U.S.A. –-(AmmoLand.com)- On the East Fork of the Wind River, near Lander, Wyoming, three bow hunters were walking to their hunting grounds, bows in hand. An old boar grizzly suddenly charged them from a few yards left of their approach.
The bow hunters had set up base camp the day before at the East Fork trailhead. The next morning, they rode horses six miles up the trail, turned west, and rode uphill until the terrain was too steep for the horses. At about 7:30, they dismounted and continued up the steep slope of the trail on foot, in line.
The three men had covered about 500 yards from the horses when it happened. They heard loud crashing noises above them to their front left. The lead hunter started to reach for an arrow, thinking it might be an elk. He saw the grizzly coming at them. He dropped the arrow and bow and drew his Taurus .45 1911 semi-auto. He yelled at the bear and started backing away. As the bear saw the two other hunters behind the lead, it momentarily paused, giving him time to rack the slide and chamber a round. The Taurus had eight rounds in its magazine.
The pause was momentary; not a full stop of the charge. The lead hunter was able to start shooting from a range of six feet. The grizzly grabbed the lead hunter by the left thigh and the hunter went down with the bear on top of him.
