A Carstairs man has been found not guilty on charges of unlawfully killing a grizzly bear.
Joe Lucas was facing five counts under the Wildlife and Provincial Parks Acts.
Prosecutors accused Lucas of killing the bear unnecessarily.
But the former rodeo champion insisted that he was just defending his teenaged son.
Lucas says the grizzly circled his camp three times before coming within 14 metres of 13-year-old son.
Lucas testified that he shot the animal and then rode five hours to get a cell phone signal to call the authorities.
The Crown argued that the bear wasn't a problem animal and the shooting was not self-defence.
But the judge sided with the defence and acquitted Lucas on all the charges.
If convicted, Lucas was facing a maximum penalty of 500 thousand dollars in fines.
