Wyoming hunter accidentally shoots himself in the leg while trying to fend off grizzly bear attack
PINEDALE, WYOMING: A hunter accidentally shot himself in the leg while trying to square off a bear attack in west-central Wyoming. This is the second such attack that has taken place within a week, according to the officials. The Sublette County Sheriff's Office said that Lee Francis, 65, of Evanston, was taken to the University of Utah Health hospital for treatment after the horrific encounter on Friday, October 21.
Sue Winchester, a hospital spokesperson, said on Sunday that she does not have permission to release any information related to the condition of Francis. Francis was hunting with his son in an area south of Grand Teton National Park on Friday evening when he was suddenly attacked by the bear. He was able to save himself as he fired several rounds from his handgun but one of the rounds hit him in the lower leg.
READ MORE
'He was protecting me': Dog fights kangaroo for 45 minutes to save elderly owner from deadly attack
Francis' son called for emergency services with the help of a satellite phone just before 6 pm. He provided first aid to his father and was able to help him onto a horse and then headed toward a nearby lake to meet search and rescue crews. The sheriff's office said in a statement that Francis was taken to the hospital via helicopter. Sergeant Travis Bingham with the Sublette County Sheriff's Office said Sunday, October 23, that wildlife officials have not located the grizzly bear. Due to snowing, Game and Fish planned to try to search for the bear again on Monday, depending on the weather conditions.
Friday's attack marked the second grizzly bear mauling in Wyoming in a week. MEAWW previously reported that a bear attacked two college wrestlers in Wyoming on Saturday, October 15. Kendell Cummings of Evanston, Wyoming, and Brady Lowry of Cedar City, Utah, both sophomores at Northwest College in Powell, were hunting at the Shoshone National Forest with their teammates, August Harrison and Orin Jackson.
According to Fox News, Lowry and Cummings came across bear feces just before the attack when they moved to a higher spot. "Before you could even think or blink, there's a bear that came running out of the trees right in front of me," Lowry said. "It was beating me up pretty good." He added, “I saw bear crap all over, and I looked at Kenny and said, ‘There is a grizzly bear here,” and right after I said that, the bear came out of the willows. It was thick. It came at me and charged me and tackled me off this cliff into this gulley and was going at me for a little bit.” While Lowry curled up in a ball, Cummings tried to save him from the bear attack by grabbing the creature and yelling at it. Soon, it started chasing Cummings. Lowry did not waste a single moment before calling 911 while shouting for help and tried to get attention from his two other wrestling teammates who were in the area. The bear bit Lowry's right thigh and he also suffered a broken arm that required six screws.