A hunter has described how he gunned down a charging brown bear with a handgun simply seconds earlier than it mauled his occasion.
Tyce Erickson was stalking bears on Kodiak Island in Alaska in Might, hoping to bag one along with his bow from shut vary.
On the second-to-last day of the two-week hunt in distant wilderness, he lastly noticed a bear he might sneak up on and kill.
The daddy-of-four crept up on the 1,000-pound bear, hoping to get a shot from 30 toes away, however spooked it as he method and it retreated.
Tyce Erickson gunned down this charging brown bear with a handgun simply seconds earlier than it mauled his occasion throughout a hunt on Kodiak Island, Alaska
Erickson, a father-of-four, hoped to bag a bear along with his bow from shut vary
Not wanting to depart the costly hunt empty-handed, he borrowed his looking associate’s rifle and shot on the bear from 50 toes – however missed.
His second shot hit, however the bear disappeared from view and he wasn’t positive whether or not he took it down, so the looking occasion moved round to see it.
The bear was not the place they anticipated it to be mendacity, so it was nonetheless alive and strolling away leaving a blood path that they adopted.
After monitoring the bear for about two miles, the bear determined it had sufficient and it charged down the facet of a hill at its pursuers.
‘All of a sudden you hear this [noise like a bear’s howl] and this bear simply erupts out of the alder [trees] proper at Ryan, our information,’ he informed the Again Nation Looking podcast.
Erickson was about 10 toes behind Ryan and watched as he fired at and hit the charging bear within the chest, however did not cease its advance.
‘He pulls his rifle out simply in time because the bear’s about 20 toes from him, coming proper at him. Increase and he shoots… and when he steps again, his leg will get caught and he falls onto his again and he yells, “Assist, assist,”‘ he stated.
Erickson, pictured along with his spouse Rachel, is an skilled hunter
Erickson runs a fowl canine coaching firm and hunts with associates in his spare time
Erickson did not have a transparent shot previous Ryan along with his 10mm Smith & Wesson M&P 2.0, so he crawled by bushes till he might get to Ryan’s facet – simply because the bear resumed its cost.
‘I obtained to his facet… at this level he is solely about 12 toes off my barrel and pulled out my handgun and simply unloaded on him,’ he stated.
‘I did not actually have time to get nervous… it was getting actual proper now, simply in that second [I was thinking] I am saving Ryan’s life. I shot 3 times… and by the third shot, it ended up taking him down.
‘It is rolling down the hill and hits the alders, and it was like we killed the dragon that was destroying the village, we have been cheering, it was an adrenaline rush.’
Ryan poked the bear to verify it was lifeless and it growled and raised its head, so he shot it once more by the shoulder to complete it off.
After monitoring the bear for about two miles, the bear determined it had sufficient and it might cost down the facet of a hill at its pursuers
Erickson hit the bear with at the least two of his three photographs, within the again and neck, bringing it down
Erickson stated the assistant information was so far-off that the cheering seemed like screaming and along with so many photographs he thought ‘somebody simply died.’
‘I did not wish to have that have, but it surely made [the hunt] thrilling,’ he stated.
‘You by no means wish to see an animal undergo however I am glad we have been in a position to get him and get better the animal and have these experiences that we get to inform children and our households and associates.’
Erickson stated at the least two of his handgun photographs hit the bear within the again and neck, and his rifle shot that first wounded it hit the again of its knee.
Looking bear is authorized on Kodiak Island, as controlling the male bear inhabitants prevents them from killing too many cubs to allow them to mate with the females.
The Alaska Division of Fish and Sport points solely 4 bear licenses a yr within the space they have been looking, every of which may be very costly.
