HUSON — Earlier this week, a tip was sent that a grizzly bear was shot and killed near Frenchtown.
MTN found out a 15-year-old was charged by a bear after it broke into his family’s chicken coop. The teen says he shot and killed it in self-defense.
"My wife heard the hounds barking, so she snuck around down on the driveway to take a quick peek and didn't notice anything," Rory Richardson said, describing the morning of the bear encounter. "Well, about 20 minutes after getting to work, she heard — got a message from the neighbor stating a black bear was coming up their driveway carrying a white chicken or duck in its mouth."
The family heard the chickens making noise later in the evening. Unsure what was going on, they went to check it out. The bear came back for seconds.
"We hustled up here to the chicken coop and that's when Colton got up to this spot here somewhere pretty close and that bear was just around the corner and he come huffing," Rory said.
"It was pretty scary, but I didn't know it was a griz, it happened so fast," Colton Richardson told MTN.
A .270 rifle and quick reaction may have saved Colton Richardson’s life.
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"I was like, I better make a good shot at first because I might never have another shot again, and he might get me," Colton explained.
The bear ran away after being shot and fell into a ditch.
"I was extremely shocked when we rolled the bear out of the ditch. We thought it was a cinnamon black bear the whole time," Rory said.
The Richardsons called Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP), which removed the bear from their property.
"It's the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that takes the lead. So, the investigation is still ongoing," FWP spokesperson Vivaca Crowser told MTN.
The Richardsons are thankful the situation didn't have a worse outcome.
"Reality set in — that was an extremely dangerous position we were put in and Ryker, my little boy, could have been easily the one just to walk up here to check things out and could have had a lot different circumstances," Rory said.
Now, they plan to install an electric fence, which is something FWP recommends.
"It is really important that prevention piece is what keeps us away from most of these incidents," Crowser said.
"We live in wild country, and there's wild animals here, but the last thing you ever think would be something that could potentially get you," Rory said.
