Horrifying GoPro Video Shows Hunter Being Attacked By A Bear

Canadian Richard Wesley is lucky to be alive after being charged and attacked by a black bear while hunting in Fire River – and capturing the whole thing on video. In the video (which was first spotted by TMZ), Wesley, who was filming his spring hunt, initially seems unfazed by the bear, which is peacefully going about its business some 100 feet away. Once the bear becomes aware of Wesley’s presence, however, it starts to approach him.

What seems like casual, slow movement soon becomes an aggressive charge, and despite Wesley’s attempts to make loud noises and intimidate the bear, it terrifyingly leaps at him and knocks him to the ground. The camera, which drops to the ground, only captures the scary sounds of struggle, but it’s enough to send chills down your spine. There’s only about a 15-second gap between when the camera hits the ground and when Wesley picks it up, but the suspense is real, and the silence that follows the struggle is the stuff of nightmares.

Wesley’s shaken but relieved reaction shows him nervously laughing it off, though it’s unclear how he got the bear away from him, as he does not film the bear as he leaves the area. “I should have shot a long time ago,” he says breathlessly. Wesley later wrote on his YouTube page that he was “genuinely happy that this was a non fatal or tragic outcome” and that it only spoke to how “wild and unpredictable” black bears are.

We’re just glad this didn’t turn into Grizzly Man: The Sequel.