Prosecutor says bear ran at man

A grizzly shot by a Boundary County man had approached within 40 yards of his children, who were outside playing basketball, and charged at the man after it was wounded, according to a statement by Boundary County Prosecutor Jack Douglas. The statement provides more details about the May 8 shooting. Jeremy M. Hill, 33, of Porthill, Idaho, pleaded not guilty last week to a federal charge of illegally killing a threatened species. A jury trial is scheduled for Oct. 4. Douglas is not involved in the case, but in a three-page statement released over weekend, the prosecutor said he owed it to the people of Boundary County to take a closer look at the issues and “be a beacon pursuing justice.” He gave this account of the shooting:

Hill, his wife, Rachel, and four of the couple’s six children were at the couple’s 20-acre ranch when an adult female grizzly and two young bears appeared on the property. Rachel Hill spotted the bears around 7 p.m. when she looked out her bedroom window. She hurried outside, yelling to the children to get inside the house.

Jeremy Hill, who had been in the shower, grabbed his daughter’s .270-caliber rifle, loaded the weapon and ran outside. Hill saw one of the bears climbing up the side of the family’s pig pen. He fired a shot at that grizzly, a 2-year-old male. The two other bears ran into the woods behind the home.

The shot bear tumbled off the fence surrounding the pig pen and ran off, limping slightly, after the other two bears. The family’s dog chased the bear, which turned around and charged at Hill, who was standing by a large basement window under the deck.

“Fearing there was nothing but (him) and a large pane of glass to keep the wounded bear out of his house, Jeremy took aim and fired again,” Douglas’ statement said.

The bullet hit the grizzly and the bear rolled to the ground. It tried to get up, but fell.

Hill thought the bear was dead. He went inside to calm his wife and children and call the Idaho Department of Fish and Game to report the shooting. But Hill noticed that the grizzly was crawling off toward the woods. “Knowing that a wounded grizzly bear posed a significant threat,” Hill fired a final shot, killing the bear, according to Douglas’ account.

Come on libs, you should understand, it was for the children.