A Wyoming man who was mauled by a grizzly bear last Friday appears to have been saved by bear spray simply by having the deterrent in his possession.
Spencer Smith was shed antler hunting in Sunlight Basin northwest of Cody when he was ambushed in dense timber.
Smith, who sustained serious neck wounds, walked 1.5 miles to his ATV and called for help. He was assisted by Warden Chris Queen of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, and flown via helicopter to a regional hospital, where he was listed in stable condition.
A WGFD investigation revealed that during the encounter the bear bit and ruptured Smith’s bear spray canister as it was still in its hip holster. This “presumably” caused the bear to end its assault, the agency stated this week in a news release.
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Smith was hiking alone and the bear appears to have attacked before he could respond.
“This appears to be a surprise encounter that occurred at close range,” said Dan Smith, a regional supervisor for the WGFD. “The bear was likely behaving in a defensive manner resulting from an unexpected, close encounter.”
Investigators found tracks of a lone adult male grizzly bear, and a daybed site in dense cover about 30 yards from where the attack occurred. But they could not identify the animal and the WGFD does not plan to trap or kill any bears in the area.
–Grizzly bear images are via Wikimedia Commons and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
