Last edited Mon Jul 24, 2023, 09:11 AM - Edit history (1)

And how far from town.

All I can say to people who plan to camp anywhere in Montana, because we have bears almost anywhere (black bears are ubiquitous) you should ditch the tent. Hard sided campers and trailers will soon become mandatory as they are on the east side of the park over by Cooke City and southward. The bears are growing in number and so are the numbers of tourists wanting to see them. They don't have a sense of humor and if they decide that you need to get beat up or they want what you have, they will go for it.

So tent camping is going to become passe eventually in this area, please be prepared if you plan to camp in ecosystems with bears.

so they can, you know, "blend in" for their trip to Montana on studying glancing over some easily available literature (some of which is shoved directly into their faces at every campground in the state) on how to camp in bear country, 90% of these lethal encounters could be avoided.

A park ranger or bear safety tech for USDAFS I ran into SOOOO many people who, after being informed, would just ignore it and think it doesn't apply to them.

got eaten in her tent by a grizzly bear within the city limits (town or hamlet…not a city) of Ovando a couple years back…some of us (me) were critical of her decision to tent camp even in a designated campground and got absolutely barbecued for saying so on this board. First, she kept food in her tent which is the biggest no-no I can think of. Second, the bear came through once before he attacked her…she removed the food but we all know that the scent remains. Her tent still smelled of food and the bear helped himself.

Ovando, MT is synonymous with grizzly bears and it isn’t an exaggeration to say there are as many bears as people. After USFWS killed that bear, they brought it to our shop. He wasn’t a huge bear, I would say he was average. I remember looking at his teeth and claws when the wardens were taking forensic samples and I thought “a person is no match for these animals”…Why in the world would anyone think they’re an exception to the rule when it comes to grizzly bears? The lack of respect for them is shocking to me.

We’ve got a new grizzly on the periphery of my neighborhood…last seen a less than two miles from my house. I have changed where I hike because of it. I could never outrun one. I like knowing they’re around and I’m good with not running into one on the trail.

As per Yellowstone Public Radio (YPR), the only public info is that she was up on the Buttermilk Trail which is roughly 8 miles west of town, goes up to the Continental Divide. It's a very beary area, I have spent hours and hours up there for various reasons during the decade + that I lived there. In winter it's a major snowmobile route that takes you from that point to Island Park on the other side of the divide, heavily forested and heavenly beautiful with wildflowers and everything you would want to see in nature.

The identity is still not released, she was found so that means she was alone, big mistake in that area. Unless there was another victim who got carried off, unlikely as that may be.

A situation, rarely talked about, is that the park is swarming with humans and their vehicles, more every year, they are hiking and camping all over the place outside the park for 90 miles or better from the park boundary. The wildlife are getting stressed to the max by all the people and climate change, don't expect them to be happy to see you, they don't have anywhere else to go, though grizzles are migrating outward... back into the grasslands from whence they came a century ago.

She saw the bear,walked up to it thought it was cute and tried to pet it? Some people that go to Yellowstone are that stupid.

It could well be that, depends on if it was a tourist or a local. Locals aren't that foolish but they do get complacent about their safety in the wild, because they're always there. What they forget is that it's not like anywhere else and special precautions are necessary every day and night. As a local, we know better than to take an evening stroll through town, there's likely to be a bear roaming around looking for free food left out by tourists.

It could also be that she was out for a jog. There are several high end lodgings in the area so some of the more monied tourists would be on foot out there, nobody else would be that far from town on foot, not with out a vehicle nearby or other people with her. The attack would have been reported if she were with someone... that's the most common possibility in these cases though details have not been released... have to wait for investigation report.

Other possibility is that it was someone who went for a walk and was not thinking about their safety, which is just as likely.


So if it was a jogger, probably had earbuds too, might not have known what was going on until the finally moments under attack. Jogging in bear territory. like as wild as that but even along the road anywhere in the area, is just stupid but also a strong possibility. Seen too many clueless people tempting fate in this way.

It doesn't make sense that she was out there unless she was someone like me who also broke the rules a lot but also was vigilant about my surroundings with or without bear spray on my person. I had a couple close enough calls that I realized I had to be armed with it. Then I became an official presenter on the topic. If I got nailed by a bear in my current life, the papers would be all over how stupid I was to have allowed it to happen, seriously, and I would deserve it.

I am waiting to see what the real story is, this is a little strange but not entirely. If it was some notable individual who is wealthy, there will be more news about it.

to shoot them.

Would be nice if they looked at reasons animals have to exist in areas and why humans probably should not hike alone or without sprays or something.

That pisses me off the most is where some idiot human goes and gets beat up or killed by a bear, the bear, sometimes more than one, pays for their ignorance. Always.

These are the things that make me less willing to go out and meet people, I am growing less fond of my own species by the day anymore.

She got killed doing what she normally does in the absolute wrong place. Had she taken a few minutes to understand her surroundings and the dangers within, she might not be dead.

It's not like there isn't oodles of info and warning signs, and I am certain at the place she was staying, there are also warnings. She just thought they didn't apply to her.

And, as you said above, probably had ear buds in her ears. I obviously don’t know this to be true but I see it absolutely everywhere. I don’t wear earbuds taking my dog for a walk along the creek near my house! I’ve run into dozens of bears in the creek bottom but I see, hear or smell them before I run smack into them. Now we’ve got a grizzly in the actual neighborhood and I see people with their earbuds happily running up Woods Gulch and I shake my head.