Landon Clement, 31, a hunter from Blue Ridge, Georgia, was attacked by a grizzly bear in the early morning hours of Sept. 26 in Wyoming’s Upper Green River Basin. Suffering severe bite wounds from the apex predator, he was able to escape with his life after shooting the bear dead with his handgun.
The incident occurred around 7:30 AM as Clement and life-long friend John Quintrell enjoyed an archery hunt in picturesque Western Wyoming. The two friends were approximately 300 yards apart scanning the area for elk when Quintrell suddenly heard gunshots followed by Clement screaming, sending him running to his friend’s aid.
Clement was set against a large flat rock, observing the area below when he spotted a large female grizzly and her two nearly grown cubs descending the hillside adjacent to his position.
Recognizing this was dangerous territory, the hunter drew his 10mm Glock “and tried to stay as absolutely still and quiet as he could,” Quintrell reported.
That old trick didn’t work. Mama Bear caught a whiff of Clement’s scent as the trio passed 10 yards in front of him, causing her to immediately charge the young man trapped against a rock with nowhere to go. That’s when Clement opened fire. As the bear’s teeth found their way into his leg, Clement was forced to overcome one more unfortunate piece of bad luck. His Glock jammed.
Thankfully training and presence of mind took over as he cleared the jam like a boss and proceeded to dump those 10mm rounds like last night’s takeout. Quintrell later said that Clement probably fired around 10 shots, and he personally witnessed at least four wounds on the bear’s lifeless carcass, including a fatal headshot.
The bear “was as dead as hell when I got there,” Quintrell said.
Clement described the attack to his friend as sudden and extremely violent, later adding “It Felt Like A Freight Train.”
With 3-inch deep bite wounds in his thigh, it was time to extract his friend and get him to the nearest hospital. Clement’s cousin and father were also along for the hunt and were a half-mile away when the grizzly bear attacked. When they arrived on the scene Quintrell ran to retrieve his side-by-side.
Not quite satisfied yet with his own level of badassery, the injured hunter proceeded to walk part of the way with help from his father and cousin. At that point he was just showing off.
Clement was treated at the Pinedale Clinic in Wyoming.
“He’s still back there with the doctor. He’s been back there a long time,” Quintrell told Cowboy State Daily as they waited at the hospital.
A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service game warden was informed of the attack and the fate of the bear, according to Quintrell, who described his hospitalized mate as an avid hunter, athlete and good guy who is in peak physical condition and of excellent character.
“He’s as honest as the day is long… He doesn’t even cuss. And of course, I cuss like hell.” Quintrell said, adding that he is optimistic about his friend making a full recovery.
According to Quintrell, this wasn’t their first grizzly rodeo in the Upper Green River Basin. Landon Clement and his father were attacked two years prior while returning from a hunt at night. In that incident, Clement was knocked to the ground before the bear fled.
Quintrell himself had an encounter several years back while he and another hunter were attempting to recover an elk his friend had killed earlier. Having been charged by a grizzly already that day, that hunter asked Quintrell to return with him, one carrying a .308 rifle and the other a shotgun. A grizzly, perhaps the one that attacked the hunter earlier, took another run at it, this time getting shot with both weapons before escaping the scene.
Grizzlies remain under federal protection in the lower 48 states and hunting them is prohibited. While it is legal to kill a grizzly in self-defense, game wardens investigate all such shootings.
Considering these attacks and additional incidents occurring with hunters in Idaho and Montana, Quintrell is convinced that grizzlies should be delisted, voicing his concerns with understandable frustration on the matter.
“This is getting ridiculous…Whose kid is going to have to get killed before we have a hunting season on these bears? Is it going to take a governor’s kid or a senator’s kid?”
Quintrell doesn’t think grizzlies need to be exterminated by any means, but allowing hunting of the bears could control their numbers and lessen the risk to hunters and livestock, while also possibly making them more fearful of humans and less prone to attack.
Well it worked, any amount of argument to be had on caliber model or type but he did get to limp away so good enough whether or not it was the best option (for him or in general).
The hunter becomes the hunted.
“You pay your money and take your chances”
Grizzlies are running in what amounts to packs these days, where they are. And where they are, they are overcrowded and need hunting. No need to delist them where they aint…
“A grizzly…getting shot with both weapons (.308 rifle and a shotgun) before escaping the scene.”
Is there ever a headline that reads “Hunter Mildly Bitten by Grizzly”?
“His Glock jammed.”
Everybody knows Glocks don’t jam. Kamala ain’t here, so I will ask all the other Glock experts – why did his Glock jam?
Awkward grip alignment while pushing the muzzle against something while trying to prevent it from getting pushed out of battery and/or weak grip while hip firing are about all I have ever been able to jam a Glock of any sort with unless we are talking absolute garbage steel or aluminum cased ammo. But given enough adverse conditions just about anything can jam somehow. Now 1911 patterns on the other hand may just not like me until heavier loads are involved and/or my grip on them just sucks.
My glock has never jammed.
But then I’ve never shoved it up a bear’s ass and then fired.
Jeff Cooper opined that if you’re likely to wind up in contact with a large predator a short barreled magnum revolver might be the ticket. I think he was talking a S&W mod 19 .357.
And Cooper had a warm spot for the 1911.
A short barreled magnum? No way in hell would I want to go up against a grizzly with a 2″ snubby .357, those things are barely more powerful than a 9mm.
Maybe in his day a “short barreled” magnum was a 4″ barrel? I’ve got an S&W 19 .357 with a 4″ barrel, and it does produce a lot of smack. I consider 4″ the minimum barrel length to get the .357 to perform up to its reputation.
Even then, well, there’s lots of “large predators” but a grizzly is a gigantic predator. I would think a 4″ .357 would probably be up to the task of handling a black bear, but an 850-lb male grizzly… I don’t think that’d be a fight the .357 will win too many times. I’d much rather have a 12-gauge with slugs or a magnum rifle in that fight.
Of course, I’d MUCH rather not be in that fight at all!
When I think short barreled magnum revolver something like the redhawk Alaskan comes to mind but even then would prefer full sized.
Over Grizzly Falls.
Is that about water, a bear or a band?
As my name says, I’m a big fan of 10mm. And while 10mm got the job done here, um, it sure wouldn’t be my first choice against a grizzly! I’d want at least a .44 magnum, preferably something like a .454 Casull, or much more preferably a .338 or higher rifle.
44 starting would be my preferred minimum as well but probably more 480 than 454 but splitting hairs on preference there. As for rifle I genuinely don’t know but would probably grab a 45-70 or 12ga (slug) from stuff I actually have.