News reports I read and relied on to make that blog post were inaccurate. The news reports suggested that he approached a bear with an unloaded weapon and his friends did so as well.
Early reports said that Thurman Hensley thought the 600-pound bear was dead when he approached it.
That assertion, coupled with the public appearance that Hensley’s wounds weren’t too serious — he was listed in good condition during most of his hospital stay — probably contributed to the lighthearted approach some took regarding the attack.
As in, did you hear about the dumb hunter who, armed only with a single-shot gun, got attacked when he approached a huge bear he thought was dead?
It’s not funny, of course. And not true, either.
Mark Taylor from the Roanoke Times has an interview with Thurman Hensley the hunter involved to get the story. Lets pick it up where the attack happens;
While tracking the bear he encountered two neighbors who joined the effort.
When they found the bear and shot it again, it still didn’t go down. Eventually it ended up in a laurel thicket with just its head showing.
Hensley decided to try to dispatch the bear with a shot to the head from a range of about 30 feet, Willis said. The bullet hit the bear high in the neck. Instead of going down, the bear shot out of the brush and was on Hensley in an instant.
As the bear charged, Hensley raised his left arm to protect his face. He put his right hand in the bear’s mouth to try to gag it, having read somewhere that’s one way to fend off an attack.
Hensley’s friends shot at the bear but one apparently missed, and the other had his muzzleloader misfire.
With no time to reload, they ran up and started hitting the bear with their guns.
“They broke their gun stocks over its head,” Willis said.
The whole interview is very interesting there is some details to the extent of his injuries and the treatments he had to under go. I certainly did not wish to cause Mr. Hensley or his family any additional suffering by posting a misleading report about what transpired. I hope he has a full recovery and is back in the woods soon hunting and enjoying all this life has to offer.
