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By noon we were hunting back down the trail,
single file, with myself twenty yards
in the lead. The early snow had melted and
the woods were damp, making it easy to move
along
quietly.
 As
I came over a hill and onto a bench of open
timber, I saw movement in the trees off to
my left. At first it was hard to fathom: two
brown shapes hurtling into the air, 35 yards
away. Then I realized they were first-year
grizzly cubs, the size of German shepherds.
The cubs had been nursing as the mother lay
on her back. At the sight of me, the sow
jumped to her feet, tossing the young bears
into the air.
Immediately, the sow charged. Grunting
harshly, head low, she closed the gap with
unbelievable speed. I remember seeing those
little black, beady eyes, and the anger-like
an aura around her.
I spun, looking vainly for a tree to climb.
Bahnson was twenty yards up trail, so I ran
toward him, yelling, It's a bear, get your
spray!
Weeks before the hunt Bahnson had read about
the increasing use and success of pepper
spray as a bear deterrent, and had bought a
small canister of a product called "Karate
In A Can" (actually designed for urban use
against human aggressors, not bears). He
even fashioned a homemade leather belt
holster to keep the spray within reach. I
planned on buying a can of spray too, but,
as I said later with equal parts rue and
wonder at what now seems an obvious
oversight, I just never got around to it.
Running from the bear, I now admit, was a
total mistake. Not only does running
increase the likelihood of a full-blown
attack, it doesn't work. You can't outrun
them. They're like missiles homing in on
their targets.
But I ran toward Bahnson. Bahnson groped for
his spray, which stuck in the leather
holster. He dove off the trail. I jumped
behind a log.
I turned around and there she was, a few
feet away. I couldn't help thinking, what a
beautiful, magnificent animal-silvertip,
healthy, maybe 400 pounds. But that thought
was quickly replaced by fear that this is
really happening.
I thrust my bow at the sow and yelled, Get
out of here!
 She
whacked the bow out of my hands with one
paw, and leapt over the log. It all happened
so fast. Next thing I know, I'm just seeing
teeth and trying to jump out of the way. Oh
God help me!
The bear lunged, biting me in the face and
neck. I could feel my face ripping. Then I
was on the ground, the sow on top of me. I
felt her teeth crunching down on my head.
I screamed, She's got my head, she's killing
me! However, my cry only intensified the
attack. Then I realized, I've got to play
dead or I'm going to be dead.
At that moment, I had what I now thinks of
as an epiphany. When she put the head bite
on me, I felt the power she had to kill me.
Time just stopped then. I remember thinking,
'My time on earth is done. I'm going to miss
my wife and kids. Now I'm going to meet my
creator.
But with his pepper spray canister in hand,
Bahnson came running toward the bear,
screaming. She dropped me and lunged at
Bahnson, who shot a split second blast of
spray into the bear's face just as she
knocked him down.
I saw
Bahnson fall, thinking this is horrible, now
she's getting both of us. I started
squirming away like a mouse, as fast as I
could. That got the bear off of Fred; she
turned back to me. I saw her coming so I
covered my head with my arms. Then,
wham, she pounced on me like a cat on a
mouse. I remember the weight of her, the
incredible pressure against the ground. She
started ripping at my arm, shaking it
violently. I thought she was going to rip it
off. I didn't feel any pain. It all happened
too fast.
The sow, as we later learned, had been
feeding on a nearby elk carcass, and she
stunk horribly, like rotting, decaying
flesh. She smelled like death.
I made
myself lie still as the bear mauled me. Then
she left me and turned back to Bahnson, who
hit the charging grizzly approximately 10
feet away in the mouth and nose with the
nearly full 4 oz. can of spray emptying it.
Gasping and choking, the bear veered off
into the woods, the cubs bounding after her.
(By the way, the can that was used in this
attacked is not a Bear pepper spray)
Bear Spray
Through my struggle to stay conscious, I
heard Bahnson say, "Are you all right?" Now
Bahnson's experience as a physician came
into play. He calmly assessed my wounds and
assured me I would survive. The left side of
my face was torn open, the cheek flap
hanging. Bahnson rigged a pressure bandage
that I held in place as we began walking out
to our vehicle. Blood from a puncture wound
on my scalp kept pouring into my eyes,
making it difficult to see the trail. I
adjusted by walking with my head tilted
forward and down so the blood could fall
directly from my forehead to the ground. The
only pain I felt was in my arm, which I
thought might have been broken.
Twenty minutes later, as we neared our Jeep,
it occurred to me to take a photograph of
myself, my face covered with blood and my
cheek deeply gashed, just to record the
event. Little did either of us realize the
impact these photos would later have, or how
useful they would eventually prove to be in
my future life. Only when I looked into the
Jeep's rearview mirror did the full extent
of my injuries hit me. It was also at this
point that the pain began: Suddenly my head
and face ached terribly.
Aftermath
 Bahnson
had also suffered some injuries. The grizzly
had bitten him once in the side as she
knocked him down, but because of his coat
and clothing the bite had not penetrated the
skin. His side was bruised and abraded and
the compression force had separated some
ribs from the sternum. But at the Bozeman
hospital, Bahnson insisted on attending to
my wounds. He worked on me for nearly seven
hours. The first bite had ripped open the
left cheek, tearing the jaw muscle loose
from the jawbone, cutting through the saliva
gland and across the larynx. Most
frighteningly, but also most fortunately,
the lower bite wound included a tooth
puncture that had come a scant 1/8-inch from
my jugular vein.
The
"head bite" had punctured my eyebrow bone,
between the brow and the eyeball, and also
 the
crown of my skull.Total head and face
repairs required more than 15 inches of
stitching. My arm was black and blue, and
would be sore for several weeks, but was not
broken or dislocated. The headaches, nearly
constant, would continue for almost two
years-all this from a mauling we estimate
lasted less than 20 seconds.
If the attack and rescue seemed over quickly
(I went home from the hospital that same
evening) the larger repercussions of the
experience were just beginning. My
construction business had been progressing,
with custom work contracted by the likes of
Ted Turner and Jane Fonda, as well as the
nearby Big Sky resort; but after the mauling
I found it difficult to focus on the job.
All I could think about was bears and bear
stuff. I needed to make my peace with it.
 I
spent as much time as possible in the
mountains, not wanting the attack and the
fear it engendered to ruin the outdoors for
me. When a pepper-spray company heard of my
experience and asked me to do a
live-appearance testimonial at an outdoor
retail show, I jumped at the chance. Soon
after, I quit construction for good and
joined the company's staff as a part time
sales rep. I became obsessed with the
subject of pepper spray as a bear deterrent
to stop this kind of an aggressive
attack. Within months I had ideas for
improving the product: a much hotter pepper
concentrate for more effectiveness, a
"fluffier" formulation that would hang in
the air longer, a carrying holster with a
tied-on trigger safety wedge that wouldn't
be as easily lost as the customary loose
one, and even a glow-in-the-dark safety clip
so a spray canister could be quickly located
at night in a tent. I didn't invent the
wheel, I just improve it.
When the company resisted my suggestions, My
wife Becky and I decided to take the cold
plunge and start our own pepper-spray
business. We mortgaged our home and 30 acres
near Bozeman to finance the operation we
called UDAP. It was a total learning
situation, both in product development and
later in marketing and distribution. But
long hours and hard work paid off; within
six months UDAP was shipping its Pepper
Power bear deterrent to customers, and sales
took off quickly. The business has grown
each year.
 Work
Worth Doing
How this
experience changed my life.
My goal from the start was not just to sell
pepper spray, but to help educate the
public-outdoorsmen in particular-about the
causes, prevention, and realities of bear
attacks, so that what happened to me could
be avoided by others. To this end we have
produced bear-safety pamphlets, made a
video, and shared my experience and
knowledge in a Discovery Channel
documentary. I give frequent talks to
sportsmen's gatherings across the country,
to National Forest Service and State Fish
and Wildlife personnel, and to
schoolchildren (one of my favorite venues)
etc. People of all ages, I have discovered,
are eager to know more about bears.
People are also struck by the graphic
close-up photo taken of me shortly after the
mauling. My blood-caked, gouged visage is a
disturbing reminder of the potential
severity of a bear attack. Yet the vividness
of the picture
has also brought criticism from some
corners, particularly from environmentalists
who feel that such images sensationalize and
even distort the already too-sensational
subject of bear attacks. I do admit, I
thought long and hard about making the photo
public. It's a very emotional picture to me.
I decided to use it because if it helps
someone else think about bear safety and
gets them to carry a can of spray and maybe
stop an attack, then that picture was worth
it. In this case a picture really does speak
a thousand words. When I show it to kids and
then tell them not to bring peanut butter
and jelly sandwiches into the tent at night,
they're more likely to listen and take the
advice seriously.
At the same time, I am also sensitive to
what I call the negative-sensationalizing of
bears. I tell people, "Look, this was a bad
situation, but bears are not out there
looking to do this to you". I try to
simmer down people's fears, while also
educating them to the reality, all in
perspective.
The
bottom line is you should be prepared and
carry bear spray in bear country. Hopefully
you won't need to use it-but if you do, it
can save your life. It's better to have bear
spray and never need to use it, apposed to
needing it, and not having it.
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