Two grizzlies drown; another death under investigation Authorities learned of three additional grizzly bear deaths in 2008 that won't be counted against the mortality quota for the threatened bear in northwestern Montana because they were natural or occurred outside of the official recovery zone. In one case, a young male was shot this past spring on the Milk River six miles south of the Canadian border on the eastern edge of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, more than 10 miles outside of the grizzly recovery zone. n that case, a rancher driving a four-wheeler came up on a bear eating a cow that previously died and told authorities he shot the animal after the bear charged, but the case is under investigation to see if it was a case of self-defense, Carney said. Two other bears drowned. One was a cub crossing the Swan River in the spring. The other bear, a yearling, drowned in May in a high-flowing irrigation ditch near the Teton River....