Castle Creek Outfitters
Minnesota Black Bear and Whitetail Guide Service.
LADYSMITH,
Then it cried for its mother.
Schultz, 42, had seen the family of four
bears come out of a nearby cornfield Friday evening and amble his way. When
they parked themselves under his elm tree, he yelled and tried to shoo them
away.
That scared the cub, who scampered up the
tree and settled by Schultz.
The sow heard his cries, saw Schultz and
climbed the tree and attacked Schultz, who tried to fend her off with his bow
and kicks.
"She got me by the side and by the
armpit and tried to drag me out of the tree, but I had my tree stand strap holding
me,'' he said. "Then she tried to pull my leg.
She actually pulled my boot off. I think she then thought she had me and took
the boot off.''
He dropped his bow and was pulled from his
seat, but the safety harness kept him from falling.
"It didn't really feel painful, it just
felt super scary,'' he said. "I felt if I fell to
the ground — the 12-foot drop would have been painful, but I think she would
have killed me because she would have gone after my head and neck.''
Schultz's heart rate was still 200 when he
arrived at
He was lucky because once his boot came off,
the cub climbed down from the tree and all four bears left. Schultz also was
able to climb down and drive to his parents' home about a mile away.
They took him to the hospital, where he was
treated for scratches and puncture wounds to his left leg and right arm.
Schultz spent the weekend in the hospital because doctors wanted to let his
wounds drain for a few days. He was stitched up and sent home Monday.
Schultz, who owns a snack, candy and tobacco
distributorship in Ladysmith, estimated the sow weighed at least 300 pounds
because she was bigger than a 200-plus-pound bear he shot several years ago.
Schultz said he plans to hunt again, but not
in that particular spot.
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