State still collecting evidence in dead bear case
By Kathryn Reed
The investigation involving the killing of a bear by a South Shore resident should be wrapped up by the end of the month. Ultimately it will be up to the El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office if charges are filed.
A necropsy – aka animal autopsy – was done on the 2½-year-old bear that was shot July 9. The cause of death was presumably because it was shot in the backside with buckshot from a shotgun, according to Patrick Foy, captain with the California Department of Fish & Wildlife.
A bear was shot to death last week on the outskirts of South Lake Tahoe. Photo/Toogee Sielsch
The bear was found the next day sprawled on its back at the base of a tree off Pioneer Trail near Minniconjou Drive.
A game warden with the state did not see any blood, but instead used other tracking techniques that led him to a house in the area. Foy told Lake Tahoe News a man in his 70s admitted to shooting the bear and told authorities he did so in self-defense.
It is legal to discharge a firearm in the basin and shoot an animal if one believes his or her life is in jeopardy or property needs protecting.
Foy said the shooter, whose name has not been released, had inquired about a bear depredation permit earlier this year, but chose not to get one.
This bear was not tagged – meaning it had not been captured before as a nuisance bear.
Wow ,States, LEGAL to protect yourself if in harm or danger.or property needs to be protected,Go ahead and shoot anything that comes in your way in a neighbor hood that even though a human wants to fight or call you names ,or comes by your home and shoot ,bang ,bang he shot the ground, bang bang he hit the ground,Now we can shoot anything that comes in our neighbor hood,Even children too?Sounds like he will get his way ,Keep shooting the bears folks and one day maybe just maybe this town will see no bears, ,HOW SAD can this be ?bang,bag your dead.watch your back.
We’ll release his name if asked. TBL
Is self-defense the rallying cry of the coward? If that fails maybe he’ll go for temporary insanity.
Would anyone had cared or given second thought about the bear being killed, if he had gotten the proper permit required to do so?? It wouldn’t have made headlines, so noone would have known.
They are going to do as much as they did for Sunny. Nothing…
So he felt threatened by this bear. He then called a time out and went into his house where which he could have stayed in complete safety. But no, he grabs a shotgun and leaves the safety of his house. He then calls game back on and shoots the bear in it’s back.
That’s it in a nutshell.
the Bear was probably siting in the bathroom window when he was shot.
No Chief, that would be the dead dope dealer. When you start to feel sorry for him remember he gave noting to our town but poison and chronic lack of obeying any laws. NOW, he’s a good dope dealer. I always love a good ending.
FYI – here’s the F&W policy on depredation permits. Did this man take these corrective actions BEFORE deciding to kill the bear? I doubt it!
CDFW’s bear depredation policy represents a progressive response system based upon the degree of damage being caused. Bear situations are categorized and then addressed. In the first category, a bear strays into a populated area and cannot readily return to bear habitat. This bear has simply found itself it the wrong place. In most situations, removal of the antagonists or distractions from the area will allow the bear to return to nearby bear habitat with no other incident. Designated a “no harm no foul,”techniques to remove the bear may include, but are not limited to the use of sound makers, pepper spray, rubber slug shot shells or sling shot projectiles to drive the bear away or haze the bear out of the area. Tranquilizing and removing the bear can be used if other methods are determined to be unsafe or have been unsuccessful.
In the second category, a bear becomes habituated to humans and may be a nuisance problem (no property damage involved) by tipping over garbage cans, invading compost piles, walking across porches, and so forth. Previously captured bears that have returned to areas of human habitation are included in this category. In these cases, the landowner or tenant is informed of reasonable corrective measures as a solution to the problem, which include but are not limited to: area clean-up, removal of trash or other food attractants, bear-proofing food storage areas, electric fencing, temporary closure of campsites. As mentioned above, techniques to remove the bear may include, but are not limited to the use of sound makers, rubber slug shot shells or sling shot projectiles to drive the bear away or haze the bear out of the area.
In the third category, a bear causes real property damage to a dwelling(s), structure(s), vehicle(s), apiaries, etc., or is a repeat offender (the bear has been previously captured or hazed by CDFW employees). If the damage is minor and there are no other previous reports of damage ? the first action is implementation of reasonable corrective measures to remove attractants as outlined for the second category. Corrective measures must be made prior to, or in addition to, issuing a depredation permit. When a bear has caused extensive or chronic damage to private property (such as livestock killed or injured, or entered into a home or cabin), repeated damage where corrective or bear-proofing efforts have failed, etc., CDFW issues a depredation permit.
So if the man would have asked for a permit the nut jobs would have tampered with the trap and posted his name on their website?
Remember when the fanatics painted red stripes on the eighty year old woman’s home in Christmas Valley who requested the bear trap?
Maybe some of you remember when the nut jobs broke the dam at Taylor Creek.
Excellent information Denise!
Great info, Denise. Thanks for posting.
Thank you Denise !!
Great info Denise. I had a friend who got a depredation permit. With dogs he treed the bear and shot it and then hauled it into his garage for skinning. Then it was butchered for the meat and he kept the skin for a rug and the claws for a necklace.
Was it the bear that was causing problems in the neighborhood? We will never know. At least he utilized the bear after it was dead in every way he could.
Don’t shoot bears, people or any other living creature.
Take care, and a fed bear is a dead bear. OLS
A certain, but small, percentage of bears will become problem bears, it is as sure as the sun setting. The problem is how to deal with it and when to deal with it properly. My advise is to use the trappers if it is a neighborhood safety issue unless the bear enters an occupied structure and that becomes a self defense issue. The management of wild animals is a problem anyway it is done or not done. This is the same for all large wild predators that are over managed by over protection and by the ever decreasing natural population controls when humans occupy the same habitat. Also the limited habitat without people and a scarce food supply sends them into the populated areas. The pioneers who founded this county and the resident and migrating native tribes would shoot large and small game for food all year and have their dogs hounding predators out of areas with settlements and the wildlife stayed wild. Now, in this micro-managed Disneyland state, large predators are over protected to the point of overpopulation and most habitat is occupied so they become out of balance and aren’t afraid and they aren’t wild or scared of people many times and bears start breaking into homes and they can cause thousands in damages and some of these have to be removed for public safety. Nature, on the other hand, balances itself in many ways that are lethal to animal populations by massive starvation die-offs and predation, the problem is people thinking they can manage wild animals by making them what they are not, they aren’t cute harmless pets.
Justified, threatened, or not, it boggles my mind that someone can point a gun at a beautiful wild creature and shoot it to death. I’ve lived amongst bears most of my life and can’t imagine a situation where I would choose to shoot it rather than just get away and call the authorities if necessary. I wouldn’t want to live with that memory the rest of my life.
Nice job game warden tracking down the killer. Now hang him high!
Or at least post his name, TBL.
We would like to know the name of the killers name please.
Gosh Lisa, whatever for?