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posted on Wilderness and survival forum of Blade Forum by "Jeff".
"Man Armed With Knife Kills Hungry Bear
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The conditions which made this bear kind of frisky appear to have weakened it enough to give the fellow a fighting chance. Still, an impressive feat. Too bad he wasn't packing bigger hardware, either a huge blade or a firearm.
Jeff
Man Armed With Knife Kills Hungry Bear
By Associated Press
November 17, 2003, 4:25 PM EST
WILLIAMS LAKE, British Columbia -- John Hirsch went toe-to-claw with a black bear -- and won.
Hirsch had only a 3 1/2-inch knife blade when he came across the bear in his backyard in Williams Lake, about 190 miles northeast of Vancouver.
"He came out of nowhere," said Hirsch, 61, an avid hunter and outdoorsman.
"I can remember thinking that he's not stopping -- he's coming," said Hirsch. "I just didn't feel I had any place to go."
He was attacked Oct. 29 while checking on the 15 turkeys he and his wife, Sharon, raise on their spread.
As the bear began to circle him, Hirsch faced it like a wrestler in a ring.
"It was like a knife fight that you'd see in an old-time Western," he said. The bear swatted out at him, but each time it lunged, he managed to stab it.
"I couldn't tell you if the fight lasted three seconds or three minutes," Hirsch said.
Three stabs to the bear's chest and one to its neck finally did the bruin in.
It stood about 5 foot 7 inches to Hirsch's 5 feet 9 inches and weighed 200 pounds, according to conservation officers who inspected it.
"I can say it sure looked smaller the next morning than it did during the fight," said Hirsch.
The bear was in poor shape, suffering from a severed tongue and broken jaw, the conservation officer said. Its stomach was empty and the bear had little fat on it.
Hirsch, a retired electrical foreman at B.C. Hydro, suffered a scratch to the top of his head and scratches to his back -- and a shredded T-shirt.
As for the battle itself, Hirsch said it never occurred to him that he would lose to the bear.
"I just felt that however long this took, I was going to come out OK," he said. "I always felt that I was at least his equal."
"Man Armed With Knife Kills Hungry Bear
_
The conditions which made this bear kind of frisky appear to have weakened it enough to give the fellow a fighting chance. Still, an impressive feat. Too bad he wasn't packing bigger hardware, either a huge blade or a firearm.
Jeff
Man Armed With Knife Kills Hungry Bear
By Associated Press
November 17, 2003, 4:25 PM EST
WILLIAMS LAKE, British Columbia -- John Hirsch went toe-to-claw with a black bear -- and won.
Hirsch had only a 3 1/2-inch knife blade when he came across the bear in his backyard in Williams Lake, about 190 miles northeast of Vancouver.
"He came out of nowhere," said Hirsch, 61, an avid hunter and outdoorsman.
"I can remember thinking that he's not stopping -- he's coming," said Hirsch. "I just didn't feel I had any place to go."
He was attacked Oct. 29 while checking on the 15 turkeys he and his wife, Sharon, raise on their spread.
As the bear began to circle him, Hirsch faced it like a wrestler in a ring.
"It was like a knife fight that you'd see in an old-time Western," he said. The bear swatted out at him, but each time it lunged, he managed to stab it.
"I couldn't tell you if the fight lasted three seconds or three minutes," Hirsch said.
Three stabs to the bear's chest and one to its neck finally did the bruin in.
It stood about 5 foot 7 inches to Hirsch's 5 feet 9 inches and weighed 200 pounds, according to conservation officers who inspected it.
"I can say it sure looked smaller the next morning than it did during the fight," said Hirsch.
The bear was in poor shape, suffering from a severed tongue and broken jaw, the conservation officer said. Its stomach was empty and the bear had little fat on it.
Hirsch, a retired electrical foreman at B.C. Hydro, suffered a scratch to the top of his head and scratches to his back -- and a shredded T-shirt.
As for the battle itself, Hirsch said it never occurred to him that he would lose to the bear.
"I just felt that however long this took, I was going to come out OK," he said. "I always felt that I was at least his equal."
