Posted on 09/08/2024 4:28:10 PM PDT by CFW
ISLAND PARK — Dangling from the jaws of a 530-pound grizzly, 20-year-old Riley Hill’s body flung from side-to-side as his hunting buddy Braxton Meyers fired round after round into the bear’s hulking frame. The grizzly’s ferocious teeth sunk deep into his arm, puncturing the skin to the bone, as he screamed and fought back during the longest 30 seconds of his life.
“It was lifting me off the ground and then slamming me back on the ground,” Hill said. “… It was like playing tug of war with your dog, but he was playing it with my arm and ripping it apart.”
Moments earlier, the bear had charged out of nowhere, dramatically altering a peaceful morning as the two hunters from Rexburg and Menan faced one of the fiercest predators in North America.
The men shared their heroic story of friendship and survival in an exclusive interview with EastIdahoNews.com.
[snip]
The two friends were only about twelve feet apart from each other, and Meyers tripped and fell on the ground.
Hill had time to shoot the bear with three more bullets in the face and shoulder region before its iron jaws clamped down on his arm.
Immediately, the grizzly began to fling Hill around.
Meyers stood up and saw the bear attacking Hill.
He “fumbled around,” pulled out his Taurus 1911 .45 ACP pistol and fired four to five shots at the bear before the gun jammed.
The bear continued to flail Hill from side-to-side as Meyers cleared the feed.
“I was having to pick my shots careful,” Meyers said. “… By then, the bear’s on top of Riley, and Riley’s shoulders are between (its) front feet and his legs are kind of kicked out from its stomach. … I couldn’t see anything Riley was doing. ..."
(Excerpt) Read more at eastidahonews.com ...
Great survival story. Thanks for posting 👍
Oh noes - fearless leaders Obama/Biden showed the way: You have to appease the bear with what food you have on hand and promise it more in the near future while assuming the position. Whether you live or not at least the bear's safe to terrorize more people in the future, now that it's learned humans aren't to be feared.
THEY ALSO ARE ADDING WOLVES.
I ‘ve had two such over the years. One passed and the other (a FReeper) moved three states east.
*If you have ever associated with a person who has described an event was surreal, know that you can never depend upon that person to react in an emergency.
I think Grizzlies used to be in California. That’s what is on the state flag, after all.
So who is buying all those Ruger Alaskans?
That's the instant you regret having cheaped out by buying a Taurus autoloader in the first place.
I'll take my .460 S&W Magnum with hard cast projectiles, thank you very much. No need for follow-up shots with that.
And they don’t care about adverse consequences.
I carried my Titanium 41 mag revolver last year last year. In Montana back country while deer hunting.
Nothing wrong with a good semi-auto nothing wrong with with a good revolver.
I carried both over a 33 year long career in law enforcement.
Having a firearm if far more important then what type.
From my armchair, but I’ve been there...
I think they were undergunned. At least 10mm, even that is slightly light.
I used to know this bartender up in Homer Alaska. He’d been around there quite a while. He used to tell me things like... if you want to hunt Moose plant a rose bush, they love roses. His hunting weapon of choice was a .458 Winchester magnum. His sidearm was the biggest available at the time, a .44 mag S&W 29.
He said when hunting the browns, it took 2 shots from the 458, a hip shot to break the hip and set it on its arse... and as it raises up its upper body with paws in the air, the 2nd shot was to the chest to blow its heart to pieces.
Of course when a pissed off big bear charges you suddenly... it’s all moot. Whatever happened to the 500 S&W as a carry? I thought that was all the rage for Big Bear defense.
Caliber does matter but I recall the Florida cop killing an elephant in Musth that went berserk and he dumped 20+ rounds of 9mm from his Glock into the head of that thing and put it down.
I don’t know what I would use, probably a 3in 12 gauge for starters. Spray is dependent on wind direction. Hand gun? Something I can bring back to target for quick and accurate followup shots. Type of bullet? Hard & Solid for head shots. And if a bear is charging you that headshot might be the only option.
In other news: the world record bear was taken by a 12 year old girl with a .22!
Of the more then a couple dozen trips to Montana.
last year was a bust No deer, bad weather and a broken truck.
such is life.
.44 Magnum.
I have thousands of Rounds run through My Norinco 1911 and a Ruger P85 MK-II and have never had a jam of any kind. I wish I had never sold the Ruger.
Pinging Dean ...
because I’m surprised nobody else did.
Joe Rogan will be on this
They had a 10mm which I think finally brought it down and the injured put three more 45 in the brain
Or skull cause grizz brains are sorta oddly back and protected like a rottie skull
Man are they lucky
Grumpy older solitary male
20
Local ranchers happy they say
The grizz loved beef au tartare
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