(WA)-- Hunter seriously injured in bear attack

[Chipperman]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/04/23/bear.attack.ap/index.html

Hunter seriously injured in bear attack outside Olympic National Park

Sunday, April 23, 2006; Posted: 3:11 a.m. EDT (07:11 GMT)

FORKS, Washington (AP) -- A black bear attacked and seriously injured a hunter on a road just outside Olympic National Park late Saturday, authorities said.

A second hunter shot and killed the bear before summoning help, said Larry Evans, a shift supervisor for the Washington State Patrol's office in Bremerton.

The injured hunter, whose name wasn't released, was rushed to Forks Hospital with a compound fracture to the arm, a broken hand and several bite marks, Evans said. The victim lost a significant amount of blood, but was expected to survive, Evans said.

The bear had apparently dragged the man away from the site of the attack before it was shot, Evans said.

Troopers said they receive occasional reports of cougar attacks in the area, but bear attacks are relatively rare.

Forks is a small town near the northwest edge of Olympic National Park, one of Washington state's most popular attractions for hunters, anglers and other nature lovers.

 

[SASS#23149]

Be careful out there,kiddies.

glad he wasn't hurt any worse,coming out alive is a very good outcome against several hundred pounds of pissed off bear.

 

[TallPine]

Forks is a small town near the northwest edge of Olympic National Park, one of Washington state's most popular attractions for hunters, anglers and other nature lovers.

Forks also used to be a major logging center, but I guess that is all over now and it is reduced to being a tourist trap

 

[dm1333]

People have made fun of me for being cautious around black bears, the only type of bear found in that area. I have also been made fun of for being afraid of sharks but two years ago there was a shark attack here in my stations area of responsibility and a 20 ft Great White took the head off of an abalone diver.

I think that the paper was just referring to the fact that the OP is a great destination for outdoors type vacations, I lived there for 5 years and logging was still viable then. Logging has declined in that area but the blame for that, IMHO, lies with the logging companies and take the money and run mindset in upper management.

 

[Lupinus]

it's not wise to walk in the woods without something big enough to take down the things in your area that might decide you look tasty

 

[c_yeager]

Forks also used to be a major logging center, but I guess that is all over now and it is reduced to being a tourist trap

Forks is still a major logging center.

Most of the hunters and anglers in the area are from Western Washington, so they arent really "tourists".

 

[rwc]

The first bruin I saw in WA was a small blackie running across the road near La Push (around the "corner" from Forks). WFWD also just reported a man bit by a cougar out in Icicle Creek near Leavenworth. They tracked it with dogs and shot it after it ate a local's cat.

Perhaps the downside of banning traps and hunting with dogs is the resurgence of aggressive cats and bears. Oh my...

 

[Mortech]

I was surprised to hear it , here on the Olympic peninsula its usually cougars that causes the problem (disappearring cats and dogs) .

 

[Cosmoline]

As more and more states restrict hunting over bait and with dogs, you can expect more and more black bear to turn predatory.

 

[HarryB]

MSNBC.com

Injured Wash. hunter had been chasing bear
Man was hunting under special permit on private land; bear shot dead
The Associated Press
Updated: 2:26 a.m. ET April 24, 2006

FORKS, Wash. - A hunter mauled by a black bear had been chasing the animal on private timberland when the animal turned the tables on its pursuers, officials said Sunday.

Bear season doesn’t open until later in the year, but the man was hunting under a special permit issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service the owner of the land near Olympic National Park.

It appeared the hunters had been pursuing the bear for some time, Fish and Wildlife Officer Brian Fairbanks said.

“It’s like, you have the fight or flight response. It ran for so long, and then decided, ‘We’re not going to run any more,”’ Fairbanks said.

At that point, the hunter and the bear were in heavy brush, the officer said. “He didn’t realize the bear was there, and when he got close enough the bear jumped out and grabbed him.”

It was not a surprise attack, he said.

“They knew it was there — they’d been chasing it,” Fairbanks said. “The guy got bit, but he was the one who put himself in position to get bit.”

Bear shot dead
A second hunter shot and killed the bear before summoning help.

The injured man underwent surgery Sunday on a broken arm, Fairbanks said.

“The bear had grabbed his arm and dragged him down an embankment,” he said. “It required some surgery to put him together.”

The man, whose name was not released, also suffered a broken wrist and two bite wounds on his upper thigh.
© 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

© 2006 MSNBC.com

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12443552/

 

[LaEscopeta]

“When you go hunting for bear, sometimes you get a bear. Sometimes a bear gets you.” - Old gypsy saying.

 

[Langenator]

Since when is land owned by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (and where exactly does the Constitution authorize that, anyway?) "private timberland?"

I should think that .gov-owned land would be public.

And I'm guessing the 'special permit' means these guys were probably hired to get rid of the bear. Turnabout's fair play.

 

[Cosmoline]

I think the reporter got mixed up. F&G doesn't own land to my knowledge. And the feds have bupkus to do with hunting black bear. I think they were trying to say that the hunt was on private land and state F&G authorized it by special permit.

Yup, looks like the posted report was screwed up. Here's what it actually is supposed to say:

permit issued by the state Fish and Wildlife Department to Rainier Timber, which owns the land where the hunt was proceeding Saturday, about 6 miles east of the Olympic National Park boundary.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420AP_WA_Bear_Attack.html?source=mypi

 

[dm1333]

Around Forks all the land that abuts the park is National Forest Service land, then outside of the national forest there is a lot of private land. It sounds like he got NFS confused with another agency. Maybe it was my ex father-in-law that got bit.

 

[Tierhog]

One of the reasons logging has declined is all that spotted owl sillines several years back.

The hunters in question were hired to hunt the bear for the land owners. Since the gubmint outlawed hunting with coon dogs a couple years back the black bear population has exploded. We had to trap a couple this last summer when they were walking around the prison grounds. The inmates really loved that. We wanted to put badges on the bears, they kept all the inmates behind the fence at night. The only things keeping Forks alive right now is the two prisons, the logging industry and outdoor tourism. Losing the tourist wouldn't kill us, but most of my coworkers are ex loggers.

Still, I would rather live here than Seattle any day.