Hunter survives grizzly bear attack by shoving his arm down animal's throat

Gut instinct: Chase Dellwo acted after remembering something he read in a magazine
Jo Dee Black/The Great Falls Tribune via AP
Robin de Peyer6 October 2015

A hunter survived an attack by a grizzly bear by shoving his arm into its throat to induce a gag reflex and scare it off.

Chase Dellwo, 26, said he used the technique after remembering a tip he had read in a magazine when he came face-to-face with a 180kg grizzly in the US.

He had been using a crossbow to hunt elk with his brother in the Montana mountains when animal attacked after being startled.

The hunter had walked up a creek bed as he stalked the animals and was just a metre from the bear when he noticed it.

Mr Dellwo said he only had time to take a few steps back before the bear knocked him off his feet and bit his head.

"He let go, but he was still on top of me roaring the loudest roar I have ever heard," he said.

Attack: a grizzly bear (Picture: Mathieu Belanger/Reuters/Corbis)
MATHIEU BELANGER/Reuters/Corbis

The bear then bit Mr Dellwo's leg and shook him, tossing him in the air. As the bear came at the man again, the hunter recalled a story he read in a magazine.

"I remembered an article that my grandmother gave me a long time ago that said large animals have bad gag reflexes," he said. "So I shoved my right arm down his throat."

The advice worked, and the bear left.

Mr Dellwo was then able to rejoin his brother, who drove him to a hospital where he received stitches and staples in his head, some on his face, and treatment for a swollen eye and deep puncture wounds on his leg.

"I want everyone to know that it wasn't the bear's fault. He was as scared as I was," Mr Dellwo said.

Wildlife managers advise carrying bear spray to ward off attacks. Mr Dellwo was not equipped with bear spray when he encountered a grizzly that is among the estimated 1,000 that roam along the northern Continental Divide in Montana.

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