Soldier vs. Bear Results in Lesson Learned

Michele DeLuca - Knight Ridder/Tribune

A confrontation with a bear in Allegany County is going to cost a Niagara Falls reservist a week's salary but he hopes, at least, the incident may serve as a cautionary tale to anyone confronting a wild beast in the woods.

Michael Moore, who has done two stints in Iraq with the Army and is now an Air Force reservist, said he could have been fined up to $2,000 and spent time in jail for killing a bear while hunting this past November in Allegany county.

The bear came up upon Moore in the woods in Birdsall on opening day of deer hunting season November 21.

"I sat there for a good thirty seconds, to see if he would go away," Moore said as he recalled the incident from his Niagara Falls home in Cayuga Village. "I turned to my right and fired a warning shot."

When the bear stood up on his hind legs, Moore said, "I feared for my life."

Moore said he fired a second shot and missed the bear because he was so shook by its presence. The third shot hit the bear and the bear fell to the ground.

"I was scared. I had never dealt with or seen a bear in the woods before," he said. "He stood over me. I'm 5'11 and he was 6'3 or 6'4."

Moore said the bear was mortally injured but not dead, so he shot at the animal once more to put it out of its misery.

After the incident he called his fellow hunters on his cell phone and was told the group had a permit to take a bear. They suggested he start gutting the bear but as he was doing that, they called again and said they were mistaken and that bear season had not yet begun. They advised him to call the Department of Environmental Conversation, which is the federal agency that oversees hunters and protects wildlife.

When a DEC officer was eventually contacted and met with Moore at the site, the officer asked a number of questions and then issued Moore a citation for killing a bear out of season.

The incident greatly upset both Moore and his wife, Tonya, who said that she had never heard her husband so shaken.

When her husband called after the event, "his voice was shaky and I thought someone had been hurt. My husband was in the Army for over five years and spent a total of three years overseas. He has seen some terrifying things and I have never heard him so frightened before," she wrote in an e-mail to the Niagara Gazette regarding the incident.

Moore feels as if he acted conscientiously, following his military training and using his best judgment as he had been taught in arms training.

"If there is a perceived threat you follow protocol," he said. "A lot of people I've talked to said they would have never even fired a warning shot."

While officials from the DEC are unable to comment on the charge of killing a bear out of season until Moore's case has been closed, a spokesman said the incident was thoroughly investigated.

Captain David Bennett, NYS Environmental Conservation Police issued the following statement: "As the agency responsible for the stewardship of the state's natural resources, DEC is responsible for addressing violations of environmental conservation law. As a result, DEC carefully handles hundreds of hunting violations each year, issuing charges only if substantiative evidence exists suggesting violation of environmental conservation law."

Bennett said that in cases such as Moore's, officers thoroughly investigate the incident, taking statements from the hunter, collecting field evidence, and even using forensic lab analyses to study cause of death of the animal taken to determine essential details such as distance of the shooter to the bear, angle the bullet entered or exited the animal, etc. If statements issued do not correspond to evidence collected, charges can be issued, he said.

"The black bear population in New York is carefully studied, including their behavior and habits," he said. "While not impossible, a black bear attack on a human is extremely rare. Our responsibility lies in using the full evidence and information available to determine if a violation has occurred."

Moore, who works three jobs including truck driver, reservist security officer and diving coach at Niagara-Wheatfield High School, said that he does not have the money to fight the charges and feels as if he is being punished for the act, even though he contacted officers after the incident.

"If I were a poacher, I would have never contacted the DEC," he said.

Moore and his wife have also decided not to fight the charge because he is concerned that if he loses the case, he will have a misdemeanor on his file which might hurt his dreams of becoming a full time security officer at the air base.

As such, the Moores will pay the $500 reduced fine, agreed upon by all parties after an appearance in Birdsall court, but that amount will mean the loss of a week's wages.

"I understand wildlife is important, but I'm a person trying to provide for my family," he said, adding his concern that an injury to himself might have resulted in loss of wages or even his death, leaving his young wife a widow and his 2-year-old daughter, Addison, without a father. "Why would I let it come to the point where the animal would attack me?"

Michael Corsaro, dean of students at LaSalle Prep School and coach of the Niagara-Wheatfield swim team coached Moore in high school and has since made him the team diving coach, "Mike's a family man, he's got a child and a wife that he cares about dearly. I could never see Mike doing anything that would jeopardize his standing as a husband, father, and coach," Corsaro said.

The Moores expect to pay the fine shortly and the case will be closed. But they hope others will use the story as a warning to be cautious of their actions.

"My husband is a good man," said Tonya Moore. "He has fought for this country, he has never been in trouble with the law, and he works hard to support our family without assistance from the government."

"When he was in Iraq he was taught to make a judgment call," she said, adding she feels her husband is lucky to alive. "It was his judgment call."

----

More offbeat news

More Entertainment

Copyright 2012 by Knight Ridder/Tribune