Just last month the National Park Service advised people not to push their friends down in front of a bear if they are attacked.
That advice apparently works.
Two archery hunters from Idaho came upon a grizzly bear on Friday morning and one started to get mauled.
Instead of ensuring his friend was down on the ground and then running away, his friend decided — just like the Park Service advised — to help instead.
What makes this story even more bizarre is that this bear attack appears not to have been started by idiotic behavior of humans.
Unlike the Montana man who went searching for a grizzly bear in an abandoned barn (he found it) or the Montana woman who wasn’t paying attention while trail running and literally bounced off a grizzly, these two hunters appeared not to have done anything overwhelmingly stupid.
In fact, the Idaho Fish and Game Department credits the archery hunters for how they handled the situation: they were prepared.
The department said the victim (hunter #1) was pursuing an elk in a remote area of the Caribou-Targhee National Forest when he and his hunting companion (hunter #2) encountered the bear in thick brush.
Although you are supposed to be loud in grizzly country to not surprise a bear (Montana man: please take note), it kind of defeats the purpose when you are hunting — because you also alert the animal you’re hunting.
Regardless, the grizzly apparently went after hunter #1 who was able to deploy his bear spray right before he got knocked to the ground.
Following National Park Service advice of not pushing your friend down in front of the bear and running away, hunter #2 actually helped his buddy.
“The hunting companion came to his aid and deployed his own bear spray canister, shortening the duration of the attack and causing the bear to flee the area,” the department said.
“Their preparedness and use of bear spray allowed both hunters to walk out of the backcountry on their own accord to call for help,” they said.
As for the health of the hunter, he’ll be ok, apparently. He was transported to a local hospital for treatment.
To warn other visitors of bear in the bear country, the department is putting up signs to let them know there are bears present in the bear country.
Hopefully the signs will alert people who are in bear country that there are bears in the bear area.