After reading the accounts in the "Bear Hunting Forum" I decided to tell about this one.
In 1979 my friend Dan and I were hunting Dall Sheep down on the Keni. A friend of Dan's just had to come along. We climbed the mountain and set up camp. The next morning this young person decided to go off by himself to hunt for the day. Well Dan and I got our sheep aroung midday and went back to camp. As darkness fell we begin to get concerned when the young man did not come in. Before dark, we built a smokey fire and used an air horn to try and guide him back to camp. After dark Dan decided to go for help. It took all night for Dan to climb down and then drive to the nearest lodge to call the Troopers. I stayed up all night keeping the fire going to mark the location of the camp, in case the lost hunter was trying to find his way back, or the troopers came before daylight. The Troopers arrived about mid morning, with Dan. They began to search the area. The first day they found nothing. The next morning a passing SuperCub pilot reported seeing someone lying on a ledge in the next valley. We went over there and found our missing hunter. Both ankles were broken, and he had cuts and abrasions over most of his body. He had been lying there for about 36 hours. His account of what happened follows: The morning he left camp he saw some sheep go over the top of the mountain into the next valley. He decided to follow. After crossing the top he found steep slopes going down into the valley. He decided to go down and circle around and cross a saddle between the valleys in hopes of seeing more sheep. About half way down he came to a real steep area. He could see a trail below him but it was a drop of about 8 to 10 feet off a big rock with an over hang. When he dropped down to the trail, he surprised a Grizzly sleeping under the rock he had dropped off of. The bear was so close he hit it over the head with the rifle, instead of shooting it. The bear reached out and grabbed his gun out of his hands, looked at him and grawled. The hunter was so scarred he turned and jumped off the ledge falling about 25 to 30 feet. Upon landing he broke both ankles, then slid in the loose shale for another 20 to 30 feet. The bear came out and looked at him then disappeared. About an hour later the hunter saw the bear coming down the slope. The hunter thought his ticket had been punched, here he lay bloody, unable to get away, with a grizzly coming down his way. Trying to crawl away he started sliding again. He slid over another edge and fell about 10 feet onto a ledge. As the Hunter lye there on the ledge he realised the bear was above him looking down at him. The bear could easily come down the slope and get onto the ledge. After watching him for a while the bear turned and left. The Hunter then had to fight Hypothermia and depression for 36 hours till rescued.
