Hiker said he heard 'tremendous roar' before griz bite
Hungry Horse News
A 65-year-old Wisconsin man drove himself to the hospital in Cut Bank Sept. 29 after he was bitten by a sow grizzly bear while hiking off trail in Many Glacier.
According to Park officials, he apparently surprised a sow grizzly with two sub-adult cubs.
WKOW-TV in Madison, Wisconsin identified the man as Jim Schroeder, 64, of Reedsburg, Wisconsin.
The sow grabbed and shook Schroeder until he was able to deploy his bear spray. The encounter left the hiker with puncture wounds to his leg and injuries to his hand.
Schroeder credited bear spray for his survival.
“I carry pepper spray,” Schroeder said.
Schroeder told WKOW he was off-trail near the park’s Mount Henkel Sept. 29 when he saw an adult, female grizzly and two cubs foraging for food several hundred yards away. Schroeder said he waited an hour as the bears flickered in and out of view to ensure his route down from higher ground did not intersect with the bears.
Schroeder said his descent was beneath a shelf of cliffs.
“All of a sudden, all hell breaks loose,” Schroeder told the television station.
“(I hear) This tremendous roaring sound, and three bears come flying down off the cliff above me,” he said. “She landed ... right next to me.”
“So I was looking straight into her face while she had me by the leg, shaking me,” Schroeder said.
When he first saw the bears, Schroeder said, he took the safety cover off the bear spray he carries in a holster in the front of his back pack as a precaution.
“I just grabbed the pepper spray out and let her have it smack dab in the face. She dropped me instantly, and ran off,” he told WKOW.
Schroeder hiked back to his vehicle and then drove himself to Northern Rockies Medical Center.
He later called the Park to report the incident. Park rangers view the incident as defensive on the bear’s part and will take no action against the sow and her cubs.
Visitors to Glacier are reminded that the park is home to black and grizzly bears. Bears spend a lot of time eating, so people should avoid hiking in obvious feeding areas like berry patches, cow parsnip thickets or fields of glacier lilies. Hikers are highly encouraged to hike in groups, make noise when hiking and have bear spray accessible and know how to use it.