Alaska Boy, 11, Shoots Charging Brown Bear

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Alaska boy, 11, shoots bear charging fishing party | Fox News

Alaska boy, 11, shoots bear charging fishing party

Published July 01, 2017 Fox News




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(Courtesy of Alaska State Senator Shelley Hughes)



The quick thinking of a young boy saved a fishing party from a charging brown bear, according to Alaska State Troopers.




Elliot Clark, 11, was walking through the woods near Game Creek last week with his three family members and three dogs when the bear came out and charged them, The Juneau Empire reported.
The bear ran through two of the men, pushing them to the side of the trail, leaving Elliot and his cousin left in its path, Elliot's father, Lucas, said.
"There was four of them in a line. My son was third," Elliot's father said. "The bear came down the trail at them, fella in the front, who was his uncle, the bear was on him so quickly that he didn't have time to take his rifle off his shoulder."
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(Courtesy of Alaska State Senator Shelley Hughes)


The boy then raised his pump action shotgun and shot the bear with birdshot.
His father said the first shot did nothing, but two more downed the bear and finishing shots by the boy and his uncle killed it.


"That first shot hit him in the shoulder and did absolutely nothing," he said. "The next shot hit him in the nose and traveled down through the neck."
Elliot's father said not getting around to putting a sling on his son's gun might have saved their lives, as he was able to quickly ready himself.
"He was carrying it in his hands rather than on his shoulder," he said. "That was the problem with the other ones, when the bear came at his uncle, he had his rifle on his shoulder and the bear was very close, so he couldn't get it off in time."
The incident was the first Defense of Life or Property killing in the Hoonah area this year, Alaska State Trooper spokeswoman Megan Peters said.
 
I saw that on fox news,and I thought how brave that young lad was. I'll bet eliot is walking taller these days,and he should be. You no his father is mighty proud. cw

SO AM I...his grandpa!

I posted a link below to the story that I told on Facebook the night his mother, my daughter called to wish me a happy Father's Day (which started all of this talk). I had no idea this would go all the way around the world. As for Elliott walking taller, you wouldn't even know it if you talked with him, he's truly humble and doesn't even like talking about it!
Good morning America wanted to interview him, good morning UK wanted to fly the family over there to interview him, also Australia, New Zealand... but Elliott doesn't want to talk about it, kind of a bummer - most of the reason I made the original post was to draw attention to there family guiding business in hopes of drawing a few more customers.

I would also like to clear this story up a bit. Elliott killed the bear all by himself! His first round was birdshot, the next three were slugs. The reason for the first round being birdshot is that they like to be able to scare a bear off if possible. Elliott forgot that he would be walking in thick woods, thus also forgetting to change out that first round to a slug.
One more thing, below is a quote that his father made that Fox and other news organizations left out?

"It's not just a matter of skill or preparedness. It can happen to anybody and it can go wrongly, especially for a kid", Lucas Clark the boys father said. "We pray for our kids every day, and in my mind that's the biggest factor right there".

If you want to read my original post and a bit of my conversation with Elliott go to Thomas Malapanis Facebook - Facebook wouldn't allow the link to be posted?
 
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36 year Alaskan here. Have shot numerous bears in my life. Only 3 in self defense. This is a VERY mentally tough young man. To stand your ground in the face of a charging brown bear is difficult. But to then be able to fire a shot from a 12 gauge shotgun and then cycle it and shoot again is amazing...Especially for an 11 year young man who probably weighs less then 100 pounds. Amazing young man and has obviously been raised correctly. Good job...
 
36 year Alaskan here. Have shot numerous bears in my life. Only 3 in self defense. This is a VERY mentally tough young man. To stand your ground in the face of a charging brown bear is difficult. But to then be able to fire a shot from a 12 gauge shotgun and then cycle it and shoot again is amazing...Especially for an 11 year young man who probably weighs less then 100 pounds. Amazing young man and has obviously been raised correctly. Good job...
Well said! When his father Lucas and his uncle James got together with Elliott to discuss the details at the scene, they concluded that this was impossible for him to do!
He placed three shots within a 5 inch radius all in the face and neck area and one in the shoulder after the bear bounced off a tree right beside him. Elliott began firing at this female bear, with cubs, at a dead run 15 feet in front of him, The most dangerous situation for anyone to be in facing a grizzly bear! Elliott is well aware that the Lord is taking care of him!
NorsmanAlaska, it was a 20 gauge pump shotgun with slugs.
 
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