Jackson Hole Daily, Mike Koshmrl– Rumors swirled over the weekend that a camper in Grand Teton National Park fired a gun to deter a grizzly bear that was wandering nearby.
That’s not quite how it went down, park officials report.
But a Utah man who was camping with his wife was cited for illegal discharge of a firearm in a national park and destruction of public property, earning himself a mandatory court appearance.
“The individual heard that there were bears in the area and he thought that he was supposed to make noise,” Grand Teton park spokeswoman Denise Germann said Monday. “But my understanding is that they did not see any wildlife or shoot any wildlife. He shot at a tree twice.”
If he was camping in the nearby Bridger-Teton, the Utah man would have been legally firing his weapon. But the couple wasn’t clear on their location.
“They thought they were in the national forest camping,” Germann said, “but they were actually in the park.”
The incident happened within Grand Teton’s boundaries along Bailey Creek Road, she said.
While making noise when moving around in grizzly country is standard best practice, discharging a gun as a deterrent is not advised. Come fall, gunshots actually have a dinner-bell effect that attracts some grizzlies that have learned to feed on gut piles from hunter-killed ungulates.
Grand Teton’s avid wildlife watching community didn’t hesitate to berate the Utahn’s decision-making.
Red Top meadows resident Cindy Campbell said that it seems like every day uneducated tourists are coming to the parks making bad decisions.
“What’s going to happen next?” Campbell said. “I’m just waiting for somebody to put a grizzly cub in their car and then it’ll all be over.”
Two weeks ago in Yellowstone there was a highly publicized case of a visitor from Quebec putting a bison calf into the back of his SUV. Rejected by the herd when it was returned, the calf later had to be euthanized. Days later a foursome of Canadians tied to a clothing company they named High on Life SundayFundayz blatantly disregarded an area closure at Grand Prismatic Spring, walked onto the fragile crusts surrounding its famous waters and then promoted their misdoings on social media.
The recent tree shooting was particularly worrisome for Campbell because the well-known roadside grizzly known as 399 has been using the Arizona and Bailey creek areas.
“When 399 is around emotions run high,” Campbell said. “But it seems a little suspect to me that this was a deterrent for something that he did not actually see.”
“I think he thought he saw a bear,” she said. “That’s where she is.”
Jackson wildlife photographer Tom Mangelsen said he got a report Monday morning of a grizzly 399 sighting in the north part of the park.
“She was seen this morning in this area,” Mangelsen said, “so she’s obviously still around.”
Mangelsen also wasn’t impressed by the Utahn’s choice of bear deterrent.
“It’s going to be a prime year for idiots, I’m afraid,” he said.
Grand Teton officials declined to disclose the name of the Utah resident who was cited, and said that the incident was under investigation.