Washington Bear Attack
- Thread starter bearmanric
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pomoxis
New member
FORKS, Washington (AP) -- A black bear attacked and seriously injured a hunter on a road just outside Olympic National Park late Saturday, authorities said.
A second hunter shot and killed the bear before summoning help, said Larry Evans, a shift supervisor for the Washington State Patrol's office in Bremerton.
The injured hunter, whose name wasn't released, was rushed to Forks Hospital with a compound fracture to the arm, a broken hand and several bite marks, Evans said. The victim lost a significant amount of blood, but was expected to survive, Evans said.
The bear had apparently dragged the man away from the site of the attack before it was shot, Evans said.
Troopers said they receive occasional reports of cougar attacks in the area, but bear attacks are relatively rare.
Forks is a small town near the northwest edge of Olympic National Park, one of Washington state's most popular attractions for hunters, anglers and other nature lovers.
A second hunter shot and killed the bear before summoning help, said Larry Evans, a shift supervisor for the Washington State Patrol's office in Bremerton.
The injured hunter, whose name wasn't released, was rushed to Forks Hospital with a compound fracture to the arm, a broken hand and several bite marks, Evans said. The victim lost a significant amount of blood, but was expected to survive, Evans said.
The bear had apparently dragged the man away from the site of the attack before it was shot, Evans said.
Troopers said they receive occasional reports of cougar attacks in the area, but bear attacks are relatively rare.
Forks is a small town near the northwest edge of Olympic National Park, one of Washington state's most popular attractions for hunters, anglers and other nature lovers.
riverswild
New member
But what were they hunting? Turkeys, coyotes? No spring or general bear season up there right now.
Was it on the Q Rez?
Why did the Bremerton State Patrol interview for the article? Forks and Bremerton are on opposite sides of the OP.
Anyone with more info on this story?
Was it on the Q Rez?
Why did the Bremerton State Patrol interview for the article? Forks and Bremerton are on opposite sides of the OP.
Anyone with more info on this story?
They were hunting...bears.
Quote:
FORKS, Wash. -- A man injured by a black bear had been chasing the animal on private timberland when the bear turned the tables on its pursuers, the investigating officer said Sunday.
Bear season doesn't open until later in the year, but the man was hunting the animal under a special permit issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to Rainier Timber, which owns the land where the hunt was proceeding Saturday, about 6 miles east of the Olympic National Park boundary.
It appeared the hunters had been pursuing the bear for some time, said Fish and Wildlife Officer Brian Fairbanks.
"It's like, you have the fight-or-flight response. It ran for so long, and then decided, 'We're not going to run any more,'" Fairbanks said.
At that point, the hunter and the bear were in heavy brush, the officer said. "He didn't realize the bear was there, and when he got close enough the bear jumped out and grabbed him."
It was not a surprise attack, he said. "They knew it was there - they'd been chasing it. ... The guy got bit but he was the one who put himself in position to get bit."
A second hunter shot and killed the bear before summoning help.
The injured man underwent surgery Sunday on a broken arm, Fairbanks said.
"The bear had grabbed his arm and dragged him down an embankment," he said. "It required some surgery to put him together."
The man, whose name was not released, also suffered a broken wrist and two bite wounds on the upper thigh.
It was a legal hunt, Fairbanks said, with no violation of conditions of the permit.
Fairbanks is based in Forks, an Olympic Peninsula community on the southwest edge of Olympic National Park.
Quote:
FORKS, Wash. -- A man injured by a black bear had been chasing the animal on private timberland when the bear turned the tables on its pursuers, the investigating officer said Sunday.
Bear season doesn't open until later in the year, but the man was hunting the animal under a special permit issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to Rainier Timber, which owns the land where the hunt was proceeding Saturday, about 6 miles east of the Olympic National Park boundary.
It appeared the hunters had been pursuing the bear for some time, said Fish and Wildlife Officer Brian Fairbanks.
"It's like, you have the fight-or-flight response. It ran for so long, and then decided, 'We're not going to run any more,'" Fairbanks said.
At that point, the hunter and the bear were in heavy brush, the officer said. "He didn't realize the bear was there, and when he got close enough the bear jumped out and grabbed him."
It was not a surprise attack, he said. "They knew it was there - they'd been chasing it. ... The guy got bit but he was the one who put himself in position to get bit."
A second hunter shot and killed the bear before summoning help.
The injured man underwent surgery Sunday on a broken arm, Fairbanks said.
"The bear had grabbed his arm and dragged him down an embankment," he said. "It required some surgery to put him together."
The man, whose name was not released, also suffered a broken wrist and two bite wounds on the upper thigh.
It was a legal hunt, Fairbanks said, with no violation of conditions of the permit.
Fairbanks is based in Forks, an Olympic Peninsula community on the southwest edge of Olympic National Park.
Joetrapper
New member
They musta had dogs on him.
Quote:
Dogs are illegal for bear in WA.
No, that is not entirely true. These guys were professional hunters, paid by the timber companies, and they would have had a depredation permit issued by the WDFW. Private timber companies have always used hound hunters to keep bear populations down. The ban on hound hunting only applies to sport hunters.
Dogs are illegal for bear in WA.
No, that is not entirely true. These guys were professional hunters, paid by the timber companies, and they would have had a depredation permit issued by the WDFW. Private timber companies have always used hound hunters to keep bear populations down. The ban on hound hunting only applies to sport hunters.
Joetrapper
New member
The article says they had been pursuing and chasing the bear for some time. And the bear was nearby in the brush when it attacked. I can't imagine keeping up to a bear on foot without dogs to bring it to bay and let you know where it is. Strange story.
cougerbait
New member
I haven't heard any thing on what they were using. There still are a number of guy's that Take bear on timber company property. Hounds man Are the most used. Allot of the guy's that I know that are using hounds don't charge. They just want to get the dogs out there. And if they don't produce the timber comp will not welcome them back.
They also can use foot snares. I can see a guy keeping up with a bear if it was in a foot snare with a large drag!
Both methods are illegal if you are the common citizen. But with the right permits you are allow to used both listed above.
They also can use foot snares. I can see a guy keeping up with a bear if it was in a foot snare with a large drag!
Both methods are illegal if you are the common citizen. But with the right permits you are allow to used both listed above.
Yeah, that's true, they aren't necessarily being paid to hunt. But they do it for the chance to run their dogs, and as a favor to the timber companies. Didn't anybody see the story on the tv Sunday evening? They showed the hunter's house in Spanaway, and some of his hounds, while they were interviewing his neighbor. The neighbor said this is what he does for a living. She said he's gone hunting all the time, with his hounds.
Joetrapper
New member
Be interesting to get the details on that. Why the dogs weren't all over that bear, or maybe they had called the dogs off before going into the brush.
I wonder what he was armed with and why he didn't have time to get it into action. I imagine the story will show up in a magazine eventually.
I wonder what he was armed with and why he didn't have time to get it into action. I imagine the story will show up in a magazine eventually.
CacheCreek
New member
A mean bear will often beat back a pack of dogs, particularly in thick brush. After a few charges and narrow escapes, an average dog is likely to back off and give the bruin some space. Only the grittiest of bear dogs will try to mix it up with a really bad bear.....and they tend to end up with abreviated careers. I suspect there were dogs still running around loose, just too far away to be of much help. My guess is the hunter went in trying to get a shot and accidently stumbled into the bear.
Ouch.
Ouch.
It sounds like the dogs chased the bear right to the hunter:
Quote:
Bear hunter recalls moment when prey became predator
By Craig Welch
Seattle Times staff reporter
Anton Cebe was following the hunting dogs through thick alder and fir trees when he heard a commotion and a shout — more of a growling yelp than a scream.
Seconds later, he saw the bear and fired. The animal dropped.
"I knew something had happened," said Cebe, 24, of Cle Elum, Kittitas County. "I just didn't know what."
Cebe and three other hunters had spent Saturday on private land just outside Olympic National Park, trying to track a hungry black bear that had been stripping bark from valuable Douglas fir trees to reach the sugary sap on the trunk.
Now it was almost dusk. The bear was dead, and Cebe was racing back, shouting to his partner, Dave Johnson.
"I called to Dave and he just said, 'It got me, it got me,' " Cebe said. "When I finally reached him, I could tell it wasn't that bad. There wasn't much blood. But it was startling. What do you do when your friend has bite marks on him? It was weird, man."
The precise circumstances of the mauling Saturday evening by a 300-pound black bear were still unclear Monday. Johnson, who suffered a broken arm and wrist and bite wounds on his leg, was the only witness, and he remained hospitalized at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
But authorities and fellow hunters suspect the hunting dogs just drove the bear back through dense brush toward Johnson, catching both man and bear by surprise.
"I think they kind of spooked each other," Cebe said. "I don't know if Dave tried to run or maneuver or just didn't have the opportunity. Nine times out of 10, if you see a bear, and he sees you, he's gonna go the other way. But the dogs were behind him [the bear]."
Cebe, Johnson and two others, all experienced hunters, had been hired by Rayonier Timber under a special animal-control permit to track and shoot a bear that had been damaging the company's trees.
"What usually happens is the bear quickly gets tired and climbs up a tree, and the hunter shoots it," said Georg Ziegltrum, supervisor of animal damage-control for the Washington Forest Protection Association, a timber group. "The hunters' bad luck was they encountered a fat 300-pound bear who didn't feel like climbing."
The hunters tracked the bear until about 8 p.m., with Cebe and Johnson following the dogs down logging roads in one truck, and hunter Ken Hester and his partner in another. As dark approached, Cebe set out on foot with his gun over a hill to end the chase.
Johnson stayed not far from the truck near an overgrown logging road, holding a radio but no gun.
Cebe heard rustling and Johnson's screech, but the bear already had attacked before Cebe saw and shot it. By the time Cebe reached his wounded friend, Johnson had radioed Hester for help.
"We had no idea how bad it was," said Hester, who was a quarter-mile away. "We just knew we had to get to him. He just said, 'Get me to the hospital. Get me to the hospital.' "
They helped Johnson walk to the truck and raced down the logging road toward help.
"I was trying to go fast, but I remember he kept saying, 'Don't hit the bumps, don't hit the bumps,' " Cebe said.
The men seemed shaken but not surprised by their ordeal. Johnson was groggy but recovering, they said.
"There was never a lot of fear, just respect," Hester said. "When you're hunting big game, you know there can be danger."
Quote:
Bear hunter recalls moment when prey became predator
By Craig Welch
Seattle Times staff reporter
Anton Cebe was following the hunting dogs through thick alder and fir trees when he heard a commotion and a shout — more of a growling yelp than a scream.
Seconds later, he saw the bear and fired. The animal dropped.
"I knew something had happened," said Cebe, 24, of Cle Elum, Kittitas County. "I just didn't know what."
Cebe and three other hunters had spent Saturday on private land just outside Olympic National Park, trying to track a hungry black bear that had been stripping bark from valuable Douglas fir trees to reach the sugary sap on the trunk.
Now it was almost dusk. The bear was dead, and Cebe was racing back, shouting to his partner, Dave Johnson.
"I called to Dave and he just said, 'It got me, it got me,' " Cebe said. "When I finally reached him, I could tell it wasn't that bad. There wasn't much blood. But it was startling. What do you do when your friend has bite marks on him? It was weird, man."
The precise circumstances of the mauling Saturday evening by a 300-pound black bear were still unclear Monday. Johnson, who suffered a broken arm and wrist and bite wounds on his leg, was the only witness, and he remained hospitalized at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
But authorities and fellow hunters suspect the hunting dogs just drove the bear back through dense brush toward Johnson, catching both man and bear by surprise.
"I think they kind of spooked each other," Cebe said. "I don't know if Dave tried to run or maneuver or just didn't have the opportunity. Nine times out of 10, if you see a bear, and he sees you, he's gonna go the other way. But the dogs were behind him [the bear]."
Cebe, Johnson and two others, all experienced hunters, had been hired by Rayonier Timber under a special animal-control permit to track and shoot a bear that had been damaging the company's trees.
"What usually happens is the bear quickly gets tired and climbs up a tree, and the hunter shoots it," said Georg Ziegltrum, supervisor of animal damage-control for the Washington Forest Protection Association, a timber group. "The hunters' bad luck was they encountered a fat 300-pound bear who didn't feel like climbing."
The hunters tracked the bear until about 8 p.m., with Cebe and Johnson following the dogs down logging roads in one truck, and hunter Ken Hester and his partner in another. As dark approached, Cebe set out on foot with his gun over a hill to end the chase.
Johnson stayed not far from the truck near an overgrown logging road, holding a radio but no gun.
Cebe heard rustling and Johnson's screech, but the bear already had attacked before Cebe saw and shot it. By the time Cebe reached his wounded friend, Johnson had radioed Hester for help.
"We had no idea how bad it was," said Hester, who was a quarter-mile away. "We just knew we had to get to him. He just said, 'Get me to the hospital. Get me to the hospital.' "
They helped Johnson walk to the truck and raced down the logging road toward help.
"I was trying to go fast, but I remember he kept saying, 'Don't hit the bumps, don't hit the bumps,' " Cebe said.
The men seemed shaken but not surprised by their ordeal. Johnson was groggy but recovering, they said.
"There was never a lot of fear, just respect," Hester said. "When you're hunting big game, you know there can be danger."