Shotgun, in Clark County, according to an Idaho Department of Fish and Game report. He and his hunting partner, who were not carrying guns or bear repellant, were following the elk’s blood trail when they saw the grizzly bear's tracks. They came face-to-face with the bear when they found the carcass of the bull elk, according to the Island Park News.
The bear charged them, according to the report, biting one hunter on the shoulder before running back to guard the carcass. The hunters fled, hiking four miles out of the wilderness before driving to the Ashton Medical Clinic, where the hunter was treated for minor injuries and released.
The victim is from Michigan and was described as an experienced bowhunter, according to the report. The state agency and the United States Forest Service are investigating the encounter.
Idaho officials said that because the bear appeared to only defend its food and did not act more aggressively, they will not send agents to investigate the scene until the bear has had a chance to consume the carcass, said Gregg Losinski, IDFG Regional Conservation Educator.
My opinion: I say good for the bear. There is the very reason I stopped bowhunting. Not that a grizzly is likely to chomp on me here in Virginia, but bows wound as often as they kill, if not moreso. An arrow projected at an animal is a very primitive way of taking game. A challenge? For sure. But IMO, the results are too often disasterous for the animal sought. It lingers in pain and confusion until it dies. Been there done that, way too many times. Although I've never waited overnight to trail my injured conquest, I have often followed the blood and bile to the pitiful creature that died in a most horrific manner. I've heard the bleet of deer in mortal pain. I've seen the blood splashed across the leaves and logs in the huge amounts a forensic examiner might see at a crime scene. The animal tries desperately to escape the agony it cannot understand. If I had a sick and dying, favored and loved dog, I wouldn't end his life with an arrow. I'd use a bullet or a vet.
The older I get, the more I hope bowhunting will someday be outlawed. We ain't who our ancestors were. We have better ways to dispatch game. I love venison and wild game on the table as much as any man alive, but in my remaining years upon the earth I will take them as decently and quickly as possible. With a gun. A big gun. A 45/70. I want it to drop on impact of the bullet and expire without having time to be afraid or confused or in pain.
What about you? There are those who say a sharp broadhead will hurt a deer less than anything else that might cause it's demise. I myself have shot arrows through a deer lungs, only to watch it keep feeding on grass or acorns. But such is not the average kill with a bow. No matter how good you think you are with your recurve or compound, you will sometime shoot one through the guts or the muscles of it's front shoulders. I know gun hunters sometime screw up and make gut shots, but with bowhunters it's far more frequent. It's like the old saying goes, take enough gun.
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Read more:
http://www.foxnews.com/science/2012/09/17/bowhunters-tracking-wounded-elk-attacked-by-grizzly/?test=latestnews#ixzz26kKilGjo
