A teenager in Alaska got more than he bargained for on a recent deer hunt. Yes, a 19-year-old kid was out hunting Sitka blacktail deer in southeast Alaska when he stumbled upon a brown bear that took an interest in recently killed deer.
The kid had to think quickly. He did reportedly have his license for hunting brown bears but hoped it would no come to that. The bear was not there for him, he was there for the deer meat. He was hungry.
After firing a warning shot into the air when the bear crept closer, it became clear that the bear was no interested in him, but he was in the way for what he was interested in. The venison.
He lived to tell the tale of a seven-foot-tall brown bear sneaking upon him in the Alaska wilderness. According to MeatEater, he said, “This whole time, she’s weaving through trees trying to sneak up to me, and I’m standing next to my deer trying to move around and keep something between us while also staying where I can still see her. I get this log in between her and me, and she’s coming directly for me. When she was about 20 feet away, I yelled as loud as I could again and threw a rock in her direction. My spot was that log. I was like, if she reaches right here I’m gonna have to shoot her. And so once she put both front feet on that log, I shot her right in the heart.”
Whoa. You have to feel for the kid here. He did everything he could to push the bear away. He did not want to have to use force on the bear, but he was left with no choice. It’s hard to imagine how fast his heart was pacing during that moment where the bear just kept coming, especially a bear that large.
What happened after?
He concludes, “After shooting the bear, I was relieved that it was a clean kill and that I was OK.”
“There was a ton of adrenaline, and I was really shaky for a while. I probably spent 20 to 30 minutes just watching the bear after I shot it before I felt comfortable enough to begin working on my deer. I was concerned about another bear showing up or the one that I shot getting back up. It was probably an hour after I shot it before I actually went down and touched it.”
Bear stories like these are not as uncommon as you might think. Still, a crazy story out in the Alaskan wilderness nonetheless.
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Original Article: 19-Year-Old Takes Down Charging Brown Bear Defending Himself (outsider.com)
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