Video shows Ontario hunter 'slapped around' by bear

Hunter escapes bear mauling with only a bruise An Ontario man is lucky to be alive after a close encounter with a black bear.

A northern Ontario hunter who was looking to bag a black bear ended up being “slapped around” by one instead.

Richard Wesley was hunting with a bow and arrow in Fire River, Ont., when he spotted a bear coming toward him on a road.

Wesley tells CTV News Channel that the bear closed in on him quickly and he didn’t have a “clean” shot, so he didn’t take one.

As the bear ran toward him, Wesley says he stood up and started yelling. The bear charged at Wesley, who suffered a bruised elbow.

Wesley theorizes that the bear probably thought he was another bear looking to invade his territory.

“I’ve got a low voice,” he says. “I should have tried something else because upon re-watching it, it sounds like I grunted at him, which is probably not the best idea,” he adds.

Wesley says most bears will run away after getting any whiff of a human. “They actually do somersaults backwards and run away,” he says.

“But this guy,” Wesley adds, “he slapped me around pretty good there.”