12-year-old fatally shoots black bear that's mauling his father

A 12-year-old boy is being praised as a hero for shooting and killing a wounded black bear as it was mauling his father near their hunting cabin in western Wisconsin.

Ryan Beierman, 43, shared the story of his son’s heroics with the Minnesota Star Tribune , sharing that he was pinned beneath the 200-pound bear on Sept. 6 when his son, Owen, shot the bear with his hunting rifle.

“Owen was a hero. He shot that bear and killed it on top of me,” Beierman said.

The attack left Beierman injured, suffering bites to his forehead, arm, and leg. He also has since had 23 stitches to reattach a flap of skin on his cheek that ripped off during the attack.

The father and son had spotted the bear from their tree stand near Siren, Wisconsin, earlier in the day. Owen had then fired a shot at the bear, wounding it before it ran away, the Tribune reported.

After they waited for about 20 minutes, they started looking for it using a neighbor’s tracking dog.

“We were sort of hung up in a thicket when we heard the dog yelp and sprint past us in retreat,” Beierman told the Tribune. “Just then, I stepped into a semi-clearing. I said, ‘There he is, Owen.’”

Beierman said that the bear quickly charged at them from about 6 feet away, and as it did, he fired eight shots at the animal with his pistol, though all of them missed.

“Before I knew it, I was flat on my back,” he said. “I started pistol-whipping him, and it felt like I was striking a brick wall. I tried hitting him between the ear and mouth with a blunt edge of the pistol.”

As the bear went after Beierman’s head, he said that all he “could see were his claws and teeth.”

“I lifted my right arm to block him. I remember the first bite. I heard a crunch. The bear was still attacking,” he said. “He wasn’t going to leave me.”

Beierman said that for about 45 seconds, the bear attacked him as it was also “fighting for its life.” While he punched and flailed under the beast, he said he saw a flash from the muzzle of his son’s rifle.

The shot was able to kill the bear and stop its attack before a neighbor quickly drove the father and son to a nearby hospital. On the way, they met with an ambulance, which took them the rest of the way.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has deemed their hunt legal, saying their actions were justified in killing the animal.