https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/2019/09/09/hunter-attacked-by-bear-near-gunsight-mountain/

Gunsight mountain is an obvious point along the Glenn highway and right in a predator control unit...



Hunter mauled by brown bear near Eureka
pencil Author: Michelle Theriault Boots clock Updated: 4 hours ago calendar Published 17 hours ago

A hunter was mauled by a sow brown bear Friday night in the Eureka area northeast of Anchorage, the Alaska State Troopers said.

The injured person’s hunting partner ended the attack by shooting the bear dead.

The two moose hunters were in the Gunsight Mountain area, about 120 miles northeast of Anchorage off the Glenn Highway, when they surprised a brown bear with two cubs Friday evening.

“The sow attacked one of the hunters causing serious injuries,” according to troopers.

The uninjured hunter shot and killed the bear. Troopers did not name the hunters.

The attack was reported around 7 p.m. on Friday evening, according to troopers. The injured hunter was flown to Anchorage with serious injuries.

An account of the aftermath of the attack by a cabin owner in the area was widely circulated on Facebook in the hours after the event.

The account, posted by a Glenn Marlin, said the two hunters in their 20s were in the “right place, bad timing” when they ran into the bear.

After the mauling and struggle with the bear, they got to a four-wheeler and were able to call to a nearby cabin for help, Marlin wrote.

The bear was recovered the next day, he wrote.

About this Author
Michelle Theriault Boots
Michelle Theriault Boots is a reporter who covers news and features about life in Alaska.

gotta hope the best for the two boys and hope the one in the hospital heals up well. dang bears !

Worth having a powerful firearm, bear spray and a good buddy who's reliable when in bear country.

Guy

Any idea how old the cubs were?

Sometimes a buddy (or ones self) with a powerful firearm just isn't quick enough! Them things are FAST, at least in the short run, and that's usually when maulings happen - close in and personal. 0-30 in 3 jumps, or so.

I heard 4th hand that they were 3 year olds... almost as big as the sow.

Yeah, I heard 2 year old cubs on Saturday night, and then tonight said 3 year old cubs. I think they will be fine. I was out riding west of there a week ago, and we found fresh grizzly tracks and scat on our trails.

I thought cubs were usually run off 3rd spring so sow could breed? Or she has bred and will ditch them before denning?

Once again, the best bear defense gun is the one your partner is carrying.

Ok - says cubs stay with mom 2-4 years.

Good thing they didn’t pile on

Spoke to a close friend of the shooter tonight... he says the bear passed him on the way to the chewee toy. He followed immediately and shot the bear head-on from very, very close with a 30-06. The bullet deflected and failed to enter at all. He reloaded and when the bear turned sideways he put one through the shoulders.

Two out of three ain't bad! No faith in spray, especially when someone is being chewed.

So you're saying that the first bullet glanced off the skull or something?

That's what deflected usually means....

although I am suspicious that it did not deflect - just grazed due to placement.

Wasn't there, don't know.

Musta been the front shoulders. That’s not the time to ass shoot a bear.

They are calling it "bounced off" but my money is on "glanced off."

But he may have been using Accubombs?

When is the time to ass shoot a bear?

I’ve ass shot a number of them as they ran away from their first ration of extra holes. A 300 gr partition from the ol’ H&H wrecking a pelvis and then exiting out the front of the chest or lodging in the neck is some wonderful stuff!

Well, when one has an uber magnum, making a cross-canyon shot, a friend to read sign, and two miles of cable on a winch.

Thot everybody knew that!

In an a-bort.

I thought you shot a-borts?

I *have* one, but art really has a thing for them.

I own one, too...

Seriously? Good god, man!

Therapy helps...

I say ass shoot any elk calf killer, like I may on fawn killing coyotes running away.

I think I’d take a good friend who’s a great shot under pressure over bear spray any old day of the week and twice on Sunday.

Guy was damn lucky the buddy chambered another round and kept on shooting.

Cannot imagine the fun involved in having serious bear bites bathed in capsicum...

That’s about as close as I’d ever want to be to a Grizz or Brownie...Give me the Uber Magnum and a 1/4 mile of winch cable. I’m brave as hell at 700 yards...😬😎

Maybe a cop who loaded rubber bullets by mistake?

Or the Seward cop that shot a bystander with a slug. It ricocheted off a big rock on the far side of the bear. Centerpunched the sternum, but failed to penetrate.

Anything you are that afraid of is something you need to see firsthand...

9 feet works! Tho you might want trust me on that distance.....


It was............interesting.

I've been closer by about 2 feet, but there was a patio sliding glass door between us. Not the same!

I may have had a deflection on my caribou kill earlier. I remember him being broadside at the trigger squeeze. Entry was behind the shoulder, exit---um- well back... taking out lung , liver, and paunch (ick!). 4 inch by 1/2 inch bone peeled off rear of near shoulder blade.

I could mis-rember the sight picture, or he could have turned just as I shot.

I feel better with the "deflection" theory......