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New York Post
Hunter calmly talks to camera moments after accidentally shooting himself while stopping bear attack
By Olivia Land,
6 hours ago
He bear-ly felt a thing.
A hunter accidentally shot himself in the leg while “unloading like a motherf–ker” on a brown bear that mauled him – then calmly recounted the ordeal in a video while waiting to be rescued.
Tyler Johnson, 32, even filmed his gruesomely wounded leg — with a makeshift tourniquet — as he waited for help while recounting how he and his dad, Chris, were attacked while hiking off-trail on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska Saturday.
Tyler Johnson, 32, was mauled by a bear on the Kenai Peninsula on Saturday. CNN
“We startled her, or him…and it came charging at my dad,” he said of the brown bear. “He made some noise, and then it went straight to me.”
As the massive animal threw Johnson to the ground and bit his leg, he was able to grab his 10mm pistol and started “unloading like a motherf–kr” into the bear, he said – accidentally injuring himself.
“I did shoot myself when I was falling backwards…but it went straight through my leg,” Johnson said, angling the camera down to give viewers a grisly up-close look at the wound.
Johnson and his dad were left sitting by the dead bear’s body as they waited for emergency troopers to respond to their SOS call and help evacuate them from the area.
“It’s a beautiful day,” Johnson said as he looked up at the nearly cloudless blue sky – seemingly oblivious to the red-stained makeshift tourniquet that was keeping his leg from bleeding out.
Johnson later told CNN that adrenaline stopped him from initially feeling any pain. When the shock eventually wore off, he used breathing exercises and music to cope with the mounting pain.
He also told his dad a long story about a previous dramatic hunting experience to keep himself distracted.
“It’s those little things that try to help you through a hard moment. Realizing that you’re there with the only person you would want to be there with was really comforting,” Johnson told CNN of the experience.
Johnson was eventually safely evacuated to a hospital in Anchorage, the Alaska Department of Public Safety said.
Johnson initially did not feel any pain, thanks to the adrenaline in the moment after the attack. CNN
He lucked out by avoiding surgery, and only needed some bandages and IV antibiotics to prevent any infections, he said.
Johnson credited his father, an Alaska State Trooper who has experienced previous bear attacks, with helping him avoid more severe injuries.
When troopers examined the scene of the attack, they realized there was a cub nearby – which might have explained why the bear was so aggressive when it approached Johnson and his father.
“It was a growl and then an immediate charge,” Johnson told CNN of the moment the massive animal closed in.
“Every, every move a bear makes is intentional. They don’t just go halfway into an action. So when a bear stops, it’s probably because it’s dead, or it’s about to die,” he added of the moment he and his father finally stopped the bear with a shower of bullets.
Johnson’s near-miss also came as he was preparing to start a new job in Austin, Texas – where his wife and young son were already waiting for him, CNN said.
He is finishing his recovery in Anchorage this week, and is on track to return to Austin to start the new gig as planned.
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