An elk hunter in Eastern Idaho is lucky to have survived a confrontation with an adult grizzly bear after he was forced to use his hunting rifle to defend his life. 

The grave encounter unfolded around 3 PM on October 26 while 27-year-old Dylyn Carter hunted cow elk in a heavily timbered area north of Kilgore near Mule Meadows on the Caribou-Targhee National Forest. Not having much success that Saturday, Carter decided to pack it up and hike back to his truck when the grizzly appeared suddenly in quarters too close for comfort. 

“All of a sudden a grizzly popped up. I didn’t see her until we were five yards apart. We immediately locked eyes, and she instantly came my way. As she charged at me, I didn’t really think about what was going on, it happened too fast. I just pulled up my rifle and shot…I feel like she was coming directly for me. I felt like she was on a mission to come get me,” says Carter, who got the shot off with his 7mm-08 Remington with only three feet remaining between himself and the grizzly. 

The hunter says he doesn’t remember where he struck the bear at that moment, but Idaho Fish and Game reports say he hit the bear just below its right eye. Having seen the bear fall and roll on the ground, Carter realized he wasn’t out of the woods yet, as he needed to walk directly past the bear to reach help rather than go in the opposite direction, which would have him climb down a canyon and take a much longer and more arduous route back to his truck. 

“We’re really close quarters. I had to walk within five yards of the bear, and it looked to me like she was trying to get back up. So I put another shot through the bear, I just turned as I was leaving and shot,” he reported.

Idaho Fish and Game reported that the second shot entered behind the bear’s right shoulder, however, Carter didn’t stick around to find out if his shots had been effective, instead making the one-and-a-half-mile walk back to his truck under what must have been understandable anxiety.

“The whole way down my adrenaline was through the roof,” he said. “When I was on my way down it seemed like every tree blowing in the wind, or any animal making any noise made me pretty skittish.”

Reaching his truck, Carter first called his wife to tell her what had occurred, followed by a call to report the incident to local law enforcement. He reported not smelling any carcasses or seeing other bears in the area, also mentioning that he was carrying bear spray but did not have time to deploy it quickly enough.

Biologists and law enforcement officials with the U.S. Forest Service and Idaho Fish and Game hiked to the scene the following day, with IDFG SCO Chris Johnson validating Carter’s description of the terrain. 

“The area surrounding the incident location was heavily timbered with significant deadfall. Visibility, notably at ground level, was poor,” said Johnson.

Andrew Sorensen, an IDFG District Conservation Officer added that he did not see any animal carcasses, gut piles or other bear attractants but found possible bear daybeds in the nearby area confirming Carter’s account.

“The hunter’s encounter with the grizzly bear occurred at a very close distance in very thick timber/deadfall timber cover, leading investigators to believe it to be a surprise encounter,” Sorensen reported. 

Investigators removed the bear’s head and claws for further examination, and Carter states that an IDFG agent called him following the incident with follow-up questions. Aside from that, he has not heard from any state or federal officials and only learned the case had been deemed self-defense by reading about it in the news.

Grizzly bears remain federally protected, and any killing triggers federal and state investigations to ensure it is justified. Hunters kill grizzly bears in self-defense regularly, and a 2015 report states that the average number of bears killed by hunters is 10.2 per year. This latest incident is the third since June that officials have determined to be self-defense in this area of Idaho.

Dylyn Carter says he’s been hunting this area his whole life and, although this is his first grizzly confrontation, he believes there are more bears in the area than when he started hunting a decade ago based on his observations.