James Beeman picked up a .410-gauge shotgun when he went outside his Fortine-area home to investigate a commotion from his chicken coop around 4 a.m. Sunday. Wearing a headlamp and expecting a skunk, Beeman saw two bear cubs run from the damaged door of the chicken coop. Then an adult grizzly bear emerged with a chicken in its mouth.
"Holy shit....."
The bear dropped the chicken and charged from 15 feet. Beeman fired, with the muzzle of the gun roughly three feet from the bear, which crumpled to ground, dead at Beeman’s feet.
Next to his soiled underwear.
It turned out to be an astounding shot, considering a .410 is a light gun and the shell contained a light load typically used for quail hunting. But it hit the bear squarely in the nose, the only soft, vulnerable place on a grizzly skull. Pellets likely penetrated the length of the nasal cavity to the brain. The wad from the shell was imbedded in the bear’s nose.
Note to Mr. Beeman - buy lottery ticket. And a 12 gauge.
"What’s the likelihood of that?" said Ed Kelly, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks warden captain in Kalispell. "I know guys with .375s who couldn’t have made a kill like that. He’s just a lucky, lucky guy."
Amen to that! |