A Shed Hunter Shot and Killed a Charging Grizzly Bear in Montana

A Montana man was charged by a grizzly bear Friday while looking for shed antlers near Dupuyer. The man shot and killed the bear mid-charge, and he walked away from the incident uninjured, according to a press release from Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks.  This marks the first fatal encounter with a bear in North America’s grizzly country in 2025. The first run-in to take place in 2024 occurred in Montana as well, and it also involved a shed hunter who killed the bear in self-defense. 

The man’s identity has not been released, and a spokesperson with MFWP tells OL the agency is unable to comment on the incident, which is now being investigated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Because grizzly bears remain federally protected in Montana, as in other states, any killing of a grizzly requires a federal investigation regardless of the circumstances.

In the press release, MFWP explains that the man was looking for shed antlers on a brushy hillside when he first saw the bear. He tried to leave the area, prompting the bear to “charge him at close range.” The bear was “an adult female grizzly in good condition with no history of conflict,” according to MFWP. A single yearling cub was found unharmed at the site, and the agency says it doesn’t plan to intervene, which means they think the young bear will survive on its own.   

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It’s unclear what kind of firearm the man used to shoot and kill the bear. It’s also unclear if the man was on public or private land at the time he was charged. Dupuyer lies just east of the Rocky Mountains in the north-central part of Montana, and it falls within the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem, which is one of six grizzly bear recovery zones in the Lower 48 designated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The NCDE covers roughly 9,600 square miles and is home to more than 1,000 grizzlies, according to the latest estimates by the U.S. Geological Survey.