Prayers sent. Sorry your friend had to learn such a lesson the hard way.
A wounded bear at night presents a real quandary. The law won’t allow a bow hunter to be armed in most places so maybe the best thing to do is contact the game warden and let him make the call. I tracked a wounded bear at night one time, but we were all armed to the teeth with 12 gauges full of slugs and enough spotlights to light it up like daylight. We kept together in a bunch watching each others backs. Luckily all we found was a dead bear.
Common sense in Big Game Laws left the building a few decades ago in most states and all National Parks. In no circumstance should animal life be elevated by government to the point the laws endanger human life or deprive self defense from an attack. IOW back country hikers in NP's should be allowed a firearm.
If a bear is attacking bow hunting or not you should be allowed a firearm for defense. If a wolf or bear is outside your home and thus a danger to your family etc destroying the animal should not require red tape but be an on scene judgment call of the land owner. In such a case let the state have the fur & meat thus shooting a nuisance animal simply for personal gain of fur or food is eliminated.
I disagree with the game officers opinion on bears. Several conditions make them very dangerous besides injury. One is bears that scavenge populated areas for food. Their fear of humans is gone at that point. Another is a sow with cubs. Momma Bear can rip your head off and you may not realize cubs are even there. A back country bear might run off if he hears you coming {Talking about Black Bears BTW}. Some of the more aggressive western state breeds will just chase you down and kill you.