Jerry Ruth of Clark, Wyo., used hand gestures Friday, July 24, 2009 to describe how a Grizzly bear attacked him near his home. Ruth surprised the bear and her three cubs when she attacked. The bear first bit Ruth in the face, breaking his jaw in serveral places. Ruth, a retired police officer, grabbed a pistol he was carrying, fired three shots and killed the bear. Ruth sustained bite wounds, a punctured lung and other injuries in the attack. Ruth 51, had to described his ordeal on paper because he could not talk.




The encounter happened near Clark, Wyo., while Ruth and another man came across the bears in foothills outside the small town north of Cody. Wyoming game officials captured the cubs shortly after the incident.

Jerry Ruth saw the grizzly for just a fraction of a second before it was on him.

Within seconds, the 275-pound animal had crushed the Wyoming man's jaw when it bit him in the face, fractured his rib and punctured his lung and left deep bite wounds in his calf and scratches across his back.

After the attack, the bear left him for her three cubs that Ruth saw for the first time as he lay bleeding on the dirt. When it reached the cubs about 15 yards away, the bear turned toward him again, "squaring off" as if to charge, Ruth recalled Friday.

Ruth grabbed for the .41-caliber magnum revolver he was carrying in a hip holster and relied on his training and experience as a police officer to save his life. He fired three times, saving three bullets in case his first shots failed.

But the bear dropped and didn't move, ending the furious encounter as swiftly as it started.

"My training as a cop (is) that when deadly force is used against you, you use deadly force to repel the deadly force," Ruth said.

Ruth, 51, remains at St. Vincent Healthcare in Billings since the attack Sunday near his home in Clark, Wyo., a small town north of Cody near the Montana state line. Because his jaw is wired shut to heal the multiple fractures, Ruth used a pencil and notebook on Friday to describe his encounter with the bear. His wife, Cindy, has stayed near him as doctors continue to treat him.

One of his treating physicians, Dr. Jeff Rentz, said Ruth's injuries were very serious. The bear bite crushed his jaw on the left side in several places and broke the right side of the bone. The jaw has been wired shut and plates fastened to the bone to hold it while it heals, he said.

Rentz said it appears that the bear hit Ruth in the back, causing the fractured rib and punctured lung. Two of the bite marks in Ruth's calf were large enough to insert a thumb, Rentz said.

"We were concerned about his survival when he got here," the doctor said.

Ruth will require at least one more surgery, and his doctors said it was still unclear when he might be able to return home. Dr. Andy Boyce, an oral surgeon who worked on Ruth, said the jaw will have to remain wired for about six more weeks.

Cindy and Jerry Ruth moved to Wyoming last year after Ruth retired from the Baltimore County Police Department in Maryland after a 28-year career as an officer. They bought property in Clark about a decade ago after falling in love with the area while on vacation, Cindy Ruth said. Her husband spent a month every summer working on their retirement home, she said.

On Sunday, Jerry Ruth and a friend took their four-wheelers for a ride onto an adjacent ranch to look for a herd of elk that Cindy had seen the day before. The two men were hoping to catch a glimpse of the elk, and maybe find a few antler sheds.

They were about a mile from Ruth's house when the men parked the four-wheelers and began walking into a small valley toward a pond through sage brush. Ruth's friend was ahead of him, Ruth said, and the men were 25 to 75 yards apart. Some of the sage brush was as tall as a man.

Ruth said he caught only a glimpse of the bear before the attack.

"Like a flash the bear came out from under some sage brush and she was on me," Ruth wrote. "Grabbed my lower face in her jaw and I could hear the bones breaking."

Ruth said thoughts of his family came to his mind as the bear attacked. The couple has three adult children.

"I next became aware that she was off of me," Ruth wrote. "I was on the ground. She was squaring off to take another charge. It was at this time that (I saw) she had three cubs."

After the initial attack, Ruth said, he was able to grab his pistol and fire three times at the bear, and the bear dropped dead. Ruth began calling for help, and his friend arrived within moments.

The men called Ruth's wife on a cell phone so she could call 911 and meet them with a vehicle. They were only about a mile and a half from the Ruth's house, and they began making their way back on the four-wheelers as Ruth held on to his friend.

Cindy Ruth said was shocked at her husband's injuries.

"I just started praying," she said. "I didn't know how he was going to survive it. It was the scariest thing I've ever seen."

With the help of emergency medical crews, Jerry Ruth got to the hospital in Powell and then was flown to the hospital in Billings. Rentz said a team of St. Vincent physicians took him immediately into surgery.

Ruth said he carries his revolver with him anytime he goes into the backcountry around his house. The habit probably saved her husband's life, Cindy Ruth said. In such a sudden attack, she said, bear spray probably would not have been effective against the mother bear.

"I think the only way we are not at a funeral right now is because he had his gun," she said.

Ruth said he regrets having to shoot the bear, and suggests that people be aware of all wildlife when they venture out.

"I feel bad for killing the bear," he wrote. "I think it was just a matter of time (before) this bear would have gone after someone else."

Orphaned grizzly bear cubs on way to Tennessee after short stay in Billings
Three orphaned grizzly bear cubs were loaded into a trailer at ZooMontana in Billings this morning for a two-day trip to Tennessee.

The cubs - two males and a female - were brought to the Billings zoo on Wednesday by officials with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department after their mother was killed Sunday in Northern Wyoming. The bear was killed by Jerry Ruth, who was mauled before he was able to shoot the bear. Ruth is being treated for his injuries at St. Vincent Healthcare in Billings.

and a week before this we had a mt.lion jump a guy who was running a chainsaw cutting fire wood.
5yrs old,100lb cat was starving and in poor shape and didn't seem to mind the guy had a running chainsaw in his hands.
dangerous country here in northern wyoming

Wow it always amazees me the damage they can do in just a couple of seconds.

I hope he recovers quickly.

Very good thing he had his handgun.

Too bad he didn't get a chance to fire before it grabbed him by the face! Get well soon!

A tip of the hat to this guy.

And yet somewhere, there is some dipshit second guessing this guy saying he should have rang some bells and been armed with pepper-spray. Or stood real still and played dead.

I'd say he made a point about being properly armed and maintaining presence-of-mind in a tight spot.

Good for him!!!!!

Flying by float-plane from Anchorage, a friend and I flew in and camped with 2 brothers from Michigan. they had come up a couple of weeks before to bow-hunt. One had surprised a grizzly with cubs. She had chewed on him for a few seconds. He managed to get back to camp. His brother found a camp with a radio, and they called in a chopper. He spent a week in ICU with a chest tube, and had some good chew marks on his butt and his leg. Those two guys went fishing so he could recuperate, then they were back for the rifle -hunt. Tougher than me. This was fifteen or twenty years ago.

quote:

Originally posted by ravenr:
and a week before this we had a mt.lion jump a guy who was running a chainsaw cutting fire wood.
5yrs old,100lb cat was starving and in poor shape and didn't seem to mind the guy had a running chainsaw in his hands.
dangerous country here in northern wyoming

Man w/ Chainsaw 1-Final
Mountain Lion 0

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On another thread everyone was talking about what kind of shoulder cannons to carry in bear country but few were interested in a back up handgun. These are two cases this year alone in Idaho and Wyoming when there wasn't time to get a rifle in action. I'll carry a powerfuk handgun as well as a rifle in bear country, thank you!

465H&H

Glad to hear Mr. Ruth stuck to his gun and survived. A pity that these things happen, as IMO Mama bear was just doing what she's supposed to, but so it goes. Never before recall hearing about cubs being captured after a human attack, but if they can be cared for and raised in captivity/released safely, I think that's good.

Speedy recovery Officer Ruth!

I liked his choice of caliber!

kuda56 what is not to like it worked well.

Iam sure he would have been happy with just about any thing that that would have got the job done.

quote:

After the attack, the bear left him for her three cubs that Ruth saw for the first time as he lay bleeding on the dirt. When it reached the cubs about 15 yards away, the bear turned toward him again, "squaring off" as if to charge, Ruth recalled Friday.

It seems to me, that the man should not have shot the bear since it had left him to return to her cubs. I would agree that it was a good shoot IF the bear was charging him. The fact that the bear returned to her cubs meant he was not in imminent danger and he should not have shot. I think he lied and made up the "as if to charge". I think he shot out of revenge and anger based upon the written story.

quote:

I think he shot out of revenge and anger based upon the written story.

Shottist,
Have you lost your mind? The bear tried to chew the guy's face off. It surprised him initially. It was close enough that he could get three rounds from a pistol into it while he was laying injured on the ground.
Just how close do you think that face chewing bear was when he shot it?

Shootist Gee the bear attacked him once turned towards him again. What is so hard to understand about shooting the bear. Sounds to me like a very good shoot.

Too bad he couldn't have killed it before it chomped him. Then I surpose you would have said how did he know it was going to attack him it hadn't bitten yet.

Any bear thats with in 15 yards of me and looks like is going to attack me is going to die. What maybe a half a second before its on you.

There has many many times when a bear has attacked a 2nd or even a 3rd time.

another key board expert/shottist
another friend of mine was mauled by a grizz here in n.w. wyoming and the sow left him after
40-60seconds of mauling to run to her cub and "touched noses"
the sow then returned to him and mauled him a 2nd time for another 40-60- seconds until the out of state hunter shot the bear off the top of him.
so save your jugdement for another subject you
might know something about,
cuz you are full of s*#t in this instance.

quote:

And yet somewhere, there is some dipshit second guessing this guy saying he should have rang some bells and been armed with pepper-spray. Or stood real still and played dead.

quote:

It seems to me, that the man should not have shot the bear since it had left him to return to her cubs. I would agree that it was a good shoot IF the bear was charging him. The fact that the bear returned to her cubs meant he was not in imminent danger and he should not have shot. I think he lied and made up the "as if to charge". I think he shot out of revenge and anger based upon the written story.

That didn't take long!

quote:

It seems to me, that the man should not have shot the bear since it had left him to return to her cubs.

When you try out that theory be sure to let us know the results...

To pull off this shot was a marvelous piece of marksmanship. Lying down, badly injured, extreme pain and trauma no doubt, only a second to get off a shot and only three bullets left. Many couldn't have made that shot and would have been in too much shock to even think straight.

As for the weapons choice, can we learn something useful? There has been this question or debate which is better, a gun like the .41 or .44 or on the other hand, a "biggie". The latter has the superior firepower obviously but there's the worry if that's "one and done". For instance, suppose this had been a .500 SW with the snub barrel.

I'm thinking this is all a convincing argument for a .41 or .44 in a good stiff factory load (a Cor-Bon 200 something grainer maybe) yet one that can be handled real fast for multiple double action follow-up shots.

Here's hoping he fully recovers.