Wisconsin boy, 12, shoots bear as it mauls his father
A 12-year-old boy fatally shot a black bear that was attacking his father in Wisconsin, according to wildlife officials.
Owen Beierman, 12, aimed at the bear while it was pinning down his dad during a legal hunting trip.
“Owen was a hero,” said Ryan Beierman, 43, in an interview with the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. “He shot that bear and killed it on top of me.”
The incident occurred on September 6 in Siren, Burnett County, as the two were hunting near their family cabin when they encountered the 200-pound bear. Owen managed to shoot and injure the animal, which then fled into the dense forest.
They pursued the bear, and as they entered a clearing, it charged at Mr. Beierman from about six feet away. He fired eight shots from his pistol but missed, and the bear bit him in the abdomen, arm, and leg.
“I started pistol-whipping him and it felt like I was striking a brick wall,” he told the newspaper.
He described seeing the flash from the muzzle of the boy’s rifle.
“I was flat on my back and could feel the bullet going through the bear,” Mr Beierman said.
He required stitches to reattach a flap of skin to his cheek, and had puncture wounds to his arm and legs.
Officials say bear attacks are very rare.
Nine such incidents were reported in the state between 2013-22, according to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
