BEAR SINKS TEETH INTO HUNTER
A GRIZZLY bear mauled a bow hunter in southwestern Montana, slashing a 41cm cut in his head that required 90 stitches to close.
“I could hear bones crunching, just like you read about,” said Tom Sommer, as he recovered in a hospital in Ennis, Montana, yesterday.
Mr Sommer said he and a hunting partner came across a grizzly bear feeding on an elk carcass just north of the Idaho border. “The bear just flat-out charged us,” Mr Sommer, 57, said. He said it closed the 9m distance in a few seconds.
“It bit my thigh, ran his claws through my wrist and proceeded to attack my head,” he recalled.
His hunting partner used bear spray to end the attack Mr Sommer estimated lasted about 25 seconds. Mr Sommer’s hunting partner had some blood coagulation powder and they made a turban, stopping the bleeding.
“Besides some scars, it doesn’t appear that I will have any problems,” Mr Sommer said. “I have no grievance against the bear. He was just doing what bears do.”