‘It was a growl and then an immediate charge’: How a man survived being mauled by a bear in the Alaskan wilderness

By Graham Hurley and David Williams, CNN

(CNN) — A man was nearly mauled to death by a brown bear while hiking in the Alaskan wilderness with his father earlier this week.

Tyler Johnson, 32, was hiking off-trail Saturday on the Kenai Peninsula in south-central Alaska on a hunting trip with his father when they encountered a brown bear. Suddenly, they were in an open area – and they were at least two miles from the nearest road, he said.

“It was a growl and then an immediate charge,” Johnson told CNN on Wednesday, saying it happened in about four seconds.

The bear had been startled by their appearance and initially rushed toward his father, Johnson said.

As the bear slammed Johnson to the ground and bit his leg, he drew his 10mm pistol and emptied the clip into the bear, accidentally shooting a bullet through his own upper leg.

‘Dad, I shot myself’

Johnson vividly described how bears put their all into each move they make and how they continue moving until their last breath.

“Every, every move a bear makes is intentional. They don’t just go halfway into an action,” he said. “So when a bear stops, it’s probably because it’s dead, or it’s about to die.”

The father and son both shot at the bear, killing it, he said. Immediately after the attack, they tried to get the wound under control.

“I looked down my leg, ‘Dad, I shot myself,’” Johnson said.

His father rigged a tourniquet right below Johnson’s knee and wrapped his wound in gauze. After completing the first aid, his father contacted emergency troopers via SOS from the remote area to let them know his son was injured and needed rescue.

Chris Johnson, his father, is an Alaska State Trooper who served with the US Fish and Wildlife Service for more than 30 years. Tyler Johnson said his father’s experience with bear attacks helped save his life.

The adrenaline flowing through Johnson’s body kept him from feeling much pain immediately after the incident, he said.

“To be honest, getting shot, the bear biting into me, I didn’t feel at the time,” he said, adding it felt like a pressure or a charley horse in his leg.

As Johnson waited for rescue, he documented the scene after the attack, recording four videos of the aftermath.

The pain hit Johnson like a truck after he recorded the videos. He performed breathing techniques, listened to music and told his dad stories about a previous crazy hunting trip to try and keep his mind off of the gnawing pain in his leg.

But what kept Johnson going was his father encouraging and comforting him right by his side.

Keeping it together while waiting for rescue

“It’s those little things that try to help you through a hard moment. Realizing that you’re there with the only person you would want to be there with was really comforting,” he said.

When rescue officials arrived, they loaded Johnson onto a tarp and dragged him to a helicopter, Johnson said. He was transported to a hospital in Anchorage, the Alaska Department of Public Safety said in a news release.

Johnson recalled being administered an IV while being taken to the hospital. Later, he received pain medications when he was settled in his hospital room.

Johnson said he is recovering with a bandaged wound and antibiotics, without undergoing any surgical procedures.

Johnson later learned troopers returned to the location of the attack and discovered a cub in the area, he said officials told him. In the moment, Johnson was confused by why the bear would so aggressively approach him.

Johnson was slated to start a new job in Austin, Texas, as soon as this hiking trip was over. His wife and young son have already made the move and they have been in contact with each other throughout his recovery process.

He is set to complete his recovery in Anchorage next week and return to Austin to start his new job.

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly described the location of Tyler Johnson’s gunshot wound. He was wounded in the upper leg.

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