Hunter Shot While Fighting Off Brown Bear Attack in Alaska

A 32-year-old hunter was hospitalized on August 17 after he was mauled by a brown bear and sustained a gunshot wound during a frantic attempt to stop the attack

According to an online statement posted by the Alaska Department of Public Safety on Monday, Alaska State Troopers were notified around 3:00 p.m. Saturday afternoon that two adult male hunters had been attacked by a brown bear on the Resurrection Pass Trail near Cooper Landing. One hunter was “seriously injured by the bear and also as the result of a gunshot wound” and was transported by helicopter to an Anchorage hospital after first aid was administered in the field. The bear was killed by the hunters during the attack. 

The Associated Press reported that both hunters fired shots at the bear and the injured hunter was shot once in the leg. A spokesman for the troopers, Tim DeSpain, told the news service that the attack took place in a remote area off the trail, and that it was not immediately clear who fired the shot that struck the man.  

The Resurrection Pass Trail, “family friendly and flexible” according to Alaska.org, is the most popular multi-day backcountry route in Southcentral Alaska. The 38-mile trek through the Kenai Mountains southwest of Anchorage rises from near sea level to 2,600 feet and is frequented by backpackers and mountain bikers. The area is prime habitat for brown and black bears: “Hikers regularly report encounters with or catch sight of both species,” the website reports, but the trail “does not have a reputation for unusual bear problems.” 

Although wildlife officials were able to confirm that the bear was killed, the carcass had not been recovered as of Monday, “due to the medical emergency and remote location,” DeSpain told the Anchorage Daily News. The hunters’ names have not been released.