A man archery hunting for elk last week in an Idaho forest had a gruesome encounter with a giant grizzly bear — and his friend saved his life with a pistol. The grizzly emerged from the brush in the Caribou-Targhee National Forest, about 25 kms west of Yellowstone National Park, and attacked 20-year-old Riley Hill, taking a big bite out of his arm that punctured to the bone. The bear, a 20-year-old male, lifted him up with his jaws and swung the young man around when his friend and hunting buddy, Braxton Meyers, 20, leapt into action. Meyers opened fire on the grizzly until he dropped Hill from his death-grip.“I was tossed around by a 530-lb grizzly bear,” Hill told the East Idaho News. “It was lifting me off the ground and then slamming me back on the ground. It was like playing tug of war with your dog, but he was playing it with my arm and ripping it apart.”Hill then was able to grab his own gun and fired more shots at him, for a combined total of 24 bullets that fatally killed the grizzly. A third friend was with them, and they made their way through the woods back to where they parked their car so they could get some help.Hill was airlifted to the hospital where he was treated with 40 staples and several stitches. Doctors anticipate it will take about two months for his arm to heal. .Hill recounted the experience to the local newspaper. He remembers parking the vehicle and commencing their hike into the woods early in the morning on September 1 — being careful not to “spook anything.”He got about 10 feet ahead of Meyers when he heard a “loud thud” and his friend shouting behind him, “Oh crap, that's a bear!”The grizzly on all fours then charged towards the men. Hill dropped his archery bow and reached for his 10mm gun in his side holster. He shot the bear in his side but it apparently did little to deter the massive animal. “Grizzly bears don't usually get off their target, but this one did,” said Hill. “This one turned looked right at me, and he's charging, charging fast.” Hill shot the bear three more times, in the face and shoulders, but it pursued its attack despite the injuries. Meyers then pulled out his pistol and fired four or five shots. “I was having to pick my shots carefully,” Meyers told the publication. “By then, the bear's on top of Riley, and Riley's shoulders are between (its) front feet and his legs are kind of kicked out from its stomach. I couldn't see anything Riley was doing. I just could see the bear on him.”He remembers Hill said at the time, “I could feel the bullets hitting the bear through my arm,” as they came within “two to three inches” of his head. He wasn’t hit by the bullet, but could feel the “repercussion from the bullets hitting the bear,” he said. At that point, Hill said, the grizzly “looked up at me and I saw its eyes.” Hill then opened fire on the bear and it “put its head back down.” He managed to shoot the bear in the spine, which “did the trick.” “I ripped open that jaw, ripped my arm out” and stood up, he said. Unsure if the bear was still going to try to hurt him, he shot him in the head a couple times. Meyers' brother Boone, 18, who was a mile away when the attack transpired, ran to find the two other men when he heard the screaming. When he arrived about seven minutes later, “All I saw was just this massive bear lying on the ground. It was a wild, wild site, to be honest,” he said. “They were up, both still alive luckily.”Hill and Meyers each gave the other credit for saving their lives.
A man archery hunting for elk last week in an Idaho forest had a gruesome encounter with a giant grizzly bear — and his friend saved his life with a pistol. The grizzly emerged from the brush in the Caribou-Targhee National Forest, about 25 kms west of Yellowstone National Park, and attacked 20-year-old Riley Hill, taking a big bite out of his arm that punctured to the bone. The bear, a 20-year-old male, lifted him up with his jaws and swung the young man around when his friend and hunting buddy, Braxton Meyers, 20, leapt into action. Meyers opened fire on the grizzly until he dropped Hill from his death-grip.“I was tossed around by a 530-lb grizzly bear,” Hill told the East Idaho News. “It was lifting me off the ground and then slamming me back on the ground. It was like playing tug of war with your dog, but he was playing it with my arm and ripping it apart.”Hill then was able to grab his own gun and fired more shots at him, for a combined total of 24 bullets that fatally killed the grizzly. A third friend was with them, and they made their way through the woods back to where they parked their car so they could get some help.Hill was airlifted to the hospital where he was treated with 40 staples and several stitches. Doctors anticipate it will take about two months for his arm to heal. .Hill recounted the experience to the local newspaper. He remembers parking the vehicle and commencing their hike into the woods early in the morning on September 1 — being careful not to “spook anything.”He got about 10 feet ahead of Meyers when he heard a “loud thud” and his friend shouting behind him, “Oh crap, that's a bear!”The grizzly on all fours then charged towards the men. Hill dropped his archery bow and reached for his 10mm gun in his side holster. He shot the bear in his side but it apparently did little to deter the massive animal. “Grizzly bears don't usually get off their target, but this one did,” said Hill. “This one turned looked right at me, and he's charging, charging fast.” Hill shot the bear three more times, in the face and shoulders, but it pursued its attack despite the injuries. Meyers then pulled out his pistol and fired four or five shots. “I was having to pick my shots carefully,” Meyers told the publication. “By then, the bear's on top of Riley, and Riley's shoulders are between (its) front feet and his legs are kind of kicked out from its stomach. I couldn't see anything Riley was doing. I just could see the bear on him.”He remembers Hill said at the time, “I could feel the bullets hitting the bear through my arm,” as they came within “two to three inches” of his head. He wasn’t hit by the bullet, but could feel the “repercussion from the bullets hitting the bear,” he said. At that point, Hill said, the grizzly “looked up at me and I saw its eyes.” Hill then opened fire on the bear and it “put its head back down.” He managed to shoot the bear in the spine, which “did the trick.” “I ripped open that jaw, ripped my arm out” and stood up, he said. Unsure if the bear was still going to try to hurt him, he shot him in the head a couple times. Meyers' brother Boone, 18, who was a mile away when the attack transpired, ran to find the two other men when he heard the screaming. When he arrived about seven minutes later, “All I saw was just this massive bear lying on the ground. It was a wild, wild site, to be honest,” he said. “They were up, both still alive luckily.”Hill and Meyers each gave the other credit for saving their lives.
