Officials haven’t released the name of a man involved in a recent bear attack, but whoever he is, he’ll live to tell the story of how he shot his way out of danger. The 55-year-old man was attacked by a sow with cubs on Monday morning while bowhunting for elk in Idaho, according to the Idaho State Journal.
The attack took place near Caribou-Targhee National Forest’s Sawtell Peak. The forest is located near Island Park, a city in the northeast corner of Idaho where the state meets Wyoming and Montana.
The man was reportedly carrying both bear spray and a .44 Magnum as protection, but was unable to access the spray. According to a Sept. 1 update by Idaho Fish and Game, the hunter first saw the bears at a distance of 40 feet away but was bitten in his left hand before he could use the spray. He shot the handgun with his right hand.
The sow caused “soft tissue damage” but no broken bones, according to the Idaho State Journal. East Idaho News reported the hunter was injured in his hand and wrist.
The man fired five times at point-blank range with the .44 and managed to escape. He hiked out of the forest under his own power and was transported to the hospital via ambulance.
Idaho Fish and Game game wardens followed up by visiting the area to search for the bears. The bowhunter claimed he hit the bear, but no signs of injury to the sow or cubs was found. The wardens did find a deer carcass nearby, which potentially led to the encounter between the bears and the hunter.
Unlike the bear that was recently euthanized after killing and partially eating a Yellowstone hiker, the sow will not likely be killed because she was acting naturally. Bears which attack out of surprise or defense of their cubs are not deemed dangerous like the man-eating bear was, which did not exhibit typical behavior for grizzlies.
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