megimoo
10-10-2008, 02:21 PM
Father's bow shot kills grizzly attacking his son
A bloodied Ron J. Leming, 37, bends over the 11-year old grizzly bear
A Cody bowhunter in search of an elk found a grizzly bear instead in a Sept. 12 mauling incident on the South Fork......................Picture of bear
And Ron J. Leming, 37, attributes his father's lifetime of bowhunting for saving his life.
“There are not many people who could stand their ground like that, especially with a bow and arrow,” Leming said Wednesday.
“I would have been mauled way worse, if not killed, if Dad hadn't had the nerve to stand his ground and shoot that bear with his bow. There's not many people who could have done that.”
Leming said his father's shot with a compound bow severed a major artery in the bear and hit his heart. The bear then moved about 80 yards down hill after being shot before falling dead over a log.
Leming's father, Ron G. Leming, 62, rushed to his son after the grizzly's initial attack, and managed the compound bow shot as both his son and the bear were running down the hill.
“Dad had missed two shots at elk” earlier in the several-day hunting trip to the family's favorite spot, Leming said.
“The night before, Dad said a prayer for God to guide his arrow.”
Leming added that while his father had elk, not bears, in mind as he prayed, he's glad the right arrow found divine intervention.
“If my Dad hadn't been there, who knows?” Leming said. “The look the bear had, the way he was doing ... I could have done absolutely nothing.”
Leming and his father had taken their gear 15 miles up the trail from the Boulder Basin trailhead for their annual bowhunting outing. Though they had spotted a black bear and her cubs, there had been no sign of grizzlies, which Leming said was unusual.
On Friday morning they headed out from camp, located at about 9,500 feet in elevation, and spotted a good elk.
The elder Leming was standing about 30 yards down the hill when his son heard a noise behind him and turned to see the bear standing there.
“He was king of the woods,” Leming said. “He thought there was an elk in there and he would bring it down.”
Leming yelled at the bear, but it charged him.
Trying to pull the trigger release string on his bow, Leming realized there was no time to shoot the bear himself, so he moved behind a tree and began running around it to buy time. Then he ran down hill, figuring he could move faster in that direction.
“I passed my dad and I saw an arrow fly right by my leg, about two feet away,” Ron said. He realized his father had shot at the bear, but he was unsure if the arrow went home.
“I took three or four more steps and I fell,” he said, “The bear was on top of me.”
Leming was kicking at the grizzly and possibly put his hands out defensively.
“It's kind of blurry,” he said.
The bear grabbed Leming's arm and, “I felt like I was in a vice, with the power that thing had,” he said.
He managed to rise and head for a forked tree, where the bear again jumped on his back.
“It was pretty scary,” the long-time hunter said.
The bear attacked again and Leming was hitting him with his bow as well as struggling with the animal, who suddenly moved away.
“He took a few steps toward Dad, then he started walking down the hill. I told Dad to kill him, but he (bear) was already starting to check out,” Leming said.
snip
http://www.codyenterprise.com/articles/2008/09/24/news/news3.txt
A bloodied Ron J. Leming, 37, bends over the 11-year old grizzly bear
A Cody bowhunter in search of an elk found a grizzly bear instead in a Sept. 12 mauling incident on the South Fork......................Picture of bear
And Ron J. Leming, 37, attributes his father's lifetime of bowhunting for saving his life.
“There are not many people who could stand their ground like that, especially with a bow and arrow,” Leming said Wednesday.
“I would have been mauled way worse, if not killed, if Dad hadn't had the nerve to stand his ground and shoot that bear with his bow. There's not many people who could have done that.”
Leming said his father's shot with a compound bow severed a major artery in the bear and hit his heart. The bear then moved about 80 yards down hill after being shot before falling dead over a log.
Leming's father, Ron G. Leming, 62, rushed to his son after the grizzly's initial attack, and managed the compound bow shot as both his son and the bear were running down the hill.
“Dad had missed two shots at elk” earlier in the several-day hunting trip to the family's favorite spot, Leming said.
“The night before, Dad said a prayer for God to guide his arrow.”
Leming added that while his father had elk, not bears, in mind as he prayed, he's glad the right arrow found divine intervention.
“If my Dad hadn't been there, who knows?” Leming said. “The look the bear had, the way he was doing ... I could have done absolutely nothing.”
Leming and his father had taken their gear 15 miles up the trail from the Boulder Basin trailhead for their annual bowhunting outing. Though they had spotted a black bear and her cubs, there had been no sign of grizzlies, which Leming said was unusual.
On Friday morning they headed out from camp, located at about 9,500 feet in elevation, and spotted a good elk.
The elder Leming was standing about 30 yards down the hill when his son heard a noise behind him and turned to see the bear standing there.
“He was king of the woods,” Leming said. “He thought there was an elk in there and he would bring it down.”
Leming yelled at the bear, but it charged him.
Trying to pull the trigger release string on his bow, Leming realized there was no time to shoot the bear himself, so he moved behind a tree and began running around it to buy time. Then he ran down hill, figuring he could move faster in that direction.
“I passed my dad and I saw an arrow fly right by my leg, about two feet away,” Ron said. He realized his father had shot at the bear, but he was unsure if the arrow went home.
“I took three or four more steps and I fell,” he said, “The bear was on top of me.”
Leming was kicking at the grizzly and possibly put his hands out defensively.
“It's kind of blurry,” he said.
The bear grabbed Leming's arm and, “I felt like I was in a vice, with the power that thing had,” he said.
He managed to rise and head for a forked tree, where the bear again jumped on his back.
“It was pretty scary,” the long-time hunter said.
The bear attacked again and Leming was hitting him with his bow as well as struggling with the animal, who suddenly moved away.
“He took a few steps toward Dad, then he started walking down the hill. I told Dad to kill him, but he (bear) was already starting to check out,” Leming said.
snip
http://www.codyenterprise.com/articles/2008/09/24/news/news3.txt