Richard Wesley: Bowhunter Attacked By Charging Black Bear [Video]


Bowhunter Richard Wesley was standing alongside the Fire River in Ontario when a large black bear suddenly appeared about 100 feet away. The brief video of the approaching bear as it attacked the hunter has now gone viral.

The black bear attack of the bow hunter shows the massive animal wandering nearby, apparently unaware of Richard Wesley’s presence. As the bear meanders closer, the Canadian bowhunter is shown attempting to scare the animal away.

Wesley is heard making a very loud noise as he stands up from his hunting spot. The black bear is not at all deterred by the bowhunter’s actions and moves forward in his direction at a hastened pace.

Richard Wesley starts walking backwards while continuing to shout loudly at the black bear. In what can only be described as a horrifying moment, the bear leaps at the bowhunter’s upper torso and neck area.

Both thinking and moving quickly, the Canadian hunter is astoundingly able to deflect the hard blow by the black bear with his bow just before he tumbles onto the ground.

Once Wesley is on the ground, he drops the camera he was holding, but the device keeps on recording. The bowhunter and the bear are heard wrestling off camera.

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Canadian bowhunter Richard Wesley attacked by a black bear along Fire River in Ontario. [Image by CampCrazy Photography/Shutterstock]

“I am so happy after this confrontation with a black bear during our spring hunt. No wounds except a bruised elbow and ego where the bear threw me down,” Richard Wesley captioned his now viral bear attack YouTube video. “Genuinely happy that this was a non fatal or tragic outcome. Proving that the black bear is a wild and unpredictable animal. Again so happy with the outcome.”

Black Bear Attacks Bowhunter Along Fire River In Ontario, Canada

The Canadian bowhunter and the black bear can be heard fighting off-camera for about 15 seconds, the Daily Mail reports.

“I should have shot a long time ago,” Wesley says after the life-threatening encounter is over.

It is unclear from the video footage if the Canadian bowhunter killed the bear during the attack, but Richard Wesley later revealed the wild animal simply got up and fled after the attempted mauling.

Black bears in North America kill fewer than one person annually on average, the North American Bear Center reports. In comparison, about one in every 16,000 people commit a homicide across the continent each year. The majority of black bear attacks reportedly occur as a defensive move by the animals when they encounter a human being close by in their natural habitat.

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Black bears range throughout most of North America. They are found in large numbers in both Alaska, and Canada. [Image by Jerry Sharp/Shutterstock]

Adult male black bears commonly weigh about 500 pounds. The bears have been known to run at speeds of up to 30 miles per hour. This species of bear also typically has keen eyesight.

There are at least 600,000 to 750,000 black bears roaming in the wilderness in North America, making them the most common bear breed in the entire world. There are about 450,000 black bears in Canada, according to a report by the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

Black bears can live up to 30 years but typically only survive for two decades, according to the National Wildlife Federation. The extremely versatile diet of black bears permits them to live in a vast array of habitats. The massive creatures are known to call both deciduous and coniferous forests home.

Black bears tend to avoid wide open spaces unless such regions are along a river where riparian vegetation and trees abound. Although black bears can usually find something to eat just about anywhere, they routinely hunt for food in wooded areas.

[Feature Image by Michael Stokes/Shutterstock]

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