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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A 16-year-old boy walked away totally unscathed after a close encounter last week with what he believes was a grizzly bear.

A grizzly bear like this was spotted near Berry Hill last week by a teenager who was snowmobiling with a friend about seven kilometres north of Yellowknife. - NNSL file photo

Russ Lovell and a friend were snowmobiling on a narrow trail on the west side of Berry Hill March 31 when they came within 35 metres of the beast.

Berry Hill is about seven kilometers north of Yellowknife city limits.

"A grizzly walked out on the trail so they both stopped," said Dave Lovell, Russ Lovell's father. "And my son had a .303 (rifle) so he got off the snow machine, just stood beside it and waited. And the bear did not challenge them … the bear just shrugged its shoulders and walked off the trail into the bush."

The Lovell family has a recreational cabin in the area but Lovell said it was his first encounter with a bear of any sort. Though many people would find a chance meeting with a bear harrowing, Lovell said the experience wouldn't cause him to worry or be more vigilant in the future.

"I never leave without a firearm so that's good enough for me," Russ said, adding that seeing bears "is not a monthly occurrence. It's the first time in my entire life."

Lovell and his friend weren't the only ones to see the bear. Earlier in the day, two other snowmobilers on the same trail warned the boys about a grizzly bear in the area.

Judy McLinton, manager of public affairs and communication for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, said the department had not received any reports of bear sightings this year, "and certainly not a grizzly, which would be very unusual," she said.

The last time a grizzly bear was seen this close to Yellowknife was December 2005, when, after a three-day search, a sickly grizzly was shot by wildlife officers from a hovering helicopter above Kam Lake.

The elder Lovell has never seen a grizzly, though he has had numerous encounters with black bears. On one occasion a black bear shredded the wall of a pup tent Lovell was sleeping in on Vee Lake.

On another, a black bear entered a friend's cabin during dinnertime.

Once, Lovell's dog, a terrier-lab mix, chased away a charging black bear.

"I'd probably be more worried if it was a black bear," Dave said. "I think black bears are a lot touchier and a lot more dangerous."

Lovell is proud of the way his son handled the situation.

"You don't try to keep a young man at home," he said.

"You teach him how to use a rifle and what to do … From my way of looking he did everything right because he didn't kill the bear."

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