A 12-year-old boy saved his father from a deadly bear attack During what was supposed to be a routine family hunting trip.
Owen Beierman, from River Falls, Wisconsin, shot and killed a 200-pound black bear before it could fatally maul his dad Ryan. The harrowing incident took place after Ryan became pinned beneath the bear when shots aimed to kill it missed their mark.
“My left cheek was sliced open and blood was oozing out of the flap. There were two fang marks in my forehead, and my face was smattered with blood,” Ryan recounted to the Star Tribune. “The bear was fighting for its life, and I was fighting for mine.”
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The day started like many others, with Owen and his father leaving work and school early to spend time hunting. However, things took a terrifying turn when Owen spotted the bear in the woods near their family’s vacation cabin.
(Image: Facebook)
Armed with his 350 Legend hunting rifle, Owen fired at the bear, but the shot didn’t land in the kill zone, wounding the animal and causing it to flee. The pair tracked the injured bear through the dense woods, but their search proved fruitless until a neighbour, hearing the earlier gunshots, offered the help of his tracking dog.
The dog finally located the bear and at that point Ryan fired eight shots from just six feet away but, unable to properly aim, he missed every time. The bear lunged at him, knocking him onto his back. “I started pistol whipping him, and it felt like I was striking a brick wall,” Ryan said. “I remember thinking ‘You have to do something different.’ I tried hitting him between the ear and mouth with the blunt edge of the pistol.”
With the bear’s claws and teeth inches from his face Ryan shielded himself with his arm, hearing a crunch that made him believe the bear had broken it. “The whole thing might have lasted only 45 seconds or more, I can’t really remember. But it was as if he was attacking in slow motion,” he said.
(Image: Facebook)
Meanwhile, Owen, who was used to hunting, stayed calm. Grabbing his rifle, he fired at the bear, hitting and killing it. The bear rolled off Ryan and the ordeal was finally over. Ryan, bleeding from a large gash on his cheek and puncture wounds in his forehead, arm and leg, urged Owen to call for help. With the assistance of neighbours, they rushed to a hospital.
Ryan later shared his gratitude in a Facebook post, saying: “Thank you to all the neighbors who helped me out tonight, in a time of need! Derek Jaskolka, Randy Thomas, Jeff Stager, Joel Schollmeier, Dillon Mattson, and anyone else who helped out!”
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources confirmed the father-son hunt was legal. Officer Dustin Gabrielson said they had followed all regulations on September 6, and Ryan was acknowledged as a strong supporter of the agency’s learn-to-hunt programs.
Ryan said: “I was flat on my back and could feel the bullet going through the bear. Owen was a hero. He shot that bear and killed it on top of me.”
Ryan required 23 stitches for the wound on his cheek, along with treatment for punctures in his arm and a cut that also needed stitches. Despite his love for hunting, Ryan said after the attack: “I am officially done bear hunting! Yeah, I did get mauled by a bear tonight, and yes, I survived!”
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