| DoubleD |
| (.400 member) |
| 23/07/06 04:27 PM |
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Take a knife to a bear fight!
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I'll let the news report do the talking:
Local Man stabs bear to death
55-year-old escapes attack with help from dog and a 6-inch hunting knife
MELINDA DALTON
BRENDA GRUNDT, www.WAWA-NEWS.COM
Tom Tilley, with his dog Sam, killed a vicious 200-pound black bear near Wawa, Ont.
(Jul 22, 2006)
A Waterloo man and his dog made a harrowing escape from the clutches of a vicious black bear Thursday while portaging near Wawa, Ont.
Tom Tilley, 55, killed the nearly 200-pound bear by jumping on its back and stabbing the aggressive animal with a six-inch hunting knife after his dog alerted him and distracted the bear.
"Love is a very powerful emotion and my thought right away was, 'You're not going to kill my dog,' " Tilley said yesterday.
"I really consider my dog a hero. Without that first warning I would have had the bear clamping down on my neck."
Tilley had planned on spending 12 days portaging through the area near Wawa with his American Staffordshire, Sam.
Four days into the trip, as he was making his third trip back to the water near Abbey Lake to retrieve his gear, he heard his dog growl and noticed the bear closing in on him. He said he did what he's been taught to do when a bear is close -- he starting waving his arms and slowing started backing away from the animal.
The bear moved off the trail, but a few seconds later reappeared, cutting off Tilley's escape route.
"That's when I knew I had a serious problem . . . I was lunch," he said.
Sam, who was behind Tilley before the bear moved up the trail, was now between the bear and his owner. Instead of taking an aggressive stance, the dog stood sideways blocking the bear's route.
"The bear took a few steps down the trail and clamped its mouth on the back of my dog," Tilley said. "By attracting the bear's attention like that and distracting the bear from me it gave me the quick opportunity I needed to run around to the back of the bear, get on its back and with my knife start stabbing it."
Tilley had recently purchased the knife that would save his life after reading the story of Jacqueline Perry, the young Cambridge doctor who was killed by a bear last September.
Perry's husband attempted to fend off the animal with a Swiss Army Knife -- the only weapon he had.
"When I read the report about her death, it really hit home to me that these things are possible," Tilley said.
"I owe her husband a real debt of gratitude because if I hadn't heard her story and got that knife, I wouldn't be telling this story."
After making sure the animal was dead, Tilley realized he had suffered a wound to his hand and Sam had two puncture marks on his back. He needed to get help, but was a two-day portage away from civilization.
Dragging his canoe across the short portage, Tilley paddled for about an hour before he came across a pair of Americans who happened to have a satellite phone.
They called for help and two hours later, a cargo plane arrived to take Tilley back to Wawa for medical attention.
He was treated and released from hospital.
News of his feat passed quickly through the small community, with a population of just over 3,000.
"He had a lot of cojones to do what he did," said Brenda Grundt, who operates the local news site Wawa-news.com and drove Tilley two hours back to where he'd left his van after the incident.
LUCKY TO HAVE KNIFE
"It's pretty amazing. Here's a guy that wouldn't be here if he hadn't happened to have a knife on him."
As for Tilley, it wasn't until he was back in his van alone with Sam that he took in the gravity of the situation.
"I just thanked God I was alive and that my dog was alive and cried a bit, but they were tears of thanks and relief," he said.
The Ministry of Natural Resources has sent the bear's body to Guelph and Ottawa for testing.
"It's very unusual for a bear to attack a person (and) pretty amazing this gentleman was able to kill it just with a knife," said Jolanta Kowalski, spokes-person for the ministry.
Because Wawa doesn't have a veterinarian's office and a specialist wasn't available to treat his hand, Tilley decided to push through and make the long journey home that night.
Back in Waterloo, news of his experience trickled back to amazed friends and family. Despite the danger, Tilley said the incident hasn't erased his love of the outdoors.
"My daughter says I'm not allowed to go up there anymore," he said with a laugh. " But I left my canoe there knowing I'll have to go back to get it."
mdalton@therecord.com
| bulldog563 |
| (.400 member) |
| 23/07/06 05:18 PM |
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Re: Take a knife to a bear fight!
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Damn he put the hurt on that bear. Didn't realize black bears were aggressive like that.
| DoubleD |
| (.400 member) |
| 23/07/06 06:56 PM |
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Re: Take a knife to a bear fight!
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I don't think the bear was being agressive.
We see a dog, the bear see's food.
| bulldog563 |
| (.400 member) |
| 23/07/06 07:18 PM |
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Re: Take a knife to a bear fight!
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I guess what I am saying is I didn't realize blackies tried to take game that large. I thought they were mostly herbivorous with some fish thrown in.
| DoubleD |
| (.400 member) |
| 23/07/06 07:22 PM |
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Re: Take a knife to a bear fight!
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You ought to see what a black bear will do to a herd of sheep...kill as many as they can then eat what they can for days if left alone..
| DoubleD |
| (.400 member) |
| 24/07/06 12:58 AM |
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Re: Take a knife to a bear fight!
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Sorry about the picture width, I am just copying them from my friend as is,
Here is the knife. Good older mass market Buck!
I think the label is Photoshop
Here's the dog.
| DarylS |
| (.700 member) |
| 24/07/06 01:40 AM |
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Re: Take a knife to a bear fight!
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Amazing is right. The man was very fortunate.
: Black bears are actually more dangerous than grizzlies, in that most black bear attacks, started from protection of food, young or territory, turn predatory during the attack. This means the bear decides you are on the menue. Disney has done more harm than can be imagined. They are not the clowns of the forest, furry friends or non dangerous. All bears are omniverous, meaning they eat both vegitation and meat.
: This bear may have been protecting territory, or merely thought it could handle the man and dog. They wre lucky hit was a small bear, less than 200 pounds. The area the man was canoeing in, has black bears running up to 450 pounds.
; The bear-course I attended as part of my forestry training, taught us a 12 bore loaded with slugs is the best pretection and if one cannot be carried, then a knife with a minimum of 8" of actual blade is recommended.
: A few years back, a local fellow (Vanderhoof, B.C.) managed to kill a female grizzly with his hunting knife, with only a short 5" or 6" blade. She attacked out of nowhere, but later, it was found she was protecting her current food supply, a dead moose she may have killed. He-too was most fortunate.
| MopaneMike |
| (.300 member) |
| 26/07/06 08:39 AM |
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Re: Take a knife to a bear fight!
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Wait, wait, wait a minute...... This guy buy's a knife cause he heard somebodey else fended off a bear in the area with a knife??... What the hell's wrong with packing a .44??... Oh, what was I thinking.. In the great white north the average joe is not allowed to own/carry a firearm for protection. Specialy one of those killer handguns (just might go on a rampage ya-know) As all the social elitist know, the animal's life is certainly more important than that guy's life.. Years ago while deer hunting, while walking in heavily brushy area. I some how ended up in the middle of three boar black bears fighting.. It got real hairy when the winner still all fired up came walking back down the path and ran into me.. It was a long stare out at about 25yds.. He finaly left the trail grumbling.. But at least I had an ace in the hole, a 30-06 vs 6" Buck knife.. Who ever knew the southern Kalifornia mountains could be so exciting...
I agree... Most likely he was after the dog.. But that ain't the point
| EricD |
| (.416 member) |
| 27/07/06 01:13 AM |
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Re: Take a knife to a bear fight!
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In reply to:
Oh, what was I thinking.. In the great white north the average joe is not allowed to own/carry a firearm for protection.
Mike,
I'm with you. I also can't help but shake my head in disgust when I read or hear the media say something stupid like: "It was shot with a Magnum"...
As if there is a specific gun/calibre named "Magnum"... And the sad part is that the uninformed swallow it raw, without question.
Erik
| Preacher |
| (.224 member) |
| 27/07/06 07:31 AM |
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Re: Take a knife to a bear fight!
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In reply to:
"He had a lot of cojones to do what he did," said Brenda Grundt
Undoubtily he had. Iīm glad that this old spanish word takes its place into english, to exactly define the braveness of that man.
But...Can anyone seriously put some light into the bearīs behaviour? Was the attack product of a surprised encounter (i.e. like most of snakes attacks), was because the bear felt itself somehow threatned (i.e. like a sow with cubs), or was it a true thinking about to have a lunch in man or dog format ????
| AdamTayler |
| (.375 member) |
| 27/07/06 04:07 PM |
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Re: Take a knife to a bear fight!
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I thought I replied to this post but I guess I not.
In reply to:
In the great white north the average joe is not allowed to own/carry a firearm for protection. Specialy one of those killer handguns
We can carry long arms for protection. Some old cowboys still carry back up.