An encounter with a bear in bear country is a risk you take when you enter.

Whenever we go afield, wade into a river or climb a tree it should be self evident that there is apparent risk. The question is how much responsibility do we have on a hunt and how much does the guide we hired have?

Virgil Massey of Barstow, Calif., sued the Church Universal and Triumphant and Montana Guide Service in 6th District Court.
In October 2007, Massey was hunting on the group’s land. A guide had left him on a ridge top to watch for elk. The guide accompanied a second hunter who killed a deer about 400 yards away.
When the guide returned, Massey told him he’d been “slapped by a bear.”
In court documents, Massey alleges the outfitter did not give him training on how to deal with bears or provide him with pepper spray or a handgun for protection.
He also contends the religious group shares responsibility because it is compensated for allowing Montana Guide Service to lead hunters on its land.
Massey is suing for past and future medical expenses as well as other damages he hopes a jury will award him at trial, according to court documents.

Great Falls Tribune

Is it the responsibility of a guide to provide a hunter with a handgun or pepper spray? I think not. If Virgil Massey was hunting elk I assume he had some type of weapon with him that he could have used to defend himself. While it may strike us as ridiculous and somewhat humorous this lawsuit and similar ones can damage future hunting opportunities. One must ignore an individual’s responsibilities to even think a guide or the landowner could share any responsibility in a bear attack. If frivolous cases like this one get any traction landowners could opt not to lease the land and go through the aggravation. Had it been something the guide or the landowner had some control over faulty equipment, negligence, and the likes I’d see it but not a bear attack. I hope the judge throws this case out, we all know the risks we take when we go hunting.

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