In most cases, grizzly bears want to avoid humans too. However, protective mama bears are a force to be reckoned with—your presence alone threatens her cubs.
Point-Blank Range Shot Doesn’t Stop Mama Grizzly
This video starts with a warning that you are about to view distressing content. A Canadian man notices several bears on his property and attempts to scare them off. He initially fires a warning shot, but instead of running away from the blast, the mother bear becomes defensive. You can see the man in the clip wearing an orange shirt, blue jeans, and holding a shotgun. His dog is in camera view, too, attempting to help his human get the bears off their property. After the warning shot, the man can be seen running toward the bears for a few seconds and suddenly stopping to aim his shotgun. A woman is behind the camera, and you can hear her gasp and say, “She’s charging!” The moment the man stops is when the mother bear turns and begins charging him. Amazingly, he keeps his calm, never turning his back toward her. He steps backward as she approaches full speed, keeping his shotgun steady and aimed. At this point, his dog is retreating off camera. His backward steps speed up, and he fires his shotgun directly at the mother bear. Immediately, she reacts, her head coming down toward the ground while her body flips around. The woman behind the camera, obviously startled, says, “oh, god,” as she tries to keep the camera steady. The mother bear can be seen with her legs up in the air, stunned—only a few feet away from the man. She rolls several times on the ground, gets her bearings, stands up, and then continues charging. Luckily for the father protecting his property, he was able to get inside his home and slam the door before the mama bear could get to him. You can hear the final moments when the man and woman are reunited—he’s breathing heavily as they try to figure out where the bear went. Later, he tracked the bear, but he didn’t find any blood. He hopes that she thinks twice before approaching humans like that again.
Up next, more incredible grizzly encounters:
Watch an Adult Grizzly Charge a Park Ranger in YellowstoneWatch a Grizzly Chase a Herd of Wild Horses in Stunning FootageWatch a Gigantic Moose Chase Down a Racing Grizzly
