Man Recounts Horrific Bear Attack In Pine County
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Brandon Johnson and Craig Lindstrom have gone an annual hunting trip for 12 years. But this last one in September was different.
"Everyone kids about things, but no one ever believes that something bad like that's going to happen," said Brandon, from Center City.
His group shot a black bear on their trip near Duxbury. Later in the night, they decided to go find it out of fear the warm temperatures would spoil the meat.
"I just specifically remember how dark it was," Craig said.
It was so dark that when they found the bear's body, they didn't realize it was still alive. It suddenly charged at Brandon.
"It was the biggest bear's face I've ever seen, and all of a sudden its head turned, it's tooth went underneath my jaw and then instantly I was like, 'This isn't a dream,'" Brandon said.
The 535-pound bear was on top of Brandon, biting and scratching him.
"The point where I didn't think I was going to make it is each of the times it came back and did the same thing over and over," Brandon said.
He used his knife to stab the bear repeatedly until it left.
Craig swam across the pond to reach his friend.
"The screams," Craig said. "They were really, really piercing,"
He used two tourniquets from his hunting equipment to stop Brandon's bleeding.
"Then I said, 'Tell my parents I love them, tell my kids I love them,'" Brandon said.
Craig stayed with Brandon for hours in the woods until their friends were able to find a cabin and dial 911.
Both of them say they'll be back hunting bears again.
"I just like being part of the camp and part of the fun of the whole comradery of hunting," Brandon said.
His friends found the bear the next day, 50 feet from where he was attacked. He said all of the people in their hunting group had a license to bear hunt and registered baiting stations with the DNR.
Brandon suffered two broken arms and wounds to his jaw, face, legs and stomach. He will have more surgery, but he says he's lucky to be alive.