Posted on 05/01/2017 8:05:13 AM PDT by w1n1
There are many ghost stories to hear about but for this Montana hiker, you'd have live a lifetime of scary tales in a single, death-defying day. Todd Orr survived, but barely and he had a firearm that he chose not to use in respect for the bear. If you've ever wondered what it's like to be attacked by a bear, here's the story in vivid detail as posted on his Facebook:
Hello everyone.
Thought I should share yesterday morning's Grizzly incident.
I took an early morning hike in the Madison valley to scout for elk. Knowing that bears are common throughout southwest Montana, I hollered out “hey bear” about every 30 seconds so as to not surprise any bears along the trail.
About three miles in, I stepped out into an open meadow and hollered again. A few more steps and I spotted a sow Grizzly bear with cubs on the trail at the upper end of the meadow. The sow saw me right away and they ran a short distance up the trail. But suddenly she turned and charged straight my way. I yelled a number of times so she knew I was human and would hopefully turn back. No such luck. Within a couple seconds, she was nearly on me. I gave her a full charge of bear spray at about 25 feet. Her momentum carried her right through the orange mist and on me.
I went to my face in the dirt and wrapped my arms around the back of my neck for protection. She was on top of me biting my arms, shoulders and backpack. The force of each bite was like a sledge hammer with teeth. She would stop for a few seconds and then bite again. Over and over. After a couple minutes, but what seemed an eternity, she disappeared.
I had numerous bleeding puncture wounds on my arms and shoulder but I knew I would survive and thanked god for getting me through this. I hoped the bleeding wasn’t too significant. I really didn't want to stop to dress the wounds. I wanted to keep moving and put distance between us.
About five or ten minutes down the trail, I heard a sound and turned to find the Griz bearing down at 30 feet. She either followed me back down the trail or cut through the trees and randomly came out on the trail right behind me. Whatever the case, she was instantly on me again. Read the rest of Todd Orr bear attack story here.
Too stupid to draw his weapon. Hard to sympathize.
Well did say “Hey bear”. The bear just wanted to know what he wanted.
Well it looks like the bear didn't return the respect.
Idiot.
To hell with the bear! First encounter was close but he had time to deploy bear spray, he had time to shoot.
Shoot the bear!
"She suddenly stopped and just stood on top of me. I will never forgot that brief moment. Dead silence except for the sound of her heavy breathing and sniffing. I could feel and her breath on the back of my neck, just inches away. I could feel her front claws digging into my lower back below my backpack where she stood. I could smell the terrible pungent odor she emitted. For thirty seconds she stood there crushing me. My chest was smashed into the ground and forehead in the dirt. When would the next onslaught of biting began. I didn’t move."
Protecting her cubs.
I've read repeatedly that bear spray is more effective than a firearm at stopping a bear's charge. I guess not.
Why bother having a gun? This would be THE crowning moment that you should be thankful you brought it. Dumbass. Must be a liberal.
So not only was this armed guy stupid for the first attack, he was stupid for the second attack as well.
Happened in October.
Why it is being reported AGAIN by this (the Alaska magazine) site is quite odd.
Note: I am not blaming you w1n1 for posting it here, it’s just odd that the magazine re-posted it.
Happened about 40 miles from me...
I hate when bears don’t respect my choice not to use firearms.
Yeh, some jacka$$ wants to see some elk, but should kill a bear protecting her young, instead. Stay the hell away, Or use bells. But don’t kill the bear because he just had to hike in their territory.
Would be curious to know more about the gun he didn’t use.
You can always tell when bears meet hikers. Examine the bear scat and if it contains those little hiker warning bells, there has been a bear incident.
Why bother having a gun? In case he ran into a conservative.
He probably brought a .22 with him, or something as equally useless against a bear.
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