Sitka hunter fends off grizzly attack

Associated Press - September 29, 2009 3:44 PM ET

SITKA, Alaska (AP) - A grizzly bear attacked a Sitka deer hunter, who managed to fend the animal off by clubbing it with the butt of his rifle.

Thirty-9-year-old Karl Wolfe escaped with bites to his arm.

Wolfe was hiking up a steep mountainside in the dark Sunday morning near Sitka's old pulp mill.

The bear rushed Wolfe, bit him on his arm and knocked him to the ground between two trees.

Wolfe didn't have a round chambered in his .30-06 rifle but managed to swing the gun around and hit the bear with the butt.

The bear didn't go away. Wolfe says it swung around and came at him again.

Wolfe chambered a cartridge and fired a shot from the hip. The bear fled and Wolfe said he didn't know if he hit the animal.

Wolfe was treated for two puncture wounds.

Information from: Daily Sitka Sentinel, http://www.sitkasentinel.com/