Category Archive 'Grizzly Bear Attacks'

08 Sep 2017

Bow Hunter Mauled by Grizzly in Montana

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Rexburg Standard Journal:

A grizzly bear mauled a bow hunter in southwestern Montana, slashing a 16-inch cut in his head that required 90 stitches to close.

“I could hear bones crunching, just like you read about,” said Tom Sommer, as he recovered in a Montana hospital on Tuesday afternoon.

Sommer said he and a hunting partner were looking for an elk they had been calling Monday morning when his partner spotted a grizzly bear feeding on an elk carcass in the southern end of the Gravelly Range, just north of the Idaho border.

“The bear just flat-out charged us,” Sommer said. He said it closed the 30-foot distance in 3 or 4 seconds.

His hunting partner deployed his bear spray, which slowed the bear’s charge. Sommer said he grabbed his canister so quickly that he couldn’t release the safety and he couldn’t afford to look down as the bear closed in. He ran around a tree twice and dropped his bear spray in the process.

Sommer then grabbed his pistol and turned to confront the bear.

“It bit my thigh, ran his claws through my wrist and proceeded to attack my head,” Sommer recalled Tuesday.

He still had his pistol in his hand and was going to shoot the bear in the neck when it swatted his arm down, Sommer said.

“Just like that it stopped. He stopped biting me, he got up and started to run away,” said Sommer, who splits his time among Idaho, Missouri and Florida.

His hunting partner had been able to deploy the rest of his bear spray, ending the attack Sommer estimated lasted about 25 seconds.

“It could have been a lot worse,” he said.

Sommer found his bear spray canister. His hunting partner had some blood coagulation powder and they made a turban, stopping the bleeding after about 15 minutes.

They walked a mile back to their spike camp and rode mules another 4 miles out to their base camp, followed by a two-hour ride in a pickup truck to get to the hospital in Ennis.

“Through it all I was very conscious, very level-headed and low key about it,” Sommer said. “Besides some scars, it doesn’t appear that I will have any problems.

RTWT

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First reported by gun writer Mike Venturino on FB.

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Extensive gossip, wisecracks, discussion at 24 Hour Campfire.

16 Oct 2016

Todd Orr Survived

toddorr

0:50 video

Outside:

Todd Orr did everything right. When he left his Bozeman, Montana, home to scout for elk in nearby Madison Valley last weekend, he went armed with two cans of bear spray, as well as the powerful handgun he uses for hunting. Entering the woods, he hollered, “Hey bear!” at half-minute intervals, to avoid surprising one. And when a female grizzly charged him, he fired the bear spray to create a fog-like barrier between him and the animal, keeping his finger on the can’s trigger until she was on him. As the bear broke his arms with her jaws and slashed his scalp with her claws, he curled into the fetal position, and kept his hands locked behind his neck, protecting his vulnerable spine and organs.

So Orr lived.

I thought Outside’s cocksure analysis and advise was total crap. I’ll give Todd Orr credit: he has guts. But myself, I would definitely have shot that bear.


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