12-year-old son shoots and kills bear mauling his dad’s face

Your support helps us to tell the story

Support Now

Find out moreClose

As your White House correspondent, I ask the tough questions and seek the answers that matter.

Your support enables me to be in the room, pressing for transparency and accountability. Without your contributions, we wouldn't have the resources to challenge those in power.

Your donation makes it possible for us to keep doing this important work, keeping you informed every step of the way to the November election

Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

A 12-year-old boy shot and killed a 200-pound bear as it mauled his father during an attack on a hunting trip.

Owen Beierman saved his father Ryan’s life with his hunting rifle after the wounded black bear pinned 43-year-old Ryan Beierman in thick woodland.

“Owen was a hero. He shot that bear and killed it on top of me,” said Beierman, who was bitten on the forehead, arm and leg by the bear. He also required stitches after his cheek was ripped open during the attack.

The September 6 incident took place after the pair spotted the black bear and shot it, but the animal ran away wounded.

Beierman says that he and his son went back out into the woods later in the evening to look for the bear and spotted it in a semi-clearing.

But when they were only feet away from the animal it charged the pair.

“He was in a stance like a cat about to pounce,” Beierman told The Minnesota Star Tribune. “The next thing I know, he was on me. He charged and knocked me down.”

Beierman said he felt the animal dig its fangs into his forehead as he tried to pistol whip it. He tried to raise his right arm to block the animal as he started fighting for his life.

“All I could see were his claws and teeth,” he said. “I lifted my right arm to block him. I remember the first bite. I heard a crunch. The bear was still attacking. He wasn’t going to leave me.”

“The bear was fighting for its life, and I was fighting for mine,’’ he added. “I’m punching and kicking and flailing around. That’s when I saw a flash from the muzzle of Owen’s rifle.”

As he watched his father pinned under the bear, Owen took hold of his 350 Legend hunting rifle and shot the animal. Beierman then pushed the bear off of him.

“We heard the bear’s final moans,” Beierman said.

A neighbor helped Beierman and Owen out of the woods and he was taken to the hospital for treatment where his cheek was reattached using 23 stitches.

“When we returned home to River Falls, I told my wife I was done bear hunting,” Beierman said.

A conservation officer with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources told The Associated Press that their hunt was legal.