‘She’s a bad bear’: Calgary hunter shares story of surviving a grizzly attack.
Just over a week after the hunting season opener for bow elk, Carmelo Silvestro is sharing his near-death experience after surviving a bear attack near Calgary.
His hunting party gained access to an area west of Madden late Sunday morning. The landowner warned them a sow grizzly and cubs had been spotted in the region.
Silvestro had not brought bear spray but his hunting partner had an extra can and gave it to him which likely saved his life.
After a series of elk calls, he heard footsteps. They weren’t elk. He turned to see a mother grizzly and three sub-adult cubs moving towards him.
He was able to use the bear spray as the grizzly launched towards him. Despite that, Silvestro said the bear hit him like a bus and he ended up with bites, bruises and broken ribs.
DNA tests have since confirmed the same mother grizzly was involved in an altercation that killed Calgary professor David Lertzman three years ago near the village of Waiparous, about 68 kilometres northwest of Calgary.
Read full story: Global News