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A 12-year-old boy in Minnesota shot a bear attacking his father earlier this month, saving his life.
A grateful father credits his son with saving his life that day: “Owen was a hero.”
What made him a hero? He acted quickly and shot a large black bear when it attacked his father on a hunting trip.
The two left school and work early for their bear hunting trip on Sept 6. According to the New York Post, they started at their hunting cabin in western Wisconsin.
The First Bear Sighting
Forty-three-year-old Ryan Beierman and his son, Owen, saw the 200-pound bear from a tree stand. Owen shot, hitting the bear before it ran off into the trees.
Beierman told the Minnesota Star Tribune they waited 20 minutes before looking for the bear. They borrowed a hunting dog from a neighbor to track down the bear.
It was not long before they found it.
”We were sort of hung up in a thicket when we heard the dog yelp and sprint past us in retreat,” Beierman told the Tribune.
Lurking
And then they saw it. The bear crouched nearby in the shadows.
“He was in a stance like a cat about to pounce,” Ryan Beierman said. Without warning, the bear launched forward, attacking the father.
With very little time to act, Beierman said he drew his pistol. He fired eight shots, all of them missing the bear.
”Before I knew it, I was flat on my back,” he said. He attempted to fight the bear off by striking it with his pistol.
Attacked By The Bear
“It felt like I was striking a brick wall,” Beierman said. “I tried hitting him between the ear and mouth with a blunt edge of the pistol.”
The bear went for Beierman’s head, creating a large gash in his cheek.
”All I could see were his claws and teeth. I lifted my right arm to block him,” he told the Tribune. ”I remember the first bite,” Beierman said he heard a loud crunch. “The bear was still attacking. He wasn’t going to leave me.”
The attack lasted about 45 seconds, but it was literally a “tooth and nails” fight to the death.
Quick Actions From A 12-Year-Old
“I’m punching and kicking and flailing around,” The father remembered. “That’s when I saw a flash from the muzzle of Owen’s rifle.”
Thinking quickly, the boy shot the bear, ending the struggle and saving his father’s life. The bullet allowed Beierman to push the bear off of himself.
“I didn’t think twice, I just shot it,” Owen told KARE 11.
The Injuries From the Bear
Neighbors assisted the two in cleaning the animal so they could go straight to the hospital. Another neighbor drove until an ambulance met them about halfway.
Ryan Beierman received 23 stitches in his face. “There were two fang marks in my forehead and my face was smattered with blood,” he said.
Puncture wounds and bitemarks covered his arms and legs. That crunch from when the bear bit his arm? It left a big cut.
“My thought was: ‘He broke my arm.’” Beierman said, according to the New York Post. “But it was punctured, not broken.”
Extra Details
In the aftermath of the attack, both father and son felt shellshocked.
“I was proud of Owen. He really held it together,” Beierman said. “But after it was all over, you could tell he was pretty shaken.”
CBS News confirmed that Owen Beierman has a hunting license. The father and son hunted legally that day.
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) retrieved two teeth from the male bear to determine its age.
Performing Under Pressure
“It was a wild ride,” Beierman said after it ended. “I told my wife I was done bear hunting.”
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He isn’t sure if he will stick to that, although he suspects his wife will have an opinion.
Bear attacks are fairly rare in Minnesota, even with a black bear population of over 24,000.
Ryan and Owen Beierman were an unlucky pair to go through what they did. But they survived to tell the tale, thanks to the kid’s quick action.
“He performed under pressure that most people couldn’t perform under,” said Ryan.
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