Should You Report a Grizzly Bear Self-Defense Shooting?

Decades ago, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service established a regulatory requirement to report the taking of grizzly bears in self-defense in the lower 48 states.

From 50 C.F.R. 17.40(b)(1)(i)(B):

Grizzly bears may be taken in self-defense or in defense of others, but such taking shall be reported by the individual who has taken the bear or his designee within 5 days of occurrence… 

The penalties for failing to report to the authorities within 5 days are up to six months in prison and a $25,000 fine.

Tim Sundles of Buffalo Bore Ammunition recently created a video about handguns for defense against wild animals. He has interesting experiences and views. At about 33:00 minutes, he puts forward his opinion about the requirement to report grizzly bear self-defense shootings. He talks about the Fifth Amendment. From the transcript:

“And another thing about these protected grizzlies, you know, if you shoot one in self-defense, okay, now you’ve got a certain number of I think it’s 2 days, 3 days to get somewhere to a fishing game department and and notify them.”

“Incriminate yourself.”

“Yeah. And that goes completely against the Fifth Amendment. There is no law that is legal that says you have to go self-incriminate. That’s what the Fifth Amendment is all about.” 

As Sundles mentions, reporting a self-defense shooting has risks. If the government decides to prosecute, it could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in defense costs and take up months or years of time. The risks have little to do with the penalties for not reporting. The risks are primarily from being charged with killing a grizzly without justification. The legal standard for justified shooting of a grizzly, even in the lower 48 states, is not high.

Sundles does not mention the risks of not reporting such incidents. The reporting itself implies a level of innocence. Not reporting can imply a desire to conceal.  The penalties for not reporting are small compared to the other risks of not reporting. Not many people are convicted of not reporting the self-defense shooting of a grizzly bear. A recent case resulted in a plea deal. It appears Othel Pearson did not claim self-defense. From justice.gov:

A Troy area man who admitted to killing a grizzly bear on his property in 2020, not reporting the shooting as required and throwing the bear’s GPS collar in the Yaak River was sentenced today to two months in prison and fined $10,000, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said.

The defendant, Othel Lee Pearson, 80, pleaded guilty in February to tampering with evidence, a felony, and to failure to report taking of grizzly bear, a misdemeanor.

According to the court records, Pearson went to considerable lengths to conceal the bear’s killing.

Pearson cut a GPS collar that had been fitted to the bear and discarded the collar nearby in the Yaak River. Pearson also cut paws, ear tags and an identifying lip tattoo from the bear carcass. Pearson then concealed the bear’s claws and an ear tag in a hollowed-out tree on Forest Service land near his residence. Meat from the bear was discovered in Pearson’s freezer inside his home. 

The remains of the butchered carcass were dumped some distance from Pearson’s home.  The resources devoted to solving this case were substantial. The tracking collar was found in the river. The GPS unit had been destroyed. The data on it was recovered. It showed the death of the bear occurred about 40 yards from Pearson’s residence. DNA testing was used to tie the meat in Pearson’s freezer and remnants on Pearson’s truck to the dead bear. DNA testing tied the bear claws hidden in a hollowed-out tree and discovered by hikers 18 months after the killing.

In 2011, Jeremy Hill shot one of three grizzly bears, which he believed was a threat to his children. He reported the incident. After considerable community support, he pleaded to a federal civil ticket and a $1,000 fine.

“I am thankful that the government has dismissed all criminal charges against me in this case. I received a federal civil ticket and have paid the $1,000 fine to avoid putting my family through the emotional strain and the cost of a trial. I am glad this issue has been resolved out of court and I am looking forward to putting this unfortunate incident behind me.”

Jeremy Hill appears to have met the requirement for legally shooting a grizzly bear in defense of self and others, as established in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Unfortunately, the standard was not established until 2021.

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In 2017, Brian Berg killed a big grizzly as it attacked him in Montana. He talked to family and friends about the incident. He took two bear paws as mementos.  Brian Berg did not report his incident. He ended up with a plea bargain.

On the Constitutional issue, we can agree with Sundles. The reporting requirement is unconstitutional. There are risks involved in reporting an incident. There are significant risks in not reporting, unrelated to the reporting requirement.

The resources used by the federal government to investigate grizzly bear deaths in the lower 48 states are considerable. The Pearson case shows some of the risks. There are others. If a self-defense shooting occurs, did the defender have a working cell phone with them? Federal authorities can ask for all cell metadata within a box of time and place.

The legal standard for justification in a self-defense killing of a grizzly bear is not high. 

The easiest solution to the Fifth Amendment problem is to delist the grizzly bears in the lower 48 states.  Once management of the bears is at the state level, the bears can be rationally regulated as required by local circumstances.

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About Dean Weingarten:

Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of Constitutional Carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.

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