Survival Stories: Grizzly Bear Battle | Fight To Survive | FD Survive

The merciless wild, the heartless seas. When nature unleashes her cruelty, could you escape? Could you survive? These are the true stories of outdoorsmen, confronted by death, armed with raw courage and a will to live. They are the ones who beat the odds and return from their own fight to survive. A lifelong bond of hunting, forged between father and son. The kinds of hunting we do is, you know, elk, deer, antelope. Threatened to be pulled apart in the jaws of a Wyoming grizzly. He came straight at me. Forcing a father to decide his life or his son's. He was fighting for his life. Will either of them survive? The bear was on top of me. The Ron Lemmings, senior and junior. For them, the towering mountains, wild forests, and big game have beckoned each fall. Ron has taken his son hunting and fishing since Ronnie was two years old. When Ronnie killed his first deer, he was 12 years old. I was probably more excited than he was over the kill. The kinds of hunting we do is, you know, elk, deer, antelope, I mean, moose, anything we can draw a tag for. For father and son, it's the trail of the mountain man and the Native American, as they ride their horses far into the rugged wilderness. We hunt with rifles and we hunt with bows. Usually we hunt with bows every year because you can hunt with a bow, and if you don't kill anything, then you can also go back during rifle season. I like bow hunting best. It's more of a challenge. You got to get in real close. There's just something about it. I mean, you're all camoed out. It's really close range. It's definitely more exciting, I think, bow hunting. In October 2009, the call of bugling elk draws the two men up to ride the High Lonesome, which is, in fact, home to every brand of wild game, including the deadliest. When we go up hunting in Boulder Basin, we, you know, we see everything. We see, you know, deer, elk, bighorn sheep, moose, of course, grizzly bears, black bears. The hunt has started well. They've had several chances at elk, and it seems just a matter of time, which fills their fourth day with excited anticipation. Before leaving camp, though, they ask for help and protection, as they always do. Please keep my son safe. We just more or less pray that we will have a safe hunt and maybe have an opportunity to get close to an elk or whatever, and then we'll take it from there. When I said that prayer, that I was hoping that I would have a bull elk in front of me and that he would guide that arrow. Neither knows what their prayer may mean before the morning's over. Prayer counts, but so does using elk scent to help them disguise their human odor and get into range for a shot with their bows, though this could have fateful consequences. As the hunt begins, they decide that Ron Sr. will hunt below, while Ron Jr. calls from above and tries to get an elk to walk by his dad. We eased into our favorite little spot there and started calling. Right off the bat, a bull answered us and started coming in. We had been set up for probably, I don't know, five to 10 minutes, and Ronnie was behind me about 40 yards. I was down the hill from him, and there was, I believe, a five-point bull came in and stood just below me, and then he turned and went off to my left, and I couldn't see him, but Ronnie kept calling, so I knew he was still there. I was just waiting for him to move back in an area where I could get a shot at him. I seen that bull coming out, and he was right exactly where I thought he was gonna come out, and my dad was in a perfect position. I thought for sure that was his elk. We were getting that elk for sure. The last piece looks like it's about to fall into place when, without warning, the elk bolts. The elk spooked and took off, and everything was, you know, I couldn't figure it out. There was no reason for him to spook, and after he spooked and took off, I stood up. Then I heard a stick break behind me, and I turned around, and that's when I seen the bear. And what's a mystery at first becomes true terror. When I turned around, the bear was probably 20 yards from me just standing there looking at me. The look on his face, I knew this wasn't good. I heard Ronnie yell, get out of here, and instantly I knew it was a grizzly bear because he would never open his mouth if it wasn't a bear. I just threw my arms up, you know, and I yelled at him to get out of here. Most of the time they turn and run off. This one, his ears went flat, and he came straight at me at full speed. For Ron Sr., it's a nightmare playing out in horrifying slow motion. The very first thing that I thought of when I saw that bear behind him, just for a split second, I was holding him when he was a little tiny baby. And then my next thought was that bear's gonna maul my son. Can a man with only a bow and arrow in his hand rescue his son? And does he risk becoming prey himself? Without seeming provocation, a grizzly bear is charging down on archery Elkhunter Ron Lemming, and his father can only watch in horror. I mean, we're talking like a second, and he's, you know, standing a foot away from me. There was no time, you know, to think about what you were gonna do or how you were gonna do it. I just got behind the tree, and he followed me all the way around the tree. Then I just took off straight down the hill as fast as I could. I knew he was chasing me, and I was just trying to stay up. I knew I wasn't gonna be able to keep that up long because it was such a steep hill and I was going so fast. The only clear path down the hill happened to be right by where my dad was at. They were getting close to me by that time, and I just thought I have to do something, and shoot the bear with the bow was the only thing I could think of that might help, and not even know that that was gonna do anything. It's all adrenaline and desperation. As Ron Sr. comes to full draw, praying his aim will be true. I drew back. I had to wait just for a split second until I knew I wasn't gonna hit Ronnie, and then I shot. No idea that I had hit the bear, the way everything was going. It just seemed like, you know, this little arrow didn't do anything. I saw my dad draw his bow back. I heard his bow go off, and I seen a flash of an arrow go right by my leg. Didn't know if the arrow hit the bear, and about the same time, I was on the ground. I guess the bear had caught me at that point and knocked me down. The massive grizzly is now on top of Ronnie and about to clamp him in its powerful jaws and slash him with its raking claws. The first thing I could think of was, well, I didn't wanna be on my stomach. I wanted to be on my back where I could see what was going on, and I rolled right straight over to my back, and the bear was, you know, he was right on top of me, trying to look like he was, you know, I know they always go and try to get at people's heads and at your face and stuff, and the only thing that was going through my mind was to keep him away from my face and my head. The adrenaline and everything that was going on, I actually didn't even know that he had bit me at this point. Ronnie's laying on his back, kicking and slugging. I mean, he was fighting for his life. Somehow, Ronnie gets back to his feet and makes another run to escape the grizzly. I took off down the hill again, and he's right on me, chasing me down the hill again, and I went to jump in between two trees, and the bear kind of pinned me down up against that tree, and it knocked the wind out of me and trying to turn around and reach behind me, and that's when he bit through my hand. The bear is in for the kill. Ron Sr. has to resort to last-ditch measures to try to save his son, putting himself in harm's way. And I couldn't shoot there because it would have been a chance of the arrow going through the bear and hitting him, so I just thought the only thing I can do is try and get him off of him, and I started beating on him. For a little bit, I felt he got off me. All of a sudden, there was no more weight on me, and I'm thinking, oh, he's gonna leave, you know? And I looked over, and I could see my dad standing there, and I seen the bear take a couple steps towards him, and I thought, I don't have nothing left in me, and this thing's gonna go after him now. Ron Lemming Sr. may have only succeeded in giving the grizzly another target for its rage. Deep in the Wyoming wilderness, Ron Lemming Sr. has been able to halt the attack on his son. But now the infuriated grizzly is ready to turn on him. And when it turned and looked at me and took a step toward me, I thought, well, now I'm gonna get it. As the bear appears ready to attack Ron Sr., it suddenly begins behaving oddly and turns away. And then about that time, he turned around and he walked right beside me, and just kind of went down, just walked right down the hill and went about 20 yards down there. And he stopped and he turned around again and looked at us. And bleeding on the ground, Ronnie Lemming shouts at his father to shoot the bear again before it can come back. But all Ron Sr. can see is the horrifying sight his son presents. He was covered in blood. I mean, from head to toe. And I just thought, oh my gosh, you know? I mean, my worst fear was there. And of course, after asking him and he kept saying, I don't know, I'm thinking, well, you've gotta know because you're half dead. And I'm just thinking bad things. Suffering from shock, Ronnie cannot answer his father's questions about where he is injured. Desperate to help his son, Ron cannot forget the bear that still looms just yards away. Until. Then he just took off wandering down the hill and fell over. Bear wasn't moving. We figured he was dead. It was like he took a five gallon bucket of blood and dumped on me and then dumped it all over the ground. I just assumed when I seen all that blood, it was mine. And, you know, but I couldn't feel, you know, I didn't really feel no pain at that point because of the adrenaline and everything that was going on. And I, so I just, I assumed it was my blood, but I wasn't sure. Surprisingly, maybe miraculously, they find that the vast quantities of blood are not Ronnie's but were pumped out of the bear. Both hunters realize that grizzlies are a threatened species. And so there will be an investigation of this one's death, which they document with their camera. Despite his injuries, Ronnie is able to begin the arduous trek back to camp. Ever the true hunter, he even suggests one last attempt at a trophy. Just before we had left the scene of the attack, he tells me, he says, I hope it's not too bad because I want to keep hunting. And I said, kid, you're going to the hospital. There's no more hunting this trip. As the long painful walk continues, they hope Ronnie's wounds won't threaten just the hunt, but his life too. Wyoming's Boulder Basin outside Yellowstone has been the favorite wilderness hunting grounds for father and son, Ron and Ronnie Lemming. But now it's become a territory of terror as they rush to reach medical help. The ride to the pickup truck, the numbing effect of the shock fades and Ronnie begins to feel the pain with every clopping step of his horse. I felt pretty good as we were riding out. We got a few miles from the trailhead and then I could kind of, I started feeling some throbbing and then I started feeling the pain, cause it took us probably six hours to get back to where our pickup was. At trails end of the torturous ride, Ronnie is able to get word to his wife who can hardly believe what she hears. I had my cell phone in the pickup. We got down there and I called her and I told her I got attacked by a bear. She was kind of thought I was screwing around or something. You know, she didn't really believe me. And I said, no, I really did get attacked by a bear. I said, I'm gonna have to go to the hospital. And he called and said that he'd been attacked by a bear. I just thought he was joking. At first I was just like, no brother. Cause in my mind, if you're attacked by a bear, you're dead. 12 hours from the time of his attack by a grizzly bear, Ronnie Lemming and his father pull into Ronnie's driveway. I saw him fall to blood. It just kind of hit me like, man, I mean, this is real. This is really happening. Then it was just kind of like, okay, get in the car. We need to go to the hospital. When we got to the hospital and got in there, they looked at it and they said that I was gonna have to have surgery. And cause they needed to cut, you know, around all the bite wounds and all that. They needed to cut that open. And they were worried about him getting infected. By the time we got to the hospital and they got him into surgery, it was like midnight. I do remember sitting out in the waiting room by myself. That was kind of just going through my mind and tell our kids, if their dad had died, how do you tell like a three-year-old and a five-year-old their dad's dead? So I just remember sitting out there and just those thoughts would go through my head. Just being really thankful that that didn't happen. With Ronnie in the hospital, Ron Sr. escorts a game warden and a biologist back to the scene of the attack the next day. As the biologist examines the grizzly, it becomes clear just how remarkable Ron's shot was. They checked the bear. He used a limber stick and he followed the path of the arrow. And he told me that the arrow had hit a major artery and went right into the heart. An inch right or left, up or down, and Ron's arrow might not have found a killing spot. The Bible speaks of the arrow that flies by day and Ron Lemming has to wonder if he and his son's prayer had not guided it. When the biologist told me the path of the arrow, I thought of the prayer and I thought, yes, God guided that arrow. The shot couldn't have been more perfect, I don't think. I just don't. I think that the shot my dad took was definitely a miracle. I know that arrow was guided by God. There's no doubt in my mind. You could make that shot a million more times and never hit that exact same spot. Warden is satisfied that killing the grizzly was an act of self-defense. He presents the lemmings with the grizzly skull and claws to mark bear brush with death. Ronnie soon bounces back from his injuries and heads right back into the wilderness. Today, Ron and Ronnie do not apply the masking elk scent that may have provoked the bear's attack and they carry sidearms for protection. What's happened to me hasn't slowed me down a bit. I was back up there hunting a month after, a month after in the same spot. As far as the hatred toward bears, I have none whatsoever. In fact, I love to see bears. I think they're one of the greatest looking animals that God ever created. I think about the bears more. I'm constantly on lookout for them, but I was before too. I knew they were there. I knew they were dangerous. I probably look over my shoulder quite a bit more than I used to though. Used to, I could go up there and take a nap on a hillside in the afternoon. I don't do that no more. Father and son still ride their horses into the wilderness and bring their bows. And if anything, the ordeal they experienced has only drawn them closer. My dad's definitely my hero for this. I don't think that, I don't think anybody else could have done it. To stand there as close as we were to him and make the shot that he made, there ain't nobody I know that could have done that. Do I consider myself a hero? No, I do not. For one thing, he's my son. I love that kid more than life itself. I think he saved his own life too. The way he fought that bear when he was on his back, it was amazing. And I think a lot lesser man would have give up at that point and they would have been dead. Yeah, what happens made me just respect life a little more. I always did anyways, but you just don't know. You don't think it's gonna happen to you when you go out there. I've been out there a million times and it's never happened, but it can at any time. The lives of a father and son rested on courage and instinct while balancing on the blades of an arrowhead, flying perhaps by the power of prayer.