Man fends off grizzly with arrow

[kickingfrog]

I think I may have crapped myself.

 

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/nation...article1290648/

 

 

Ian Bailey

 

Vancouver — From Thursday's Globe and Mail

Last updated on Thursday, Sep. 17, 2009 04:06AM EDT

 

 

.With a grizzly bear straddling him, so close he could smell its “musky, wet-dog smell,” Rory Chapple knew he had one shot at avoiding a mauling or death.

 

The veteran bow hunter, flat on his back after tripping, with the 270-kilogram sow looming over him, pulled an arrow from the quiver on his compound bow and plunged it into the bear's chin.

 

There had been no time to draw the arrow and shoot the bear. Mr. Chapple's only warning of what was to come was a “huff, huff, huff” sound behind him.

 

He turned and saw the bear coming “full charge” at him.

 

He tripped, was on his back, then the bear was on him.

 

But the aluminum-shaft arrow with a three-bladed stainless-steel point did its job.

 

“Those [arrows] are designed to have zero resistance,” said Mr. Chapple, 39, of Fort St. John.

 

“Just like a hot knife through butter, they're designed to penetrate and cut. It went in lickety-split.”

 

He was aiming for the bear's mouth, “but my aim was off,” which was no surprise, as the bear was atophim, although not positioned in a way that put all her crushing weight on him.

 

What happened when the arrow sank in is hard to forget, he said.

 

“Instantly her breathing changed,” he recalled.

 

“I knew I hit the windpipe because she was having a hard time breathing.

 

“I could hear her breathing pretty raspy and gurgly.”

 

The bear withdrew as three cubs looked on “like a little audience watching the whole thing.”

 

She turned and moved away, but her movements rammed the arrow in further before it slipped loose and fell to the ground. Her cubs followed her into the bush.

 

Mr. Chapple said he yelled out to friends in their camp about 300 metres away. They yelled back, stumbling out of their tents.

 

“As soon as I got close to them, I just collapsed on the spot. Tears were flowing. I was pretty much a ball of jelly.

 

“I was just thinking how close I was to dying. Had I not happened to stick that arrow in exactly the right spot, there's no doubt I would have been mauled pretty good for sure.”

 

He suffered a sore back and his pants were torn.

 

All of this happened on Sept. 8 at about 6:30 a.m. after Mr. Chapple left his tent ahead of four hunting buddies, hoping to get an early start on the day's hunting near the Kechika River, eight hours drive plus a three-hour boat ride from Fort St. John.

 

Mr. Chapple has been an archer since he was 14.

 

He has hunted throughout his life, largely using a rifle, but decided to turn to a bow and arrow for the challenge – you have to get closer to prey than when hunting with a firearm.

 

He has taken black bears before, shooting behind the front shoulder through the heart-lung area.

 

He had always hoped to get a grizzly.

 

Jeff Ginter, regional operations manager of the provincial conservation officers' service, said from Dawson Creek yesterday that his staff plan to interview Mr. Chapple for further details on the incident to gather information on attacks for their database and to help decide whether the grizzly should be tracked down.

 

Other hunters may be at risk from the animal, he said.

 

Mr. Chapple and his friends went looking for the grizzly after the incident, but found no sign of her.

 

Mr. Ginter said, on average, three British Columbians are injured by black bears each year, and three by grizzly bears.

 

In the past 23 years, there have been six fatal attacks by grizzlies and eight by black bears, he said.

 

Mr. Ginter said Mr. Chapple's experience is unique.

 

“This is the first I have heard of an arrow [being used] like that,” he said, although he said he has heard of people fending off bears with knives and shovels, among other tools.

 

Mr. Chapple, an auto-body repair technician and president of his local archery club, said a friend is making a glass case for the arrow in question, now bent and twisted.

 

“It will be up on the mantel for sure.”

[anders]

Cool story....yet i feel for the cubs....

[glen]

I bet he cant do that again.

[bubbles]

Yep, sucks for the cubs but certainly had to be done. No chance I would have been able to pull that off, somethin stinky in my pants for sure.

[fishingisliving]

that is like a twisted disney movie directed by Quentin Tarantino.

Being in the guys shoes I would not be thinking about the cubs for a second, I am not being hypocritical, but when reading it you do feel for the cubs. What a story.

[crankbait]

I'm going to assume the bear is going to die from a wound like that. Poor cubs they won't last long without momma bear.

[smally21]

i dont talk about it much but it was him or me, 700 lbs of fur and muscle nothing between us but a flyswatter and a #2 stapler....

[bucktail]

Pretty wild!!

I wouldnt automatically assume it will die , those animals are incredibaly tough and if it didnt hit an artery it will probably heal up as the bear hibernates over the winter.

[Rizzo]

incredible story, pretty scary to have a bear that close. That guy was seconds from being turned into bear scat

[Lunatic]

"his staff plan to interview Mr. Chapple for further details on the incident to gather information on attacks for their database and to help decide whether the grizzly should be tracked down.

 

Other hunters may be at risk from the animal, he said."

 

 

this has to be one of the more stupid things ive heard all week. other hunters may be at risk from the animal???

i find it pathetic,so if the animal finds the hunter,before the hunter finds the animal, an investigation is held to see if they should send in a team of people to kill it so it dont harm other hunters

 

what a world.

[capt bruce]

Sort of like the story of buddha and the tiger . Guess he should of lied down and let the bear eat him so the cubs would get to grow up happy and fat ??????

 

 

"While the Buddha was taking care of the wounded tiger and her five cubs, he began to think that it was not proper to kill other beings and give their flesh to the tiger. He found some large thorns and pressed them into neck, and as the blood came out, he let the cubs and their mother suck the blood. In fact, he gave his whole body to the five cubs and their mother as an act of generosity. As he did this, the Buddha prayed, "Right now I am only able to give temporary help to these starving beings, just removing their hunger. May these tigers who are enjoying my flesh, blood, and bones be reborn to a higher realm, and may I be able to teach them and lead them out of cyclic existence."

 

P3TA P3TA P3TA , I say kill the bear save your ass , bear started the fight , man with arrow ended it THATS NATURAL SELECTION , next time bear should show up with an arrow make the fight fair ????

[TJQ]

I had a fight with a beaver once.....

[Roy]

I had a fight with a beaver once.....

 

And did you stick your arrow in its throat?

[anders]

And did you stick your arrow in its throat?

 

 

hahahah....

[capt bruce]

Damn TJ I just fell off my chair ... Think we all have fought with a beaver once or twice ...lmao

[Jds63]

LMAO.

 

in my experience the Beaver always wins, but at least i live to tell about it ........

[Jonny]

I always keep a 6 1/2" Buck Special on my belt when I'm in the bush (berry-picking, cutting firewood, etc.) and even when I'm carrying a gun during hunting season. If a black bear catches me unawares I want to have a last-ditch chance to bite back.

 

As for beavers, they're pretty tame if you talk nice.