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Welcome back to Scary Bear Attacks! Today’s episode takes us to a familiar place on this channel and too close to home for me personally. We are discussing a grizzly attack which happened near Sawtell Peak just north of Island Park, Idaho. The Montana border is a stone’s throw away since it is the watershed on the next hill to the west. When you think of high country pictures of this kind of area may come to mind given its elevation is between 7,000 and 8,000 feet depending on where you are located on the mountain. At the foot of Sawtell Peak lies uninterrupted miles of pine, fir and spruce tree forest and through it winds the Henry’s Fork of the Snake River, and the world class trout fly fishing it offers. Common animals here include moose, elk and mule deer. The predators here include bobcat, black bear, coyotes, cougars and wolves, but the ever increasing grizzly bear population is what is the focus of our discussion today.
About 15 miles east is the boundary of Yellowstone National Park and, given nothing but mountains and forest lay between here and there, it isn’t difficult to imagine grizzlies wandering out of the park in search of food or their own territory to claim. In fact, the year of 2015 had been a bumper crop for bear complaints. The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office had fielded numerous calls from concerned citizens reporting grizzly sightings throughout the summer. The Idaho Fish & Game had to work in conjunction with federal agents to put down a 25 year old male grizzly who had been breaking into outbuildings around Island Park recently. They said that judging by his age and appearance he was no longer able to forage for his typical fare. He was led into human areas by competition in prime areas and by starvation.
By fall time archery season rolls around and elk and deer hunters dust off their camouflage and bows to sneak through the woods to try to bag some meat for the winter. To be successful at archery hunting you not only have to be stealthy, you also have to move silently, or at least quietly if you want to stay undetected by wary prey animals, and even then it isn’t guaranteed. The senses of hearing and smell of deer and elk have adeptly detected predators before they can present any danger to their lives for untold eons. The success of the species is proof of that theory.
In the early morning hours of Monday, August 31st, 2015, 55 year old Mike Adams was putting the sneak on some elk on the slopes of Sawtell Peak. The prior days had brought a heavy rain and the creek nearby was loudly babbling, drowning out any other noises.
Mike was an avid bowhunter and lived in Idaho Falls a few hours south along the freeway. In years when Labor Day falls toward the end of the first week of September, Idaho bowhunters can enjoy an opening day weekend without the holiday crowds, and that is exactly what Mike was doing. Given his relatively remote location he likely had the entire mountain all to himself, minus whatever other archery hunters who may have been around.
Now Mike was no greenhorn, nor was he unaware of the possibility of running into the area’s grizzly bears. He was left handed so he placed his bear spray holster on his left hip, and his .44 magnum pistol on his right one. As he quietly slipped through the shadows of the dark timber, there is no way Mike could have known that he was getting danger close to a deer carcass that a hungry momma griz had cached and was now protecting with every bit of the power and fury her species is known for.
A sudden snap drew Mike’s attention away from scanning the timber for the elk he was trailing. As he swung his head in the direction of the snap his vision was filled with the terrifying sight of a massive sow grizzly closing in on him from his left and only a few yards away. His heart sank in his chest further when he saw her three cubs trailing not far behind.
Before Mike could so much as let out a grunt, the sow had latched her powerful jaws onto his left forearm. The impact of her attack had knocked him around and he couldn’t reach his bear spray across his body, with his free right hand. The only thing he could do was reach for his pistol.
As the angry sow jostled Mike around and tore into his flesh on his forearm, he attempted to pull his pistol from his hip holster. He could feel the immense pressure of her jaws on his bones and her 2 inch teeth painfully tore nickel sized holes through his flesh. Each time she bit, she pulled him toward her, and tossed her head, which took him off balance, then she would bite into his forearm in a different place.