HUNTER INJURED ATTEMPTING TO RECOVER BLACK BEAR
A Cumberland County man was injured by a more than 320-pound black bear he had shot and was trying to recover on the first day of bear season, Nov. 21.
Samuel H. Beauchamp, 47, of Newville, was swiped by the injured bear and bitten twice during the encounter, which occurred in Huntingdon County's Todd Township in the Rothrock State Forest near Cassville at 7:30 a.m. Monday. The bear, which had been shot four times, died at Beauchamp's feet shortly after he had been bitten the second time. The hunter was taken to the J.C. Blair Memorial Hospital in Huntingdon, where he was treated and released.
Beauchamp had shot the bear three times with a .444 Marlin high-powered rifle during a drive. While attempting to recover the animal, the hunter approached to within 15 feet and shot the animal again in the chest.
"The bear came alive," Beauchamp explained. "When he came to his feet, I turned to back off, but he covered the distance between us and wrapped his paw around my hip and clawed me."
After grabbing Beauchamp, the bear bit him in the right front thigh, and then the left inner thigh. Each time, Beauchamp managed to shake off the bear. After the second bite, the bear died.
Mark Ternent, Game Commission bear biologist, noted that incidents such as Beauchamp's are exceptionally rare, and generally can be avoided if hunters keep their distance from a downed bear while monitoring and determining its status.
"This is the first incident in Pennsylvania that the Game Commission is aware of where a hunter was attacked by a bear he was trying to recover," Ternent said. "Any downed game must be approached with caution. Hunters should stay back and monitor whether the bear is moving, or breathing with the aid of binoculars or the scope on their rifle, before closing in to recover the bear."
