Oregon hunter who ‘struggled’ with black bear suffers bite marks and claw marks on HEAD and arms after shooting him twice for harassing his chickens – as animal is euthanized
- Craig Lankford shot the bear for the first time on Tuesday when he saw it was disturbing his animals and he looked for it again and saw it near his property
- He shot it again, causing the animal to attack him and he had both arms in his mouth before he managed to run away.
- The incident left him with cuts to his head and he suffered lacerations and bruises to his forearms.
An Oregon man successfully fought off a bear that attacked him after he shot it twice in two days for harassing his chickens and the bear was euthanized at the scene.
Craig Lankford is currently recovering from the dangerous incident at La Grande on Wednesday morning.
He shot the large adult male black bear for the first time on Tuesday evening when he saw it disturbing his animals and went to pick him up the next morning and saw him near his property.
Lankford shot him again, causing the animal to attack him and he had both arms in his mouth before he managed to get away.
The incident left him with cuts to his head and he suffered bite lacerations and bruises to his forearms.
An Oregon man successfully fought off a bear that attacked him after he shot him twice in two days for harassing his chickens and the bear was euthanized at the scene
Craig Lankford, pictured with his wife Tina, is currently recovering from the dangerous incident at La Grande on Wednesday morning
He shot the large adult male black bear for the first time on Tuesday night when he saw he was disturbing his animals and went to pick him up the next morning and saw him again.
Union County Deputies responded to reports of a bear attack on Owsley Canyon Road at 7:30 a.m. and immediately closed nearby roads for safety reasons.
Oregon State Police and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) joined the search to find the black bear which had brown coloration.
And officials eventually found him near the site of the attack nearly three hours later and an autopsy later found bullet fragments in the animal.
Lankford’s wife Tina provided an update on how he was doing after battling a bear and was grateful he was still alive.
“We were overwhelmed with the outpouring of love,” she wrote. “He struggled with a bear this morning and is actually still in the land of the living.
“Not many people come in contact with a bear and live to tell about it, but Craig did. We are very grateful for his extensive knowledge of the outdoors as it saved his life today.
“He has bear claw cuts on the top of his head and has put both arms in front of his face to protect his head.
“The bear has Craig’s arms in its mouth, and Craig has some pretty gnarly lacerations and bruises on his forearms.
He has bear claw cuts on the top of his head and has put both arms in front of his face to protect his head
Lankford’s wife Tina provided an update on how he was doing after battling a bear and was grateful he was still alive
‘Thank you so much for your love and thoughts sent to us. It’s appreciated.’
Lankford suffered no tendon, nerve or muscle damage after the attack.
ODFW Watershed Manager Jeff Yanke said: “We are grateful to Mr Lankford for surviving this encounter and wish him a speedy and smooth recovery.”
The wildlife agency has warned injured bears can be more dangerous and in three other non-fatal incidents bears attacked hunters who fired but did not kill them.
Attacks are rare, but the OFDW said animals will attack if they are injured, fed by humans and lose their natural caution or startled by people or their pets.
Black bears are native to Oregon, where an estimated 30,000 bears live in the wild.
The state was once home to grizzly bears, but they disappeared in September 1931 after the last was killed by a federal trapper.
