Dalton Roach from Eau Claire Wisconsin recently had a brush with a black bear that he won't soon forget. Roach plays professional baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals’ Double-A affiliate in Springfield, Missouri and was back home this past weekend to do a little bow hunting on his families property in Wisconsin.

Like many hunters Roach was perched up high around 20 feet in a deer stand when he saw a bear wandering around the property. Feeling pretty safe being up high he started filming since he had never seen a bear on the property before. But then the bear all of a sudden took a turn and started heading towards the tree he was in and so he decided to put his phone away so he had his hands free and could weigh his options.

That's when he starting hearing a scratching noise and started getting scared as he saw the bear start climbing up the tree. He said to Leader-Telegram:

The next thing I know I can hear him right behind me and feel him breathing on my back,” said Roach, who was sitting on a 4-square-foot platform. Then I feel a paw on my lap. He just kind of left the paw sitting there, so it’s not like I wanted to make a big move and make him squeeze.

 

Roach then felt his clothing tightening on his back and realized the bear was biting down on him, so he spun around and saw the size of the bear which he estimates between 250 and 300 pounds. Knowing what he heard in the past about black bears in that they most likely are more scared of you then you are of them he started yelling and trying to make himself look bigger.

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Roach was grateful that he had a harness on so he was not worried about falling out of the tree and thankfully his yelling worked and the bear headed back down the tree. As the bear circled below him Roach grabbed his cell phone and called his friend to tell him what was going on.

Roach got his bow ready in case the bear came back but fortunately the bear took off.  He was able to climb down from the tree and walk to his truck with blood dripping down his back but made it to his vehicle. He went to the hospital with his wife where he got his wounds cleaned out and got a tetanus shot and the first round of rabies shots with 21 more to go.

A story like this is absolutely terrifying to me even though I am not someone that hunts, but to think he was 20 feet up in the air in a deer stand and was still attacked by a bear is mind blowing. Even though he has to undergo a painful round of rabies shots he is so lucky to be alive.

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