BEAR CREEK TWP. -- Michigan wildlife officials will try to euthanize a mother black bear that mauled a bow hunter in a tree stand in Emmet County.
Chad Fortune was sitting in the tree stand Saturday when a female black bear and her three cubs started climbing the tree and biting him.
Fortune said at first two cubs climbed up the treestand ladder, and when he shouted at them, they dropped to the ground. A third bear then climbed up the tree, and the hunter punched and elbowed it until it fell from the tree. Then a bear climbed up the treestand ladder and bit Fortune on the leg.
Fortune remained in the treestand for two hours until his fiancee and father came looking for him, worried that he had not returned from hunting after nightfall. After helping him down from the treestand, they took Fortune to the hospital for treatment.
He was treated at the hospital for bites to his left calf, thigh and shoulder
The Department of Natural Resources and Environment says the mother is dangerous because she's lost her fear of humans, and the cubs can survive on their own.
The DNRE has set up trail cameras and collected hair samples aimed at catching the animal.
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