Posted on 12/22/2015 5:04:41 PM PST by Coleus
A Boy Scout leader from Boonton suffered bites and scratches after being attacked by a bear while hiking at Splitrock Reservoir Sunday afternoon with three young scouts, authorities said.
Christopher Petronino, 50, managed to fend off the black bear using a rock hammer after the animal pulled him into a small cave. Petronino and the scouts were later able to draw the bear out of the cave with food, Department of Environmental Protection spokesman Bob Considine said in a statement.
The group had set out to hike on the trails that cover the 625-acre wilderness, and they came along the cave, which Petronino told investigators he had known about since the 1980s.
As he dipped into a small crevasse that led to the cave, the bear grabbed his foot and pulled him inside, biting his leg, right shoulder and left shoulder before fighting back, according to Considine.
"Petronino struck the bear twice in the head with a rock hammer. He then pulled his sweatshirt over his head and curled into the fetal position," he said. "He yelled to the scouts, who were outside the cave, to leave and go get help." The young scouts called authorities using a cell phone. Officials began tracking their coordinates and deployed a state police helicopter in hopes of finding them. As they waited, Petronino – still inside the cave and able to hear the bear "huffing" - instructed the children to place any food they had outside the cave, drawing the animal out, Considine said.
(Excerpt) Read more at nj.com ...
over 440 comments on this thread. http://www.nj.com/morris/index.ssf/2015/12/scout_leader_attacked_by_bear_scouts_uninjured_may.html#incart_article_small
Head to head.
Claw to claw.
He should have used his right to bear arms.
Very good!
If I had a hammer...
I’d hammer in the forest.
I’d hammer me a bear head.
Until he was dead.
“625 acre wilderness” That’s not even a square mile. I guess I’m used to a wilderness where there are no people except for a few dedicated hikers or horse backers that go in so deep they have to spend the night.
♪ ♫ ♬ Catchy tune. ♪ ♫ ♬
Don’t bring a hammer to a bear fight.
He certainly shouldn’t have been the sole adult there, but it wasn’t a scouting event. I don’t know why parents let their kids go on these things; the “two-deep” thing is to protect their children.
150 lb bear can kill ya. That poor soul up Georges Lake that got ate by a small bear; they found his head chewed off; lying nx to his knees.
I have one friend who has been mauled twice in his life by small grizzly bears, he got scars from his neck down to his ankles. He’ll take his shirt off in bars to show the folks. then drop his pants; funnier than you’d think.
Twice I have had yearling boars put the sneak on me. They come in real slow with butt high and front quarters hugging the ground; ears going back and forth like crazy. Just like cats sneaking up on rabbits in cut hay field. Quite disconcerting if you don’t have a gun in your hand and you’re attempting to yell and wave the bear off.
I had over 900 picts on my game cam at my stand last June; in less than 2 weeks.
I’m surprised more people don’t get ate by blk bear in lower 48?
I had a run-in with a black bear along the NY/NJ border last fall (2014); just do what the books say (made yourself bigger, make some noise, don’t run) and a couple of things they don’t say (pick up a nice-sized stick, draw your spray) and you’ll be OK. I admit I was terrified, but as an Indian college student had been killed a few months before by doing everything wrong, I figured it was going to be me or the bear. We just had over 500 bears killed in our annual hunt; they can’t share space with people.
If I lived anywhere near grizzlies I’d never go outside...
I saw they extended the Bear season there I think last week.Not enough Bear killed.My son just started hunting the area.He was surprised how nice and helpful everyone was.
“just do what the books say...”
Screw that! Do what he-man FReepers do and kill that sum-of-bi*** with your hunting knife!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1670661/posts
Sure; northwestern NJ (Sussex County) is very “American” and very old-school. The news showed a pack of aging white hippie-types protesting at one of the sites where the hunters registered their kills; one obese woman was weeping hysterically. The cops stood by to ensure the hunters weren’t molested by the out-of-towners...
That’s a great story; thanks. I’ve never gone into the woods alone again without a nice thick staff (rather than trust to Providence to provide a handy one nearby), and I no longer read my maps while walking (I almost walked right into it - it was just standing there silently watching). It was one of the scariest things I’ve ever dealt with; the best was I can describe it is “I could hear my heart”...
For an area with a lot of bears, we actually have few attacks.
:)My husband and Sons go through that here in Pa for the special hunts.One is right up the road.Got deer running all over the place.A herd of 7 come every night-they stroll the neighborhood and hit all their favorite spots.Thanks for being so friendly kearnyirish2 to out of state hunters.:)
Sure; I live about an hour east of there, but hike there frequently (only Sundays during hunting season, though).
I wish they’d let us kill off our deer as well; they cause plenty of auto accidents (some fatal) and Lyme Disease is nasty (until treated, you really feel like you’re about to die).
So a Scout leader planned to take 3 young boys out to a remote cave he knew about without another responsible adult around? The bear might have been the best friend those boys will ever have.
So many accidents around here.The deer kill was not high enough like you for the bear.Next year :)PS Our Grandson went hunting up the mountains this year.He is 11.He is a trooper and did the first full day but asked to go back half way through the 2nd day.Was really cold and never had a shot.
I hope he sticks with it; I wish my sons had been more exposed to that (though there is still time).
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