12-year-old Wisconsin boy kills bear as it mauls his father
“The next thing I know, he was on me. He charged and knocked me down,” 43-year-old Ryan Beierman said. “The bear was fighting for its life, and I was fighting for mine.”
A black bear grazes in Yellowstone National Park. (Photo credit: Getty Images)
A Wisconsin father hailed his 12-year-old son as a hero after the boy shot and killed a black bear that had pinned him to the ground and was mauling him.
Ryan Beierman, 43, told the Minnesota Star Tribune that he and his 12-year-old son Owen were on a hunting trip when the boy shot the bear. It wasn't a fatal shot, and the bear ran away wounded.
When they found the wounded bear again, it was dark, and the animal was in a stance like a cat about to pounce,’’ Beierman told the outlet. He initially drew his sidearm hoping to scare it away with a warning shot, but then the bear charged.
“He was only five or six feet away, point blank,” Beierman said. “As he charged, I shot to kill. I shot eight times but missed. I had no time and I never got the gun high enough to use the sights.”
“The next thing I know, he was on me. He charged and knocked me down,” he said. “The bear was fighting for its life, and I was fighting for mine.”
Beierman was bitten in the face and sustained additional wounds to his arms and legs.
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"The bear released my leg, maybe reared back a little, and lunged at my head. All I could see were his claws and teeth. I lifted my right arm to block him. I remember the first bite. I heard a crunch,” he said.
Suddenly, Owen fired a shot from his rifle, killing the bear on top of his father.
“My left cheek was sliced open and blood was oozing out of the flap. There were two fang marks on my forehead, and my face was smattered with blood," Beierman said.
Neighbors helped get Beierman and his son to the hospital where Beierman received 23 stitches for the wound in his cheek.
“I was proud of Owen. He really held it together,” Beierman said. “But after it was all over, you could tell he was pretty shaken.”
Despite being an avid hunter, in the wake of the attack, Beierman is considering swearing off bear hunting.
“I told my wife I was done bear hunting," Beierman said. "It was a wild ride."
Reporting by TMX
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