A hunter tracking elk in the Montana mountains said he fended off an attacking grizzly bear by shoving his arm into its throat, inducing a gag reflex that frightened it away, according to state wildlife managers.
Chase Dellwo, 26, was hunting with a crossbow for elk with his brother in the rugged foothills of the Rocky Mountains in northwestern Montana on Saturday morning when he surprised a 400-pound (180-kg) male grizzly lumbering along a creek, said Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks spokesman Bruce Auchly.
"It was startled, he was startled; the bear engaged in a defensive attack," he said Monday.