Gun-toting 12-year-old boy saves his father from bear attack as victim reveals the moment the beasts fangs dug into his forehead
A 12-year-old boy slayed a 200-pound bear to save his father’s life during a family outing gone horribly wrong.
A 12-year-old boy slayed a 200-pound bear to save his father’s life during a family outing gone horribly wrong.
Owen Beierman, 12, shot-and-killed the black bear before it could fatally maul his dad, Ryan, who became pinned under the monstrous beast when shots fired to kill it missed.
‘My left cheek was sliced open and blood was oozing out of the flap. There were two fang marks in my forehead and my face was smattered with blood,’ Ryan told the Star Tribune.
‘The bear was fighting for its life, and I was fighting for mine,’ he continued.
The father-and-son duo, of River Falls, Wisconsin, left school and work early for a hunting trip - something the two often did together - when Owen made the heroic save.
The business agent, 43, said he probably wouldn’t have survived the mauling if not for his son as the near-death encounter left him with a gruesome facial gash and fang punctures to his forehead, right arm and leg.
Owen Beierman, 12, shot-and-killed the black bear before it could fatally maul his father, Ryan Beierman
The two were deep in the western Wisconsin woods, near the family’s vacation cabin, when Owen first spotted the woodland beast. Pictured: Owen on a hunting trip November 2022
Owen, a regular hunter, was prepared for an event like this, firing off his rifle and killing the bear that would eventually roll off of his father. Pictured: Owen wears hunted birds around his neck on a hunting trip October 2023
The two were deep in the western Wisconsin woods, near the family’s vacation cabin, when Owen first spotted the woodland beast.
Armed with a 350 Legend hunting rifle, he shot and hit the bear, missing the ideal kill zone and causing the bear to flee.
The pair continued tracking the then-wounded bear, hoping for reminisces of blood or other tracking markers. Not long after their failed search efforts, a neighbor who heard the initial gunshots, offered up his tracking dog to help with the search.
Just after dark, the chocolate Labrador spotted the bear, prompting Ryan to reach for his rifle and fire off eight bullets from a 6-foot range.
Unable to get the gun high enough to use its sights, missing all eight shots, the bear then lunged at Ryan, pinning him on his back.
‘I started pistol whipping him and it felt like I was striking a brick wall. I remember thinking. “You have to do something different.” I tried hitting him between the ear and mouth with a blunt edge of the pistol,’ Ryan recalled.
Faced with monstrous claws and teeth, Ryan nestled his arm between his face and the bear’s attack - hearing a crunch and convinced the bear had broken his arm.
‘The whole thing might have lasted only 45 seconds or more, I can’t really remember. But it was as if he was attacking in slow motion,’ Ryan said.
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources conservation officer Dustin Gabrielson confirmed the event noting: ‘Everything about the father-son hunt on September 6 was legal.’ Pictured: Owen and his brother, Landon, with a hunted turkey from April 2022
Ryan, 43, received 23 stitches in his cheek along with seven puncture wounds to his arm and another cut in need of stitching following the near-fatal bear attack. Pictured: Ryan with a hunted turkey from a April 2022 hunting trip
Owen, a regular hunter, was prepared for an event like this, firing off his rifle and killing the bear as it eventually rolled off of his father.
The 43-year-old called on his son to alert their family and emergency response teams before the two took off to a hospital, with help of a neighbor.
Thank you to all the neighbors who helped me out tonight, in a time of need! Derek Jaskolka, Randy Thomas, Jeff Stager, Joel Schollmeier, Dillon Mattson and anyone else who helped out! Ryan posted to Facebook days after the attack.
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources conservation officer Dustin Gabrielson confirmed the event noting: ‘Everything about the father-son hunt on September 6 was legal.’
Department of Natural Resources officials acknowledged Beierman as a ‘generous supporter of the agency’s learn-to-hunt programs.’
‘I was flat on my back and could feel the bullet going through the bear. Owen was a hero. He shot that bear and killed it on top of me,’ the father said of his son.
Ryan received 23 stitches in his cheek along with seven puncture wounds to his arm and another cut in need of stitching.
When the duo eventually returned home, Ryan told his wife he ‘was done bear hunting.’
I am officially done bear hunting! Yeah I did get mauled by a bear tonight, and yes I survived! Ryans post to Facebook continued.
