A Hayden man continues to recover after being mauled by a grizzly bear over the weekend. Bob Legasa, a bow hunter, was hunting elk with a friend near Gardiner, Montana when the attack happened.
"It was brutal. It was the most brutal pain imaginable," said Legasa of the attack. Legasa suffered a broken arm along with multiple puncture wounds but is expected to recover. On Monday, he remained at a hospital in Bozeman.
On Saturday, Legasa and hunting partner Greg Gibson were advancing toward an elk through a sagebrush clearing when a grizzly cub unexpectedly jumped out roughly 12 yards from Legasa. The cub’s mother was right behind and charged at the hunters. "Mouth open, paws out. Almost like a football player going into tackle,” Legasa said “She got the side of my face with her claw."
The area, described as Beattie Gulch, isn’t far from Yellowstone National Park and is an area known for grizzlies. Legasa and Gibson, who are experienced hunters, were both armed with bear spray.
Legasa said the attack lasted just a few seconds. "She knocked me down on the ground and was kind of on top of me," he said over the phone from his hospital room. Right as the mauling unfolded, Gibson blasted the grizzly with bear spray. The bear let up on Legasa and began to approach Gibson, but Gibson was able to scare the bear off with more spray, Legasa said.
The hunters, who were affected by some of the bear spray as well, were able to make slowly make their way to Gibson’s truck nearby. The duo then drove to a hospital in Livingston.
Legasa credits both Gibson and the bear spray with saving his life. "I'm extremely lucky. Greg was there to save me from being mauled any further." Legasa says he typically carries a sidearm while hunting, too, but couldn’t reach for it in time as the bear charged.
Wildlife experts who spoke with KREM applauded the hunters’ actions. "I think that he is very lucky. And I think that the quick reaction of himself and his hunting partner, most likely saved his life," said Carrie Lowe, a Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist based in Spokane. "Often, you have very little time to react," she said.
A spokesman with the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks said it wasn’t clear if the female grizzly and cub had any interactions with other hunters in the area. At this point, wildlife officers weren’t planning any enforcement action related to the mauling.
Legasa said he’s content with the grizzly and her cub remaining free. He noted that the grizzly’s reaction to him and Gibson wasn’t out of the norm and that the bears were in their natural habitat.
After having surgery on his broken arm, Legasa said he expected to return to Hayden within the next few days.
"On another note, I'm current now on my rabies shots,” said Legasa, chuckling.