In a terrifying attack, an elk hunter was mauled by a grizzly bear. The startling incident happened in East Kootenay, Canada. Fortuantely, the outdoorsman survived his encounter with the bear.
According to CBC, the incident happened last Thursday. Officials believe that the elk hunter may have accidentally surprised the bear. It was a mama grizzly and her cubs. Due to the presence of the younglings, the animal was more aggressive and charged the unidentified hunter. Officials believe the animals mistook the hunter's elk calls for the actual thing.
I would understandably crash out after not getting free lunch myself.
"We believe the hunter was calling and we believe the calls attracted the grizzly bear family group towards him," said Tobe Sprado, inspector with the B.C. Conservation Officer Service. "And then obviously there was an encounter where he was mauled and sustained serious injuries."
Grizzly Attack
Following the grizzly attack, first responders transported the hunter to Kelowna General Hospital. His injuries left him in critical condition, but he's now stable. Apparently, the hunter was able to barely fight back against the animal in self defense.
"Initial information was that the hunter was able to fire off one shot in self defense but it is unknown if the bear was hit," the BCCOS announced in a statement.
Following the grizzly attack, officers have been sweeping the area with helicopters, drones, and ground patrol. But so far, they've been unable to find the bears.
Sprado has called for hunters to be careful while hunting elk. Calls can lure deer, but they can also attract bears as well. Always come with some bear spray just in case.
"The biggest thing is that as long as somebody is aware of the location that they're going to be hunting ... then they should have a means of communication," he said. "Sometimes you might get separated from your firearm, or the predator may be too close for you to use the firearm so they need to have access to bear spray."
