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 ...
(If this has already been posted, I apologize. I DID search).
Amazing story of survival. Can they use a more lethal caliber against the bear?
if only they had had some bear spray
.45 ACP is wholly inadequate for the job.
12 gauge, with .44 magnum back-up was needed.
This may be the best video interview of a bear attack/defense case I have seen.
taIk about the worst time for that to happen
And California wants to add some grizzleys to the state and they don’t care what the outcome is.
He cleared the jam and kept firing.
Good man. Kept his head.
“He cleared the jam and kept firing.
Good man. Kept his head.”
Cool under pressure. It’s amazing that at that age he was able to do that. Many an older hunter wouldn’t be able to do the same. You can tell the teens were familiar with their firearms and were not just “once a year” hunters. We get a lot of those in my county with their brand new hunting gear (it still smells of Wal-mart and makes noise as they move) and one box of ammo that they purchased at the same time.
There were also three rounds of 10mm.
Ping.
Equally true of Concealed Carry.
If you are going to carry you need to do Jam Clearing drills.
And one thing that is not common knowledge is that hand guns with large capacity mags have a more likely chance of jams. The heavy springs necessary for those 13+ capacities make jams more common.
You have to make clearing jams second nature.
You don’t want a jam on your second shot to cost you your life.
Both young men are 20 years old, as I recall.
“And one thing that is not common knowledge is that hand guns with large capacity mags have a more likely chance of jams. The heavy springs necessary for those 13+ capacities make jams more common”
It is only common sense that the springs in a magazine would become stiff with non-use. The larger the magazine the more room for failure. I believe my husband oils his magazines after purchase and moves the action a bit to make sure they operate properly. As I said, I’m impressed with the young guys’ ability to keep their heads about them and do what needed to be done at the time.
Riley and Brax, what a pair
“King Charles XII of Sweden (born 1682) ... killed his first bear at eleven.”. Later, “having decided that it was cowardly to hunt with firearms, he took only a pike and a cutlass when he went in search of bears.
After a while, he decided that even the use of steel was unfair, and he went with only a strong wooden pitchfork. ... (to) catch it in the throat with the fork ...” ( further at “Peter the Great” by great American historian Robert K. Massie)
Bear ping
Given my experience with Taurus I wouldn’t carry one for protection in a petting zoo.
My current crop of semi autos are amonst all SIGs.
Montanan here with lots of backcountry time. .44 is inadequate as bear is on you too fast for wheel gun follow-up shots. 10mm mag dump is the go to these days. But you are correct, 12 gauge slugs is the preferred primary, but often not practical. Pretty much all of us carry 10mm in chest rigs.
Hit it in right spot for openers.
Revolvers with practice are Just fast as semi-autos for the first cylinder full.
If you can’t shoot them fast you need more practice,
Mag dumps are fine if you hit what you are shooting at.
In 40 plus years as a firearms instructor I have seen many misses cause by shooting to fast
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