A bowhunter who was shaken and left dangling from the jaws of a 530-pound grizzly bear miraculously survived the savage attack after he and his friend fired 24 bullets at the beast.
Riley Hill, 20, was hunting elk in the Caribou-Targhee National Forest, west of Henrys Lake in Island Park, Idaholast week, when the grizzly bear appeared out of nowhere and sank its teeth into her arm, piercing skin and bone.
“He picked me up off the ground and then threw me back down on the ground,” Hill said. Eastern Idaho News“It was like playing tug-of-war with your dog, but he was playing with my arm and tearing it apart.”
Braxton Meyers, who was hunting with Hill, shot the 20-year-old male grizzly several times as it tossed his friend around. Hill also managed to reach his gun and shoot the animal. The pair fired 24 bear rounds at the grizzly before successfully bringing it down.
The duo, accompanied by another friend, left the forest and returned to their vehicle in the hope of reaching a place where they could be rescued.
Hill was eventually flown by helicopter to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Hospital, where he received 40 staples and numerous stitches. He has since been released, but doctors estimate it will be at least two months before his arm heals.
This is the 500-pound grizzly bear that attacked a pair of bowhunters in the Caribou-Targhee National Forest and sank its teeth into one of their arms, puncturing the skin and bone. The bear died after the duo shot it 24 times.
Riley Hill, 20, (right), was flown to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Hospital, where he received 40 staples and numerous stitches. He was released from the hospital, but doctors estimate it will be at least two months before his arm heals. He is pictured with Braxton Meyers, (left), who was with him during the attack.
Hill and Meyers began their hunt on Sunday, Sept. 1, shortly after dropping off two friends around 7 a.m. nearby.
The couple parked their vehicle and began walking through the woods, being careful not to “scare anyone,” Hill recalled.
He recalls stepping forward about 10 feet at about 7:20 a.m. when he heard a “loud thud,” followed by Meyers yelling, “Oh shit, that’s a bear!”
Meyers said the grizzly began attacking him on all fours, so he started running in hopes Hill could grab his gun.
Hill, who was holding his bow, dropped the weapon, pulled a 10mm pistol from a holster on his hip and shot the bear in the side. Meyers reportedly stumbled and fell to the ground.
“Brown bears don’t usually run away from their target, but this one did,” the hunter recalled. “He turned, looked at me and charged, charged fast.”
Hill managed to shoot the bear in the face and shoulder area three times before it sank its teeth into his arm and began throwing him around.
Meyers then stood up, fumbled around a bit and pulled out a pistol, firing four or five shots at the animal before his gun jammed.
Hill, pictured with his injured arm after the attack, said the bear “picked me up off the ground and then threw me down on the ground. It was like playing tug-of-war with your dog, but he was playing with my arm and tearing it apart.”
“I had to choose my shots carefully,” Meyers explained, adding, “By then, the bear was on top of Riley, and Riley’s shoulders were between (his) front legs and his legs were kind of sticking out of his stomach. I couldn’t see anything that Riley was doing. I could just see the bear on top of him.”
Meyers said he then ran toward the bear and continued shooting at it, and Hill claimed he could “feel the bullets hitting the bear through my arm.”
Although Hill was not hit by the gunfire, he said he could feel the “repercussion of the bullets hitting the bear.” He also recalled how several bullets passed “two or three inches” from his head.
Hill said the grizzly “looked at me and I saw its eyes” and then started shooting at him, causing him to “lower his head.” He then shot him in the spine, which he said “proved to be successful.”
He then “split my jaw open, ripped my arm off” and stood up, unsure if the bear would chase him. He grabbed his gun and fired more shots at the animal’s head.
After shooting the bear, Meyers tried to treat Hill’s wounds by wrapping a shirt around his arm and using his belts to make two tourniquets. He then called 911 and requested an ambulance or helicopter.
Riley Hill and Braxton Meyers were hunting elk near Henrys Lake in Island Park, Idaho, located approximately 15 miles west of Yellowstone National Park, on Sunday, September 1 when they were attacked by an adult male grizzly bear. Hill was “taken down and bitten by the bear” during the encounter.
Meanwhile, Meyers’ younger brother, Boone, 18, began running toward the duo’s location after hearing the pair screaming from a mile away.
Boone, who had been with the couple just 20 minutes before the attack, arrived at the scene within seven minutes.
He recalled: “All I saw was this huge bear lying on the ground. It was a very, very wild sight, to be honest. They were awake, luckily they were both still alive.”
The trio walked back to their vehicle in a journey Hill described as “painful” and “one of the hardest climbs of my life.” Blood was reportedly pouring from his wound every 15 steps or so.
They reached their vehicle, sped across a field and positioned themselves in a spot where a helicopter could land.
Hill was airlifted to a nearby hospital, where he was treated and released the next day. While he was lucky the bear didn’t puncture any arteries, doctors say it will take several months for his arm to fully recover.
The hunters give each other credit for saving their lives.
Idaho Fishing and Hunting conducted a thorough investigation into the attack on Hill and Meyers, with Conservation officers determined the couple acted in self-defense when they shot the grizzly bear.
“I am extremely grateful that both individuals survived this encounter,” Regional Fish and Game Supervisor Matt Pieron said in a news release last week.
“I had the opportunity to speak with the injured hunter and his family and they are truly wonderful people. I wish him a speedy recovery from his injuries and the trauma these two hunters suffered.”
While Hill and Meyers are grateful to be alive, both say they are “saddened” that the bear was killed.
An estimated 1,000 grizzly bears live in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Grizzly bears are protected under the Endangered Species Act, meaning it is illegal to harm them unless in self-defense. (Caribou Targhee National Forest file photo)
An estimated 1,000 grizzly bears live in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. The Caribou-Targhee National Forest is located approximately 15 miles west of Yellowstone National Park.
Grizzly bears are protected under the Endangered Species Act, meaning it is illegal to harm them unless in self-defense.
“Grizzly bears in the lower 48 states are currently protected as endangered species. It is illegal to harm, harass or kill these bears except in cases of self-defense or defense of others,” a U.S. Fish and Wildlife official said. ABC News.
‘Grizzly bear conservation is complex and is only possible through a variety of partnerships with the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee, state wildlife agencies, Native American tribes, federal agencies, universities, and other organizations.’
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