By Cory Hatch, Jackson Hole, Wyo.
October 1, 2009
A hunter from Teton Village has been charged with illegally killing a grizzly bear after the mantold authorities he shot one Sept. 19 near Ditch Creek north of Kelly. Stephen Westmoreland, 40, was charged Wednesday with taking a grizzly bear without a license.Some believe the bear — a young female — might be one of three offspring from bear No. 399, which gained fame in Grand Teton National Park for raising its cubs by the roadside from 2006 to 2008.Teton County Attorney Steve Weichman said Westmoreland shot the bear from 40 yards away.According to a Wyoming Game and Fish Department report, the encounter occurred when Westmoreland was packing out a head and hide from a deer shot by a hunting partner in the Ditch Creek drainage. About 11 a.m., Westmoreland reportedly was walking along the trail in a 3-acre meadow when the bear appeared on a moose carcass left behind by another hunter.In the report, Jackson Game Warden Bill Long said Westmoreland knew the moose carcass was there but didn’t notice signs of a bear around the carcass that morning.“When [Westmoreland] broke out into the upper end of the meadow, he did not see anything in the area of the carcass,” Long said.“He had taken several more steps and a bear ... stood up from the area of the carcass.”“The bear dropped to all fours and moved several steps towards the subject, approaching the hunter at a distance of approximately 40 yards,” Long said. “The hunter advised that the bear’s ears were up at the time.”Long said Westmoreland was armed with a .270-caliber rifle and a .44-caliber pistol but was not carrying bear pepper spray.“[Westmoreland], knowing he was covered in blood from helping gut and process the deer, feared that the bear would attack him if it closed distance,” Long said. “Westmoreland shot the bear with a .270 rifle at approximately 40 yards as the bear dropped to all fours and faced him. The bear was shot first through the front chest immediate to the front right shoulder and the bullet was exiting out the gut region.”“He did not kill the bear,” Long said. “[The] bear was whirling around with the first shot, so he shot a second time, hitting the animal in the mid-body area on the left side of the bear. That shot killed the bear. The bear lay five feet from the carcass.”Westmoreland reported the incident to the Teton County Sheriff’s Office.It is legal to shoot a grizzly in self-defense, but authorities believe there was no immediate threat in this case.Grand Teton officials said they will not be able to determine whether the bear was a cub of No. 399 until later this year pending the results of tests. Researchers with the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team captured the bear this July on the 4 Lazy F Ranch near Moose Junction and dubbed it No. 615.Park spokeswoman Jackie Skaggs said the researchers inspected the animal’s teeth and took blood samples and hair samples. The hair samples, she said, could be used to make a DNA comparison with 399.Weichman declined to comment on the case. Westmoreland could not be reached immediately for comment.
