Wounded animal falls from tree, grabs hunting dog and bites man
before it finally dies.
George Hunter / The Detroit News
Steven Remsing is swearing off bear hunting after surviving an attack
Sunday by a 430-pound black bear while hunting with friends in the Upper
Peninsula.
Remsing, a 45-year-old Sterling Heights computer repairman who
describes himself as an avid hunter, was recovering Monday from arm and
leg injuries in Marquette General Hospital after Sunday's attack. He was
listed in stable condition.
"We were bear hunting up in Ontonagon County, and we saw a bear go up
a tree," Remsing said Monday in a telephone interview from his hospital
room. "I took a shot, and the bear started to move. Then he fell down.
Normally, they'll just run off into the woods, but this one turned and
started attacking one of our dogs.
"We were out of bullets, so we started beating the bear," Remsing
said. "We were using logs, and whatever we could grab. We knew the bear
was going to die, but it was ripping the dog apart and we had to do
something."
As Remsing and his friends were trying to dislodge the bear's jaws
from the Walker Coonhound, the bear suddenly turned and sank its teeth
into Remsing's arm.
"I was able to pull my arm out of its mouth and kick it in the nose,"
Remsing said. "It bit me one more time in the leg, and then it rolled
down a hill and died."
The bear weighed in at 430 pounds, Remsing said.
Remsing said he isn't hurt too badly. "He took a nice chunk out of my
forearm, but I'm okay," he said. The dog survived the attack, he said.
Black bears can be dangerous -- especially when they're wounded --
said Lt. Creig Grey of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
"It's a wild animal," Grey said. "And if it's injured, it's going to
fight back.
"An analogy I use with bears is: I wouldn't recommend anyone grab a
dog that weighs 60 pounds, so obviously I wouldn't recommend trying to
grab a bear," Grey said. "These are very powerful animals. I've seen
them go right through the side of a building, or knock a door right off
the frame if there's something in there they want. So people need to
stay away from them."
There are between 15,000 to 19,000 black bears in Michigan, according
to the DNR. About 90 percent of them live in the Upper Peninsula.
You can reach George Hunter at (586) 468-7396 or ghunter@detnews.com.
