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Bear Attacks Man During Wisconsin Hunting Trip

WASCOTT, Wis. (WCCO) -- The tables turned on a hunter this weekend when a bear attacked him.

Tye Carlson survived, but he ended up with stitches over much of his body. The bear weighed more than 350 pounds. The attack happened near Wascott, Wisconsin.

"Beautiful animal when he came out. Then whoops, 'I think he's going to get me.' He got me," Carlson said.

Carlson has been hunting black bears for more than 40 years. During that time, he has never felt threatened by a bear – that all changed on Saturday.

"He popped out and he wasn't going to stop. He just ran me over and started biting on me," Carlson said.

The bear was being chased by members of Carlson's hunting party, but it was on him before he could shoot.

"I'm a big guy and I couldn't push him around," Carlson said.

The bear bit him, clawed him and tore into his body.

"He was doing everything quick and wasting no time," Carlson said. "I wasn't too panicked at first, but when he started pushing me around and biting hard I got a little, 'Uh oh, I'm in trouble here.'"

That's when the hunting dogs arrived to help Carlson, but they were no match for the 357-pound black bear. As it fought with the dogs, Carlson got his gun and shot the bear several times. Instead of running, it attacked again.

"He had a hold of me here, but I don't know why he let go," said Carlson, pointing to a cut on his face. "He was biting me here. I remember that," said Carlson, while pointing to his right leg.

Finally, another hunter arrived, shot the bear and killed it. The black bear left Carlson black and blue. He lost a lot of blood and now has countless stitches, but he survived and doesn't blame the bear for trying to do the same.

"He was going down swinging, and that's what he did. I got lucky. I got away with one. That's what I did," Carlson said.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources took the head of the bear to be tested for rabies, but they don't believe the animal was sick.

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