If you haven’t already heard this story out of Wyoming last week, take heed as you prepare to head into the hills this season.
Ron Leming Sr. (pictured) had already missed two standing elk and on this day, was thirty yards downhill from his son, Ron Leming Jr. While calling in an elk, the son heard a noise behind and turned to find himself fifteen feet from a grizzly and unable to get off a shot at it, he jumped behind a tree before tearing off downhill. Ron’s dad let loose an arrow at the bruin as his son went by and was uncertain if it found its mark. ”I took three or four more steps and I fell. The bear was on top of me,” said Ron Jr.
After kicking the bear he scrambled to a forked tree but the bear pounced again.
As Leming hit the bear with his bow and attempted to get away, the bear suddenly moved off on its own. A few steps towards his father then off and piled up, dead. After taking 45 minutes to gather himself, the two headed back to camp, the son walking because he was unable to mount his horse. Eventually he was able to get to the local hospital where he received stitches on his hands and attention to bites on his back. Leming was not charged with illegally shooting the grizzly because it was done in self defense.
The touching point of the story was the night before, after his earlier misses, Leming Sr. said a prayer “for God to guide his arrow.” Looks like someone was listening.
1 Comment
Now that’s double tough – and pretty much double freaky. Few critters can evoke such horrors as a griz – takes some serious intestinal fortitude to stand in the face of these guys and put an arrow through it as it chases your son. Must have been a double lunger to get it to pile up so quickly.