MN Bear Incident

D

Double Naught Spy

New member
Apparently, "bear self defense" is not how this story is being reported, LOL.

http://www.opposingviews.com/i/soci...ta-hunter-mauled-black-bear-after-shooting-it

http://www.wday.com/content/bear-attacks-man-pine-county-woods-saturday

I tried to piece together information from multiple accounts, but most don't include anything more than what is in the two above links. Basically, a group of hunters arrowed a bear that ran off. They waited 4 hours to start their search and did not want to wait any longer out of fear the meat would spoil. It was assumed that the bear was dead. What could go wrong?

An unspecified number of hunters searched for the bear and one found it and the bear went after the hunter who fought it off with a knife, suffering two broken arms, dislocated wrist, bites to the face, arms, body, and legs. He used a hunting knife to defend himself from the wounded bear, stabbing it multiple times while screaming. The bear eventually retreated and apparently died. The downed hunter was found by his buddy who helped escort him from the woods and 911 was called at 3:30 am and he was choppered out. Sunset for the previous evening in Duxbury was 6:50 PM.

The bear was said to have "come out of the dark" which is interesting. Apparently, the search was being conducted in the dark and if I followed the timeline correctly, the bear was likely shot after dark or close to it. The searchers were spread out over a considerable distance from one another such that the screams were heard for minutes (sounded like 10, but was probably 2, according to the non-involved hunter). If the trophy picture is to be believed, there was a hunting group of 11, but only two are mentioned as having conducted the search and the wounded guy was not the guy who originally shot the bear.

I am assuming there was a reason the searchers were not armed with firearms (not legal?). I cannot figure out why any of them though a search after dark on a wounded bear was a good idea or why they were not in actual teams. I can understand not wanting the meat to spoil, but I would have thought they would have taken a lot more precautions for an after dark search on a large predator.
 
Clearly this shows that while a hunter, or hunters can possess the equipment, skills and cajones to stick a bear, he or they can still lack the essential tools of common sense and experience or good judgement.

Self preservation dictates that you risk losing meat, rather than risk your hide in a nocturnal pursuit with primitive weapons. Common sense to me...
I guess some have to come to that conclusion as their face is eaten off.
 
Much like myself, some people's purpose in life is an example for others of what not to do.

So yeah, two mistakes (at least). First and most important, not making a good shot. Secondly, not exercising enough caution at the approach (and/or not having a weapon handy). I'm definitely not an anti-hunter, but there's a certain curiosity of mine piqued that bear at least fought back against the guy who shot it (better than having attacked the other guy at least). Hope he fully recovers.
 
I do believe when tracking game after legal shooting hours you are not allowed to be armed with a firearm.

Mwal
 
Go to Kare 11 news and get the story or google bear attack in MN. The bear was shot in the early evening ( it gets dark at 8:00 PM ) They were concerned about the meat spoiling and the bear suffering, so at in the dark (11:00 PM )they followed the blood trail and found the 525 lb bear laying in a swampy area. There were several hunters in the group. The bear got up and charged one of the hunters and mauled him. And he stabbed the bear 20 some times.There was no cell phone service in the area to call for help. The mauled hunter, with 2broken arms had to walk out of the woods. A couple of hunters were emergency responders and tourniquets were applied and he walked out and it took about 3 hrs. That's when the Sheriff was called at 3:30 AM. The hunter is in stable condition in the hospital. He will require several surgery's.
I will sat this, They could have made some better choices when tracking a wounded bear. They found it in some pretty heavy cover. That part of the state is bog country, clumps of willows, cat tails , water sink holes and mud. Don't appear as anyone had a weapon, and with a group of hunters that close together
It could have been worse if they had one.

Sorry, guys I don't know how to set up links.
 
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Links? You just copy link from the address bar and paste them in to the TFL box where you make your post. Here are the 2 KARE11 links...

http://www.kare11.com/story/news/lo...ks-hunter-in-east-central-minnesota/16342329/

http://www.kare11.com/story/news/lo...ights-off-525-pound-bear-with-knife/16411473/

Pretty much everything in the KARE 11 story agreed with the OP synopsis but with a couple of new details and differences.

Don't appear as anyone had a weapon, and with a group of hunters that close together
It could have been worse if they had one.
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Surely, you are being sarcastic, but probably not.

People use guns for self defense with others around all the time. It was pretty much just plain stupid that none of them had a firearm. It is legal in MN to have one when bowhunting bears.

Luckily, one hunter did have a weapon. Johnson had a knife. That is the only thing that kept this incident from being worse.

It was pretty stupid that they were so far separated (given they were following a blood trail) that nobody was able to get to the attacked hunter for minutes. The attack lasted at least 2 minutes that they could hear Johnson screaming and by the time Lindstrom go to Johnson, Johnson was no longer being attacked and Lindstrom was able to immediately start providing aid.

A couple of hunters were emergency responders and tourniquets were applied and he walked out and it took about 3 hrs. That's when the Sheriff was called at 3:30 AM.
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Apparently ONLY Lindstrom was an medically trained person. Nobody else is mentioned in the story.

I don't know if there wasn't cell service or if they just didn't have phones with them. However, it was still pretty stupid with a group of hunters, at least 11 in the group (so 10 uninjured), that nobody was sent out to call 911, to get help on the way even before Johnson was out of the woods.

You would think that with a trained first responder there that he would have sent somebody ahead to make that call. Lindstrom would have been well aware of the golden hour and the consequences of breaking it.
 
I do believe when tracking game after legal shooting hours you are not allowed to be armed with a firearm.
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These laws vary WIDELY from state to state.

Having tracked several bears, including my own (one of which was an archery bear), I can say that tracking them in low light conditions is not something you'll soon forget.
 
In MN you may not track wounded small or big game animals after dark with a firearm or bow or crossbow. Except for a 2 hour period after sunset. The only exception is predator hunting such as coyote, fox, racoon then there are specific caliber restriction at night etc. So these hunters were following the law by not being armed with firearms.

Mwal
MN resident
 
In MN you may not track wounded small or big game animals after dark with a firearm or bow or crossbow.
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I wonder why there would be such a law...? Surely not to discourage guys from doing stupid stuff, in the dark, in the woods, with wounded bears...

So these hunters were following the law by not being armed with firearms.
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Kudos to them for obeying the law, fortunately only one of them had his face chewed off. I jest, but really...why risk your life for some meat?

I wish the guy a speedy recovery and that the group learned not to repeat that mistake.
 
In MN you may not track wounded small or big game animals after dark with a firearm or bow or crossbow. Except for a 2 hour period after sunset
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http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/rlp/regulations/hunting/2014/full_regs.pdf

Interesting, page 22 says you can have a gun, but page 30 says

Without implements to take wild animals, from 2 hours after sunset until sunrise, no person may cast the rays of a spotlight, headlight or other artificial light on a highway or into a field, woodland or forest to spot or locate a wild animal.
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All three had lights and all three had implements to take wild animals (knives and a pistol - see below). So it sounds legal. Do you know the specific law that would say otherwise?

Kudos to them for obeying the law, fortunately only one of them had his face chewed off.
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Well if mwal is right, then they WERE breaking the law according to this account. http://bringmethenews.com/2014/09/30/hunter-fights-off-525-pound-black-bear-using-only-a-knife/

It seems Lindstrom was carrying a gun, but was on the other side of the swamp. Nowack, who was with Johnson, apparently did nothing to help protect Johnson from the bear Nowack had shot originally.
 
we always use two dogs when tracking, one on a leash following the trail

and one loose to tracks on his own because bears are traditionally known to ambush people

and if a bear does charge you (I have had it happen) you are thankful for your four legged friend nipping at the bears heels!
 
Husqvarna , we have three types of bears polar , black, brown [ grizzly]. Each with it's characteristics. MN has the blacks which aren't usually aggressive unless defending cubs or if injured.
Here in NY we can't carry a firearm while bowhunting. There are also different rules about use of dogs.
Lots of blacks in my area they even had an early extra season for bears here .
Try not to look like a ham sandwich !
 
Husqvarna , we have three types of bears polar , black, brown [ grizzly]. Each with it's characteristics. MN has the blacks which aren't usually aggressive unless defending cubs or if injured.
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Or if cornered, chased, defending a kill, or surprised.
 
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