Montana man survives grizzly attack

Casper Star Tribune ^ | June 28, 2003 | n/a

[decimon]

LIVINGSTON, Mont. (AP) -- A retired Montana railroader turned mountain man knew the odds were good he'd have a close encounter with a grizzly bear someday while alone in the back country.

"It finally happened," Bob Johnson said Thursday from his hospital bed in Livingston. "She tried to kill me."

Johnson said he was attacked by the grizzly Wednesday in the Tom Miner Basin, north of Yellowstone National Park.

He said he couldn't remember how big the bear was. "How can you tell, when the SOB is trying to give you dental work?" he said.

Johnson, 55, remembers grabbing the bear by the nose with both hands as it tried to bite his face and throat. And he remembers taking an incredibly hard blow to the head. Doctors used 75 staples to reattach his scalp to his skull.

He also has a deep gash under his right arm, claw marks on his chest and back, bruises all over his body and some deep teeth punctures on his left forearm.

Johnson still hobbled several miles to his truck and drove to the B Bar Guest Ranch for help.

"He was not a pretty sight," said Aaron Davis, the chef at the ranch. "That scalp wound was downright gruesome."

Johnson said he was moving quietly through the woods, looking for petrified rock and believes he probably awakened the napping female grizzly with a cub.

He said he heard a sound, looked up and the bear was coming at him in full charge. The bear knocked him on his back and went for his face.

"I thought, I'm gonna fight until I die," he said.

Johnson, who lives in Clyde Park when he isn't in the backcountry, said family members want him to stay out of the mountains, but "I'll never do that.

"This was just bad luck."

[11th Earl of Mar]

Two friends were walking in the woods when they stumbled on an angry grizzly bear.

One man quietly began putting on his running shoes that were stored in his knap sack.

His friend said, "You dummy. You can't outrun a bear!"

To which he replied, "I don't have to outrun the bear. I just have to outrun you."

[Chief RSO]

1. Shot placement
2. Shot placement
3. Shot placement
4. Use enough gun
5. Use enough bullet

[Lucy Lake]

The Montana Department of Fish and Game recently issued the following bulletin:

"In light of the rising frequency of human/grizzly bear conflicts, the Montana Department of Fish and Game is advising hikers, hunters, fishermen and campers to take extra precautions and to keep alert for bears while in the field."

"We advise outdoorsmen to wear noisy little bells on their clothing to not startle bears that aren't expecting them. We also advise outdoorsmen to carry pepper spray with them in case of an encounter with a bear."

"It is also a good idea to be on the lookout for fresh signs of bear activity. Outdoorsmen should recognize the difference between "black bear" and "grizzly bear" manure."

"Black bear manure is smaller in size and contains lots of berries and squirrel fur."

"Grizzly bear manure has little bells in it and smells like pepper."

[Chief RSO]

"Make haste slowly"-Elmer Keith

[lowbridge]

I think that you should do a little research on hand guns and as bear protection.

Some people just never heard of the right to arm bears.

[Husker24]

Never go out in the back country without a gun.

He was probably on some Federal land, in which he isnt allowed to carry a gun.

[null and void]

That's it!

[Husker24]

Is that Cujo?

[eddie willers]

YIKES!

I think I'd rather face the bear.

[riverrunner]

What you need to do is decide before hand what your course of action is going to be. The anti's want us to roll over and play dead. You have a plan instead of acting like a squirrel in the middle of the road. Wondering what way to go by the time you have decided your squashed.

More likely then bears you will have to face a human predator. The same rules apply if the guy next to me pulls out a gun to committ a robbery what I am I going to do. If Iam in a airplane and some one high jacks it what Iam I going to do ect. I little fore thought goes a long way in saving ones butt.

[Husker24]

I didn't know there were tigers in Africa.

Are you serious?

[Husker24]

I prefer not to venture anywhere, where I might be eaten.

[Mulder]

We advise outdoorsmen to wear noisy little bells on their clothing to not startle bears that aren't expecting them. We also advise outdoorsmen to carry pepper spray with them in case of an encounter with a bear."

Anything to avoid telling people to arm themselves....

[decimon]

More likely then bears you will have to face a human predator. The same rules apply if the guy next to me pulls out a gun to committ a robbery what I am I going to do. If Iam in a airplane and some one high jacks it what Iam I going to do ect. I little fore thought goes a long way in saving ones butt.

Agreed, but I've dealt with humans and have some notion of how things might play out in a confrontation. In the case of a charging grizzly bear I can use help in imagining a defense.

[tcostell]

If you see a bear, climb a tree. If the Bear climbs up the tree and kills you... it's a Black Bear. If it knocks the tree down and kills you ... it a Grizzly Bear.

[decimon]

I prefer not to venture anywhere, where I might be eaten.

That's why you haven't run for President?

[witnesstothefall]

What would you aim for in a charging grizzly?

You'd aim at the middle of the target. I think the key thing is to just get started pulling that trigger. ;)

[Centurion2000]

Better be a big gun, and semi-auto too.

If you have to carry a pistol in the words, it better be a revolver. Semi-auto rounds are just going to piss the bear off.

[Lucy Lake]

Here's another:

Our parish priest does a lot of hiking in Montana's Glacier National Park.

One day, he came face to face with a Grizzly bear.

Father Tom began praying, "Please Lord, make this bear a Christian. Better yet please make him a Catholic."

The bear fell to his knees, folded his paws and said, "Bless us O Lord, and these thy gifts..."

[kms61]

Very bad idea in bear country. It's specifically listed as a big no-no in the literature on dealing with bears. Noise/smell attracts bear, dog runs back to human, bear follows dog.