Might I suggest a gun next time?

Grand Forks Herald: Camper kills attacking bear with knife

KITCHENER, Ont. - A Waterloo, Ont., man and his dog made a harrowing escape from the clutches of a vicious black bear while portaging near Wawa, Ont.

Tom Tilley, 55, killed the nearly 200-pound bear by jumping on its back and stabbing the aggressive animal with a 6-inch hunting knife after his dog alerted him and distracted the bear.

"Love is a very powerful emotion, and my thought right away was, 'You're not going to kill my dog,' " Tilley said Friday.

" I really consider my dog a hero. Without that first warning, I would have had the bear clamping down on my neck."

An avid outdoorsman, Tilley had planned on spending 12 days portaging through the area near Wawa with his American Staffordshire, Sam.

Four days into the trip, he heard his dog growl and noticed the bear closing in on him.

He said he did what he's been taught to do when a bear is close: he starting waving his arms and slowly started backing away from the animal.

The bear moved off the trail but a few seconds later reappeared, cutting off Tilley's escape route.

"That's when I knew I had a serious problem ... . I was lunch," he said.

Sam was now between the bear and his owner. Instead of taking an aggressive stance, the dog stood sideways blocking the bear's route.
The bear took a few steps down the trail and clamped its mouth on the back of my dog," Tilley said.

"By attracting the bear's attention like that and distracting the bear from me, it gave me the quick opportunity I needed to run around to the back of the bear, get on its back and with my knife start stabbing it."

After making sure the animal was dead, Tilley realized he had suffered a wound to his hand, and Sam had two puncture marks on his back. He needed to get help but was a two-day portage away from civilization.

Dragging his canoe across the short portage, Tilley paddled for about an hour before he came across a pair of Americans who had a satellite phone.

They called for help, and two hours later, a cargo plane arrived to take Tilley back to Wawa for medical attention. He was treated and released from a hospital.

Tilley had recently purchased the knife that would save his life after reading the story of Jacqueline Perry, the young Cambridge, Ont., doctor who was killed by a bear last September.

Perry's husband attempted to fend off the animal with a Swiss Army knife, the only weapon he had.

"When I read the report about her death, it really hit home to me that these things are possible," Tilley said.

"I owe her husband a real debt of gratitude because if I hadn't heard her story and got that knife, I wouldn't be telling this story."