- Alex Machavo, 22, was attacked and bitten repeatedly by a bear after shooting it
- Machavo and the animal fought downhill
- The hunter’s injuries did not appear to be life-threatening.
A hunter was brutally mauled after a missed shot failed to kill a bear.
Alex Machavo, of Medford, Oregon, was attacked by the injured animal near Shady Cove on Thursday.
According to Andrea Carlson, a local sheriff’s spokesperson, tThe hunter and his wounded target rolled down a 50-foot embankment and the bear bit the 22-year-old Machavo to the core.
Black bears number about 30,000 in Oregon and are the most common bear in North America.
A second hunter, Nathan Shinn, 24, of Phoenix, Oregon, was eventually able to shoot and kill the wounded animal.
Responding officers found Machavo on a logging road and rushed him to a Medford hospital.
Machavo’s condition was not available, but Carlson says his injuries did not appear to be life-threatening.
Shinn was unharmed. Carlson says the hunters had a tag that allowed them to shoot the bear legally.