T
The Fish Assassin
Guest
From the T/C.
Bow hunter Rory Chapple thought he was a goner when a grizzly sow attacked him from behind while he was hunting in a remote corner of northern B.C.
“She came at me from behind on a game trail I was walking along,” the 39-year-old auto-body mechanic from Fort St. John recalled this morning.
“All I heard was huffing and and she was in full charge and I realized she wasn’t bluffing.”
Chapple, who has been hunting since age nine and bow hunting for more than 25 years, was out for the opening of elk season on Sept. 8 at a remote camp near the Kechika River when the sow struck. He tried to back away but tripped and he ended-up face-to-face with the grizzly as survival mode set in.
“I had no gun and no pepper spray,” Chapple said. “So I reached into my quiver and grabbed an arrow — it was the only weapon I had.
“I grabbed the arrow and figured it was either her mouth or her throat. I stuck it in her throat and she fell down on me.
“Her breathing changed from huffing and growling to a gurgly-raspy noise so I figured I got her in the windpipe. It worked. She left me alone.
“I didn’t think she was going to stop. The next thing I know she is running down the hill with the arrow in her throat. It fell out and she took off.”
Screaming for help, Chapple’s friends got him back to camp, where he collapsed in shock. He ended up with scrapes and bruises, a sore back, torn pants and one heck of a souvenir — the arrow that saved his life.
The hunting party looked for the injured bear but it was never found. The father of two girls — aged 10 and six — said he was thankful to return to his family alive.
“Afterward the first thing you think about is your family,” said Chapple, who is married to wife Lena. “I am just happy to be alive.”
Chapple said bears aren’t common in the area near the Yukon border. “I’ve been going up there for seven years and I’ve seen a few bears — maybe three in the seven years and it was at a distance,” he said.
“Next time, I won’t hunt alone and will bring pepper spray.”
Conservation officers said this was the second bear attack in 2009 — a relatively quiet one for attacks.
Pretty quick thinking!!
Take only what you need.
Bow hunter Rory Chapple thought he was a goner when a grizzly sow attacked him from behind while he was hunting in a remote corner of northern B.C.
“She came at me from behind on a game trail I was walking along,” the 39-year-old auto-body mechanic from Fort St. John recalled this morning.
“All I heard was huffing and and she was in full charge and I realized she wasn’t bluffing.”
Chapple, who has been hunting since age nine and bow hunting for more than 25 years, was out for the opening of elk season on Sept. 8 at a remote camp near the Kechika River when the sow struck. He tried to back away but tripped and he ended-up face-to-face with the grizzly as survival mode set in.
“I had no gun and no pepper spray,” Chapple said. “So I reached into my quiver and grabbed an arrow — it was the only weapon I had.
“I grabbed the arrow and figured it was either her mouth or her throat. I stuck it in her throat and she fell down on me.
“Her breathing changed from huffing and growling to a gurgly-raspy noise so I figured I got her in the windpipe. It worked. She left me alone.
“I didn’t think she was going to stop. The next thing I know she is running down the hill with the arrow in her throat. It fell out and she took off.”
Screaming for help, Chapple’s friends got him back to camp, where he collapsed in shock. He ended up with scrapes and bruises, a sore back, torn pants and one heck of a souvenir — the arrow that saved his life.
The hunting party looked for the injured bear but it was never found. The father of two girls — aged 10 and six — said he was thankful to return to his family alive.
“Afterward the first thing you think about is your family,” said Chapple, who is married to wife Lena. “I am just happy to be alive.”
Chapple said bears aren’t common in the area near the Yukon border. “I’ve been going up there for seven years and I’ve seen a few bears — maybe three in the seven years and it was at a distance,” he said.
“Next time, I won’t hunt alone and will bring pepper spray.”
Conservation officers said this was the second bear attack in 2009 — a relatively quiet one for attacks.
Pretty quick thinking!!
Take only what you need.
