Alaska hunter mauled by bear calmly takes to camera after shooting himself while stopping attack
KENAI PENINSULA, Alaska - A man in Alaska was hospitalized after accidentally shooting himself in the leg while trying to protect himself from a brown bear.
The man, 32-year-old Tyler Johnson, recorded the aftermath of the attack as he was waiting to be rescued along with his father on Kenai Peninsula's Resurrection Pass Trail just south of Anchorage on Saturday.
In the video, he explained that he and his father were hiking when they startled a brown bear, which charged at Johnson.
"Thankfully, when I was falling backwards, I was able to unsheathe my pistol and absolutely unload," Johnson said.
ALASKA HUNTER MAULED BY BROWN BEAR, SHOT DURING ATTEMPT TO STOP ATTACK
Tyler Johnson was hospitalized after he accidentally shot himself in the leg while fending off a brown bear in Alaska. (Tyler Johnson via Storyful)
Johnson then tilted the camera and said he had been shot while falling, but that the bullet had gone straight through his leg.
Johnson said that he wasn’t sure at the time whether another injury he received was because he shot himself or if the injury came as a result of the bear mauling him.
"I know he did bite into me … I felt that", he said.
Alaska Department of Public Safety said first aid was administered in the field after a team responded to Johnson's SOS he issued.
Johnson was then airlifted to an Anchorage hospital for treatment of his injuries. The bear was killed by the hunters during the attack, troopers said.
Male brown bears during late summer and fall usually weigh between 500 and 900 lbs, with the largest weighing as much as 1,400 lbs. (R. Wood / NPS)
‘Alaska is bear country’
According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, an estimated 30,000 brown bears, including grizzly bears, live in Alaska. Male brown bears during late summer and fall usually weigh between 500 and 900 pounds, with the largest weighing as much as 1,400 pounds.
"Alaska is bear country," the agency said.