Sorry, but those guys were idiots.
Shot the bear poorly before dark and the bear ran off. Well after dark, four hours later, they opted to go look for it unarmed (have to wonder if beer was involved in the decision-making process). They ASSUMED the bear would be dead by then. They were reportedly following a blood trail in heavy brush and swamp. The bear attempted to stop the first attacker that came upon it (it is the hunters who are the aggressors, not the bear, LOL). The hunter, Brandon Johnson described the bear as "coming out of the dark." Yep, that is the way it works in the dark when you just have a flashlight. So the bear gets on Brandon and wounds him just about on all areas of his body and in the process, Johnson stabs the bear a LOT of times. The bear wanders off and dies about 50 yards distant.
The nearest hunter in the search that was "following the blood trail" hears Brandon being attacked and screaming for 2 or more minutes. By the time he finally reaches Brandon, the bear was gone. Here I have to wonder that if they were following a blood trail, why the hunters were separated by such a great distance that it literally took minutes for the first hunter to get to Brandon. This guy, Craig Lindstrom, is a trained first responder fireman and applies tourniquets to both arms. Brandon has 2 broken arms, dislocated wrist, lacerations and bites to arms, legs, body, face, and neck. The tracking party then walk Brandon back to camp where they call 911. This was 3 HOURS after the attack occurred, badly busting the proverbial golden hour.
Why Lindstrom didn't send somebody ahead to call 911 is bothersome, unless maybe it was just him and Brandon looking for this bear. Don't know, but if there was more in the party, somebody should have been sent to make that call. Read numerous accounts of the incident and Lindstrom never says how many were actually looking for the bear, but there were at least 11 in the total hunting party based on the trophy pic that shows 10 with the bear (Brandon was in the hospital when they finally got the bear out).
The whole event was a series of screw-ups and bad decisions. Fortunately, Brandon Johnson managed to survive.
http://kstp.com/article/stories/s3574876.shtml
http://www.kare11.com/story/news/lo...ights-off-525-pound-bear-with-knife/16411473/
This account, however, provides more information that still makes things sound screwed up.
http://bringmethenews.com/2014/09/30/hunter-fights-off-525-pound-black-bear-using-only-a-knife/
Apparently, there were 3 hunters looking for this bear. Brandon Johnson and Trevor Novak were on one side of the swamp, armed with headlamps and knives. Craig Lindstrom had a headlamp and a pistol, but he was on the other side of the swamp.
Supposedly, Brandon and Trevor see the bear and think it is moving away, but it came after them. Trevor does not aid Brandon during the attack. After the attack is over, Trevor and Craig walk Brandon the 3 hours back to camp. Again, Craig doesn't send Trevor for help or to call 911.
Sheesh.
No matter how the story gets told, it is still full of mistakes.
