A moose hunter in Alaska is alive and well following a brown bear attack partially thanks to a very thick coat he was wearing… so wardrobe selection apparently does matter in the great outdoors.
For my money, there’s nothing scarier than the hunter becoming the hunted. For two moose hunters near Soldotna, Alaska, that’s exactly what happened to them. Gavin Haakenson and Ethan Yeager were out in the woods looking to down an antlered beast. Instead, they had to fight for their lives when they crossed paths with an aggressive brown bear.
Haakenson told Outdoor Life that he and Yeager were heading back to their truck when the bear came out of nowhere and attacked him:
“I heard a noise to my right and looked over and there was a brown bear charging at me at full speed. It was super close, maybe 10 feet, when I saw it. It was growling extremely loud, a terrifying noise. I saw its face. Its teeth were out. It hit me in the shoulder and knocked me down.”
Absolutely terrifying.
Haakenson says that he quickly grabbed for his rifle and even managed to get a shot off to try and scare the charging brown bear away, but it was to no avail. Before he knew it, the brown bear was on top of him, and he blacked out:
“That’s when my blackout started. I’m glad I blacked out and I don’t remember the bear being on top of me. The whole thing happened in 10 seconds.”
Fortunately for Haakenson, his hunting buddy was close by, and he continually shouted “HEY BEAR” while also firing off warning shots. It was that defense that ended up being enough of a disturbance for the bear. After 10 seconds or so, the predator released the moose hunter’s arm, and ran off and away from Haakenson and Yeager.
Miraculously, neither of the moose hunters were hurt during the attack. The only casualty that the pair suffered was Haakenson’s KUIU jacket, which ended up taking the worst of the brown bear’s onslaught. There’s no doubt that the moose hunters are lucky to be alive, and it’s a good thing they were hunting together… if Haakenson was by himself, there’s no telling if his jacket would have been enough on it’s own to save his life.
Here’s the post showing the moose hunter’s jacket following the attack:
“Not a post I’d imagine to ever make, but last night Gavin called Dennis that he’d just been attacked by a brown bear while he and Ethan were out moose hunting! It full sprinted at him out of nowhere. They got some shots off and were able to get away.
So thankful it wasn’t worse!! Troopers are out looking, it’s possibly injured down at the end of Funny River. Very thankful for the thick KUIU coat that might’ve saved his arm and prevented it from breaking the skin!”
Unbelievable story of survival.
And the icing on the cake? The KUIU brand has reached out and says they are going to replace his jacket, and give him some additional gear as well.
