Knife saves hunter from angry bear
Man wounds animal, escapes with cuts and broken limb
Friday, August 17, 2007
EDMONTON - A man armed with a machete-style hunting knife suffered serious injuries to his arms and a leg as he fought off an angry bear near Grande Prairie on Wednesday evening.
The man was checking an area for the upcoming deer hunt when he walked between the mother bear and her three cubs.
The encounter happened near a creek in a farm field near the agricultural hamlet of Grovedale, 20 kilometres south of Grande Prairie.
A man working outside heard cries for help and called the fire department around 9:30 p.m.
Grande Prairie RCMP Const. Leanne Beattie said the man stabbed the bear three times with the large hunting knife before it took off.
The man had bite marks and scratches and appeared to have at least one broken limb. "That's good condition, considering," Beattie said.
"He ended up unintentionally cutting between the mom and the cubs, and as a result, mom got a little upset and went after him."
Smith described the man as in his 30s, about six feet tall with an average build. He was a stranger to the area.
After the attack, the man walked almost a kilometre back to the road. Despite his injuries, "he seemed all right," said Grovedale volunteer fire Capt. Troy Smith.
By the time the man was put into an ambulance, it was too dark to search the bush for the bear, Beattie said. Several Fish and Wildlife officers returned to the field Thursday in search of the wounded animal.
Officials aren't certain if it was a black bear that attacked the man. Black bears are more common than other species in the area, Beattie said.
