https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ne...ttack-Wisconsin.html

By SAMANTHA RUTT FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 00:51 EDT, 18 September 2024 | UPDATED: 03:02 EDT, 18 September 2024

A 12-year-old boy slayed a 200-pound bear to save his father’s life during a family outing gone horribly wrong.

Owen Beierman, 12, shot-and-killed the black bear before it could fatally maul his dad, Ryan, who became pinned under the monstrous beast when shots fired to kill it missed.

‘My left cheek was sliced open and blood was oozing out of the flap. There were two fang marks in my forehead and my face was smattered with blood,’ Ryan told the Star Tribune.

‘The bear was fighting for its life, and I was fighting for mine,’ he continued.

The father-and-son duo, of River Falls, Wisconsin, left school and work early for a hunting trip - something the two often did together - when Owen made the heroic save.

The business agent, 43, said he probably wouldn’t have survived the mauling if not for his son as the near-death encounter left him with a gruesome facial gash and fang punctures to his forehead, right arm and leg.



The two were deep in the western Wisconsin woods, near the family’s vacation cabin, when Owen first spotted the woodland beast.

Armed with a 350 Legend hunting rifle, he shot and hit the bear, missing the ideal kill zone and causing the bear to flee.

The pair continued tracking the then-wounded bear, hoping for reminisces of blood or other tracking markers. Not long after their failed search efforts, a neighbor who heard the initial gunshots, offered up his tracking dog to help with the search.

Just after dark, the chocolate Labrador spotted the bear, prompting Ryan to reach for his rifle and fire off eight bullets from a 6-foot range.

Unable to get the gun high enough to use its sights, missing all eight shots, the bear then lunged at Ryan, pinning him on his back.

‘I started pistol whipping him and it felt like I was striking a brick wall. I remember thinking. “You have to do something different.” I tried hitting him between the ear and mouth with a blunt edge of the pistol,’ Ryan recalled.

Faced with monstrous claws and teeth, Ryan nestled his arm between his face and the bear’s attack - hearing a crunch and convinced the bear had broken his arm.

‘The whole thing might have lasted only 45 seconds or more, I can’t really remember. But it was as if he was attacking in slow motion,’ Ryan said.

Owen, a regular hunter, was prepared for an event like this, firing off his rifle and killing the bear as it eventually rolled off of his father.

The 43-year-old called on his son to alert their family and emergency response teams before the two took off to a hospital, with help of a neighbor.

'Thank you to all the neighbors who helped me out tonight, in a time of need! Derek Jaskolka, Randy Thomas, Jeff Stager, Joel Schollmeier, Dillon Mattson and anyone else who helped out!' Ryan posted to Facebook days after the attack.

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources conservation officer Dustin Gabrielson confirmed the event noting: ‘Everything about the father-son hunt on September 6 was legal.’

Department of Natural Resources officials acknowledged Beierman as a ‘generous supporter of the agency’s learn-to-hunt programs.’

‘I was flat on my back and could feel the bullet going through the bear. Owen was a hero. He shot that bear and killed it on top of me,’ the father said of his son.

Ryan received 23 stitches in his cheek along with seven puncture wounds to his arm and another cut in need of stitching.

When the duo eventually returned home, Ryan told his wife he ‘was done bear hunting.’

'I am officially done bear hunting! Yeah I did get mauled by a bear tonight, and yes I survived!' Ryan's post to Facebook continued.

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Man, the dad is a really bad shot. All eight rounds missed the already wounded bear from a 6-foot range?

Love the adjectives “monstrous beast” and “woodland beast”. A 200 pound bear is not monstrous.
Agree his shooting was not the best!

Yeah, typical Daily Mail sensationalism bullshit.

And, bad writing, too.

quote:

Unable to get the gun high enough to use its sights, missing all eight shots, the bear then lunged at Ryan, pinning him on his back.

It appears that the bear, having missed all eight shots, lunged at Ryan trying to finish him off. Lol.

I wouldn’t describe a 200 pound bear as monstrous, but I wouldn’t want to wrestle with one either. After 8 panicked shots with no hits, a decision to give up hunting potentially dangerous game is probably a good one. Good thing his son was there and had the presence of mind to get the hit on the bear and the bear only.

It was a common theme in older hunting magazines with grizzlies as the attacking 'ravenous beast'.

350 Legend, I'd guess this was a lever action, and working the action in a panic did not help with accuracy.

I'd be interested in what the boy used to finish off the bear, at what range, and where the shot was placed.

ETA:

Upon re-reading the OP, it appears that the boy was carrying the 350 Legend, no indication what Dad was using, although it appears he had both a rifle and a pistol to hand.

^^^^ The boy carried the 350 Legend. He's the one who wounded the bear initially. Didn't say what the dad used subsequently but only that he missed all 8 shots.

^^^ Didn't specifically say what the Dad used for his 8 shots but seconds later the bear was top of him and he was pistol whipping the bear. I'm guessing he had a 8-shot .45 semi-auto pistol. Back-up guess would be 8-shot revolver in 357/38.

It started down hill with the initial shot. I’m not a big fan of the 350 Legend for bear hunting. I’d have to evaluate his bullet choice too.

Was the kid the hunter? The 1st to shoot?

Cool story bro, glad they made it.

Little 200lber or not, going after a wounded bear isn't something I'd take lightly....but I'm also not really a hunter. Those two are going to have a badass story to tell the kids/grandkids someday, and grandpa will actually have the scars to prove it!

quote:

Originally posted by Poacher:
Love the adjectives “monstrous beast” and “woodland beast”. A 200 pound bear is not monstrous.
Agree his shooting was not the best!

Sensationalism sells newspapers.

Did you see this line:
"hoping for reminisces of blood"

Spell check is not your friend.

Instead of pistol whipping the bear, why not empty the magazine at point blank range?

Sounds like the article was written by ChatGPT.

quote:

Originally posted by Beancooker:
Instead of pistol whipping the bear, why not empty the magazine at point blank range?

Sounds like the article was written by ChatGPT.

If it were an 8-shot pistol/revolver then the magazine/cylinder was already empty from his 8 misses. Pretty hard to releoad with a bear on top.

One thing to remember is that it's amazing what you'll do when you panic. Easy for us to say "Oh he should have aimed better", etc.

We weren't there in the dark with a bear charging, all fangs and claws.

Thank God the boy was able to get off a shot, and so well-placed to boot.

quote:

Originally posted by architect:
350 Legend, I'd guess this was a lever action, and working the action in a panic did not help with accuracy.

I'd be interested in what the boy used to finish off the bear, at what range, and where the shot was placed.

ETA:

Upon re-reading the OP, it appears that the boy was carrying the 350 Legend, no indication what Dad was using, although it appears he had both a rifle and a pistol to hand.

350 legend is typically in an AR platform. About the same or more energy than 44mag. Strait walled case for states that require that. Wouldn’t feel that bad about the caliber. Personally I’d have gone with more gun. But if nothing bigger was available not that bad. Need to learn some shot placement. 8 shots and came up with nothing ?

quote:

Originally posted by Beancooker:
Instead of pistol whipping the bear, why not empty the magazine at point blank range?

Sounds like the article was written by ChatGPT.

I was thinking the same thing because the article said dad reached for his rifle and fired 8 shots, but then bears on top of him and he’s pistol whipping it. I just assumed he fired 8 rounds from the rifle and should and been emptying the pistol into the bear instead of hitting it. Who knows, the article was poorly written, but overall good on the boy to take down the bear.

As I am not a hunter, I will ask.
Does Dad spend the bucks to have the bear mounted or stuffed or posed , for posterity ?

What a great conversation piece for the man cave.

Imagine reliving that's dozen times a year .

My guess is the article claims he shot the pistol 8 times and missed with every one. But the article is so poorly written/researched who knows if they got the count right. And unless someone did an autopsy on the bear, how would they know if he made any hits or not?

About panicking:
I remember reading an article in Gun Digest years ago written by a man about hunting with a 30-30 Winchester lever action in the Rocky Mountains.

He recounted a tale where he somehow stumbled on a large male grizzly concealed by some brush. The grizzly angrily charged him and he emptied his rifle into it.

He said something like "After the first few shots the grizzly was probably dead, but I kept firing for all I was worth. I was pretty shook up."