Daily Sitka Sentinel

Sitka Deer Hunter Kills Charging Bear

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer

A deer hunter shot and killed a large brown bear that had stalked him for about a quarter of an hour south of town, on Oct. 17.

Trenton Hammock’s solo hunting trip on Bear Mountain was going well until the bear became aggressive.

“I was up Bear Mountain, of all places. I was a little ways up there and saw a doe, I shot it and then I got to it,” Hammock said. “And within a minute of me shooting it, right as I walked up to it, I’m about to pull it up this little hill… and then in the corner of my eye I saw a big old bear come out about 40 yards away. I immediately start yelling at it and it doesn’t care, just keeps working its way toward me.”

Trenton Hammock poses next to the large bear that charged him. (Photo provided)

The bear didn’t react to yelling or a warning shot from his revolver, Hammock said.

“Once it got 35 yards away, I shot once, like 5 feet in front of it to give it a warning shot, and when I did that it looked like I rang a dinner bell,” the 19-year-old remembered. “Instead of being scared it got more interested, started smelling up in the air and I watched it catch wind of the deer and it starts coming more and it goes uphill from right where I actually shot the deer… There was some blood on the ground. It goes over there and smells the ground and it starts coming at me more. And this whole time it starts huffing; she doesn’t sound happy.”

Hammock tried maneuvering, to limit the risk of a charge.

“I kept having to move and I was trying to keep a couple trees between me and her, but she was trying to sneak up to me and weaving around trees and stuff,” he said. “And I was trying to keep trees between us but also be able to see her. I couldn’t hear her walking through the woods until she was 30 feet away.”

In the video he took of the encounter, the bear is seen coming toward Hammock and appears undeterred by his shouts.

After the tense confrontation dragged on for 10 to 15 minutes, the animal charged.

“She got pretty damn close, so I put my phone down and once she gets 20 feet away, I yell as loud as I could, and all of a sudden she just charges at me,” Hammock said. “And at 15 feet away from me there was this small log in between us. Right as she put her front two feet on that log to jump over it I shot her right in the heart and she tumbled downhill.”

A single round from Hammock’s .44 Magnum revolver killed the bear, though he later fired a second to ensure the animal was dead.

As a long-time hunter, Hammock has encountered many bears, and he stressed his respect for the large omnivores.

“It was intense and it was scary but my main concern was actually that I’m going to have to kill the bear,” Hammock said. “I’ve run into bears all the time hunting and I love them. I’ve had a lot of close calls, but I have a lot of respect for them, I’m in their backyard. And I did everything I could to try not to kill this bear. But once she started charging at me, that was really scary.”

Trenton Hammock took this photo of the bear as it moved toward him. (Photo provided) 

As a precaution, he had purchased a brown bear locking tag, allowing him to keep the animal’s hide and skull as his own.

With the help of his brother, Gavin, and a friend, Hammock was back home with his deer and bear just after midnight on the next day. He reported the incident to the Department of Fish and Game.

“I reported it and I went in there to get it sealed and everyone in the office had already seen the videos and already knew about it. They were asking me why I was taking a video of the bear. 

“I had my pistol and I felt more than comfortable and I could definitely – if it came down to it – I could shoot the bear with one hand and I always try to get pictures or videos.”

Department of Fish and Game wildlife biologist Steve Bethune told the Sentinel the bear’s behavior as seen on film seemed both curious and predatory.

“When you see that cat-like kind of behavior, that’s more what I would consider really curious, getting into a predatory kind of situation where you’ve identified yourself as a human, you’re making noise, you’re making yourself as large as possible, you’re shouting, and the bear is still intent and focused on you – that’s a scary situation,” Bethune said. “That bear is intent on you or what you potentially have as far as the deer.”

He noted that it’s impossible to tell how serious a bear is when it charges.

“You can’t differentiate between a bluff charge and a real charge. Everybody has their own personal comfort level, and I know for me if I was in that situation – and it sounds like he did similar – he had a point out there where, ‘OK, if the bear gets to that spot, I’m going to shoot it.’ If you can back out and slowly make your way out, but you’ve got your winter food supply in there, you don’t want to give it up. But obviously a deer’s not worth getting mauled by a bear,” Bethune said.

The biologist reminded Sitkans never to flee from a bear.

“Never run from a bear, you can’t really run in the woods anyway,” he said.

He recommended that hunters maintain situational awareness, and noted it’s safer with a partner.

“Going in with a partner makes it more safe, but I’m not going to tell people to not go hunting by themselves. I do it… Never be more than arm’s length away from your firearm. Get your rifle set up so it’s right there… Fish and Game recommends .30-06 or higher. It’s what you’re comfortable with,” he said.

Bethune said hunters have bad run-ins with bears from time to time, but such incidents have been abnormally frequent this year.

“It happens every year, this year seems to be a higher incidence of it than other years and I tell people it’s a rare occurrence, but me and my buddies say it’s not if, it’s when,” Bethune said. “If you spend a significant amount of time in the outdoors at some point in your hunting career you’re going to have an encounter with a brown bear. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a really negative encounter like this, but you have to be aware that it could be and be prepared to take appropriate action.”

Overall, he said local deer hunters have killed three aggressive brown bears this season.

“I’m aware of three separate incidents so far, and we haven’t even gotten into the prime hunting season yet. (Normal is) not even one a year,” he said. “It certainly is coinciding with increased aggressive bear activity here in town as well. I don’t know what that is, but there’s some environmental factor.”

Bears in and around town have damaged property and raided trash cans this year. One bear was killed by police a block from Blatchley Middle School earlier in October, and a sow and two cubs were shot by police at the Jarvis Street transfer station last week.

Last hunting season, Hammock said, he encountered dozens of bears without incident.

“I go hunting a lot, and last year last hunting season just while in the woods hunting, I ran into 24 bears. I didn’t even have to shoot to scare a single one off, and the first bear I run into while hunting this year charges me and I have to shoot it. It’s been a really bad year for bears in general. I’m not sure why,” Hammock said.