So, how did you escape?
Don’t leave us hanging.....
It’s a long story as I tried to indicate. You’re not going to believe it anyway. I was 16 at the time, and the first thing the mother bear did was chase the horse back (I was dismounted). Then it turned around and looked at me with eyes like death. This will sound crazy to you, but as it came at me I got on my hands and knees and pointed to the back of my neck, trying to show the bear the best way to kill me, because I thought it preferable to getting mauled. To my amazement it spared me, even when the cub ran toward me a second time. It growled at its cub and they both went back into the woods. This will sound even crazier, but I was so amazed to be alive that I stood up and said “where are you going”? The bear turned around and growled at me, so I got back on the horse and the hell out of there. Later I was told that prostrating myself to the bear is what saved me. Experts have used this method when researching bears, but not with 100% success.
And as a sad side note, I made the mistake of telling the ranch manager about this incident, because they were wondering why the horse was upset. He sent the local half-indian tracker to hunt it down and shoot it and its cub. So I guess the bear should have killed me after all.