Surprising an animal, especially bears usually gets a reaction in a bad way. I think had he stood still or squatted down the bear may have walked by allowing him to slip an arrow in. A lucky Hunter for sure to be able to walk away without injury.
No broadhead so he wasn't hunting, so he should not have let the bear get that close before trying to scare him off. He was already so close that he was coming no matter what. Always carry spray. He's lucky the bear didn't press the issue because he was totally unprepared.
I thought he had a broadhead on. Hard to tell, but I thought I saw one when I slowed it down. From everything I have read, seen, heard, etc.., uninjured Black Bears attack hunters about as often as it snows here in Charleston - which is rarely. You can find unlimited videos and stories of hunters on the ground shooting Black Bears at close range. Any and all wild animals CAN attack - (Jimmy Carter got attacked by a bunny), but it is pretty rare to see an actual Black bear attack on a hunter. I would say it was just pure bad luck.
"Can't feel bad about a hunter getting attacked." Wow - that is classy right there.
Initially I couldn't see a broadhead, but if you pause the action when he starts yelling, and the arrow is in line with the bear, I thought I saw a tiny broadhead.
The noise he made must have sounded like a challenge to the bear.
where I live I have lots of bears and have dealt with them at close range for 25 years. I have hunted lots of bears spot and stalk with longbows or recurves for that same time period. They get awnry when they think it's their territory. They exhibit specific behaviors. First they will start trashing the woods rolling logs,rocks etc generally making a ruckus. It escalates when they start poping their teeth together. Next comes the bluff charge , they will lope in sometimes kinda sideways and test your response. If you show weakness or fear they can turn it up notch. Always make yourself look big, avoid eye contact , talk and back away slowly. One thing for sure is they determine the out come. The only close call I had I put 5 rounds from .270 into the ground right at a bears feet and it never backed up a step. As I was reloading it decided to walk away very slowly talking the whole way. Put an arrow into one in defense if you want. Based on what I know they will get to you long before they die so be ready to go hand to hand for a bit.
I shot a big doe one night right at dusk, she ran across a pipeline and died at he edge of a swamp. I gave her some time but could see she was dead. It was almost dark when I got to her and started to gut her out. I stood up and heard a loud WOOF, WOOF, and a large animal crashing through the swamp.
That night I was watching them digging for gold in Alaska and a Black Bear came in camp. They were yellin and the Bear let out a loud WOOF, WOOF. Holly bat crap batman that Bear was within twenty yards of me. Still get a little nervous thinking about it.
Another youtube hero out bear hunting with two field pointed arrows. Watch out for the bear hunter with only two field pointed arrow, he knows the name of the game?
2) he has shot other bears, normally from a stand. Stalking them is not the usual approach, but I know guys who do it. I would suspect he was watching it and got concerned it would wander up on him and then get surprised. But who knows. Can't explain the arrow head.
3) He is indiginous, so some of those guys still spend most of their time in the bush, he may or not know a thing or two about bears.
4) For a guy in norther ontario, he has a pretty nice bow rig. Anything you see it costs 50-100% more by the time you get it here. Don't see trad guys all that much around here.
I have called bears in with a predator call. That gets exciting. I have called in large bears twice while using a fawn bleat. I don't shoot bear but almost had to shoot a big aggressive male that refused to leave after I yelled and he bluff charged me several times. That was very thrilling. A bull moose in rut can be 10 times more terrifying than a black bear.
