Hunter mauled by brown bear he shot near Anchorage’s Ship Creek, official says
BY PGF
2 years, 2 months ago
A hunter was attacked by a brown bear Thursday morning [This happened at the end of August] near Ship Creek after he shot it but didn’t realize it was still alive, an Alaska Department of Fish and Game official said.
That’s a perilous situation. Any large animal and all predators can be dangerous when shot, and it can be hard to know if they are actually dead.
The hunter, treated at a hospital for injuries, was able to make his way out of the area without calling for rescue, said Cory Stantorf, an assistant wildlife biologist for the Anchorage area.
The man shot a large adult brown bear between about 9 and 10 a.m. in an area near Ship Creek and up the valley from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson land, Stantorf said. It is legal to hunt in the area, he said.
The man then approached the bear, which he thought was dead, and it got up and charged him, the biologist said.
The bear wounded him during the attack, according to Stantorf, although he said he could not provide additional details about the injuries or how severe they were.
Others in the hunting party shot at the bear, Stantorf said, and it stopped attacking and left. The hunters made it out of the area without further incident, he said.
It wasn’t clear by Friday morning if the bear had died from the gunshot wounds, Stantorf said. The hunting party was returning to the area to look for the bear, he said.
Grizz are tough critters.
There have been several other bear maulings in Anchorage this year. A soldier was killed and another was injured during a defensive attack involving a sow brown bear with cubs on a remote area of JBER in May.
A man was treated at the hospital last month after he surprised a sow brown bear with a cub in Eagle River. A woman was also injured last month when a black bear swatted at her on the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail near Point Woronzof.
Stantorf said it’s important that anyone recreating outdoors in the backcountry or even in Anchorage is paying attention to their surroundings and looking for bears.
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On September 27, 2022 at 3:10 am, Aaron Yetter said:
Had a black bear encounter last weekend while hiking in the woods with a buddy. Wind was in our face when I Got a whiff of bear. As soon as I identified to my buddy that we had a problem we turned around and walked out to my jeep. The entire time the smell of bear stayed with us. I’m convinced it followed us out for quite a way. I was carrying my ruger Blackhawk in .45 Colt with 255 grain hard cast with 9 grain of Unique. This bear encounter was not unexpected, I almost hit one 2 weeks before on the road a few hundred yards away. Maybe the same one.
On September 27, 2022 at 10:59 am, TheAlaskan said:
@Aaron
Problem bears tend to remain problem bears…for life. Your bear sounds old. Old bear usually smelly bear.
I would up your game if you plan on returning by carrying a 12 loaded with slugs.
On September 27, 2022 at 12:22 pm, Aaron Yetter said:
Location central Wisconsin