Editor:

In an amazing exhibition of arrogance Dave Smith of Avalon, Calif., in his Oct. 3 letter, "Next time hunter may die," has managed to transfer the blame of the hunter allegedly shooting a grizzly bear to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department -- and at the same time spam us with the title of his book on Backcountry Bear Basics. I know no details of the grizzly shooting incident -- as I doubt Mr. Smith does either -- but he follows the all-too-popular theme of not being willing to accept personal responsibility for our actions and immediately try to blame someone else for our misfortune -- and if it can be a government agency so much the better.

Had he checked the Wyoming Game and Fish Web site "gf.state.wy.us" he would have found with only cursory examination a link to grizzly bear management and from there under "Bear Education" the first bullet taking you to "Center for Wildlife Information" where there is a plethora of information about all activities including hunting in grizzly bear country, and being generally "Bear Aware." In addition to the information on the Web site the WGFD annually conducts several evening seminars around the state on "Living in Bear and Lion Country" at which all sorts of information is presented by education specialists and bear managers about living -- and hunting -- in grizzly bear habitat.

One of the first precepts of hiking or hunting in grizzly country is to try to avoid doing it alone. One of the most common misconceptions of hunters is that "bear spray is not effective." It may not be a misconception -- it may be that they choose to ignore the fact that it is highly effective -- when they are packing their magnum. If it came right down to it, the number of folks who could actually shoot a charging bear and stop the charge with a single gunshot is enormously small. Bear spray has been shown time and again as a deterrent in close encounters with grizzlies. But, you have to have some -- and it has to be readily accessible, not in the bottom of your pack. The WGFD professionals who deal most often with grizzlies always carry bear spray. If you gather all the information you can, use your head, and be prepared when you go into grizzly habitat most encounters should be resolved with no more results than a good story. If you are not prepared, don't blame the WGFD.

BILL WILLIAMS, Thermopolis