Photo-BRENDA GRUNDT, WWW.WAWA-NEWS.COM
Posted on 07/22/2006 5:30:03 PM PDT by kanawa
A Waterloo man and his dog made a harrowing escape from the clutches of a vicious black bear Thursday while portaging near Wawa, Ont.
Tom Tilley, 55, killed the nearly 200-pound bear by jumping on its back and stabbing the aggressive animal with a six-inch hunting knife after his dog alerted him and distracted the bear.
"Love is a very powerful emotion and my thought right away was, 'You're not going to kill my dog,' " Tilley said yesterday.
"I really consider my dog a hero. Without that first warning I would have had the bear clamping down on my neck."
Tilley had planned on spending 12 days portaging through the area near Wawa with his American Staffordshire, Sam.
Four days into the trip, as he was making his third trip back to the water near Abbey Lake to retrieve his gear, he heard his dog growl and noticed the bear closing in on him. He said he did what he's been taught to do when a bear is close -- he starting waving his arms and slowing started backing away from the animal.
The bear moved off the trail, but a few seconds later reappeared, cutting off Tilley's escape route.
"That's when I knew I had a serious problem . . . I was lunch," he said.
Sam, who was behind Tilley before the bear moved up the trail, was now between the bear and his owner. Instead of taking an aggressive stance, the dog stood sideways blocking the bear's route.
"The bear took a few steps down the trail and clamped its mouth on the back of my dog," Tilley said. "By attracting the bear's attention like that and distracting the bear from me it gave me the quick opportunity I needed to run around to the back of the bear, get on its back and with my knife start stabbing it."
Tilley had recently purchased the knife that would save his life after reading the story of Jacqueline Perry, the young Cambridge doctor who was killed by a bear last September.
Perry's husband attempted to fend off the animal with a Swiss Army Knife -- the only weapon he had.
"When I read the report about her death, it really hit home to me that these things are possible," Tilley said.
"I owe her husband a real debt of gratitude because if I hadn't heard her story and got that knife, I wouldn't be telling this story."
After making sure the animal was dead, Tilley realized he had suffered a wound to his hand and Sam had two puncture marks on his back. He needed to get help, but was a two-day portage away from civilization.
Dragging his canoe across the short portage, Tilley paddled for about an hour before he came across a pair of Americans who happened to have a satellite phone.
They called for help and two hours later, a cargo plane arrived to take Tilley back to Wawa for medical attention.
He was treated and released from hospital.
News of his feat passed quickly through the small community, with a population of just over 3,000.
"He had a lot of cojones to do what he did," said Brenda Grundt, who operates the local news site Wawa-news.com and drove Tilley two hours back to where he'd left his van after the incident.
LUCKY TO HAVE KNIFE
"It's pretty amazing. Here's a guy that wouldn't be here if he hadn't happened to have a knife on him."
As for Tilley, it wasn't until he was back in his van alone with Sam that he took in the gravity of the situation.
"I just thanked God I was alive and that my dog was alive and cried a bit, but they were tears of thanks and relief," he said.
The Ministry of Natural Resources has sent the bear's body to Guelph and Ottawa for testing.
"It's very unusual for a bear to attack a person (and) pretty amazing this gentleman was able to kill it just with a knife," said Jolanta Kowalski, spokes-person for the ministry.
Because Wawa doesn't have a veterinarian's office and a specialist wasn't available to treat his hand, Tilley decided to push through and make the long journey home that night.
Back in Waterloo, news of his experience trickled back to amazed friends and family. Despite the danger, Tilley said the incident hasn't erased his love of the outdoors.
"My daughter says I'm not allowed to go up there anymore," he said with a laugh. " But I left my canoe there knowing I'll have to go back to get it."
Photo-BRENDA GRUNDT, WWW.WAWA-NEWS.COM
Thanks for bringing back that memory, Cal.
Kanawa succeeeded admirably in this and it likely saved Sam's life because Sam's back could have been broken, a bears mouth can deliver a bite which is in the 1000 pounds per sqaure inch range, stronger than a wolf's, (look at the mouth muscles on a bears head.)
Again a great job by a dedicated and loving man.
OK That's a Knife!
If the spear would not work for whatever reason, my camp axe would be the second thing I would pick up, the belt knife would be the last resort.I know several men who have killed black bears with a camp axe, Dona Hache of Bathurst, New Brunswick being one, who killed one with his first blow right on top of the head as it came at him on all fours outside a cook tent in the Gaspe. The boys actually blew a bear up with dynamite that summer ( it's a long story) and they had to move camp because of it. Rotting bear guts attract more bears, so blowing one up doesn't work well.
I really like bears and they have rarely bothered me, but have gotten close enough to spook me over and over. I guess Kanawa must smell better! I have a bear that visits my land every spring, even looked in my windows, but has never attacked or made a nuisance of himself.LOL.
Of course , if Canada would change its gun laws, there is nothing better than the Ruger Super Black Hawk in .44 magnum cal., 7.5 inch barrel, which I have hanging in my bedroom closet here in Vermont, in a cross draw fast break holster. Perhaps my bear friend knows I have it.
In remote areas of Montana and in Idaho I have been blessed on a couple of occassions to be able to back away from situations that I felt may have led to severe problems. Nothing like your situation...just becoming aware of the potential before it occurred (like hairs raising on your neck when you smell a recent kill and you note that distinctive Bear smell while hemmed in by Willows)) and then luickily being able to avoid the problem.
I always travel in those remote areas now with my dog and a firearm.
What a harrowing experience, and what a good dog you have and a good owner you are. You two have won our undying respect and admiration for how you both handled this and were, in fact, one another's salvation. Again, God bless and keep you. Thank you so much for sharing.
LOL! Bear tussling will do that to you I guess!
I'm happy to hear you both are going to be OK.
:-D
BRAVO !!!
Tom & Sam
Yes, the libs are asking why he didn't try a little conflict resolution first!
Since you want in on the ground floor, you have to take the bad with the good.
My salary of $500,000 comes off the top, plus an operating loss of $250,000 the first year.
$750,000 loss.
5% of 750 thousand comes out to $37,500.
NonValue please forward your personal check to me in the amount of $37,500 on or before August 1.
Contact Inyo-Mono as to his operation. Then forward my Finders Fee of 35% of what ever money you can extract from him.
Excellent story...and thank God it had a happy ending.
Not to sound morbid, but would you mind telling me where and how you stabbed the bear in order to kill it? The reason I ask is that I often hike in the Cascades. I've seen black bears up there. I know that they don't attack often, but when they do, it is to eat, and that your only chance is to fight for your life. I always carry a large Buck hunting knife, but there's always the nagging doubt that I wouldn't be able to get through the muscle and fat to hit a kill zone.
Isn't he though!
Did you see this?
My knife has 119 engraved at the base of the blade.
The 119BR looks like the same knife but with brass trimmings.
As others have pointed out a longer blade would probably be better.
One of my considerations was whether an 8 or 10 inch blade might be a bit cumbersome to carry around with me.
Not saying they would be but I opted for one that I felt I would be comfortable wearing.
Any knife is, of course, no help if you don't have it readily at hand.
It's interesting to me to look back at my trip journal
and see my last entry from the night before the incident...
"Finding it quite easy to wear knife on belt"
I wish there were bears in Ireland... I could prove my manhood!! ;)
kanawa should have at least sought a UN resolution first!! :P
LOL!
You don't need a bear, grab a shark or something.
;-)
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