Wasilla hunter recovering from bear mauling

CHICKALOON -- The bear's speed is what most impressed Bill Murphy.

He was hunting alone for sheep and moose near the top of King River on Sept. 17 when he stepped out of some willows into a clearing. A grizzly sow and two cubs were sleeping on a gravel bar 40 feet away.

A silver ring of fur around the neck of one cub caught the Wasilla man's eye and he froze. The cub jumped up, waking its mother. Murphy reached for the rifle on his pack as the sow rolled her head around to look at him.

She sprang before Murphy could use his gun.

"She was on me that quick," he said. "She was coming low and jumped on my back. She pulled me around by the shoulder, and then dropped me. I screamed at her but that just made her mad. She grabbed my right thigh and started shaking me."

Murphy was thinking "I'm not going to take this anymore." He managed to get the gun's safety off but couldn't get his finger onto the trigger.

The bear grabbed the barrel with her teeth, almost pulling the weapon out of Murphy's hands.

"We were doing a tug-of-war," he said. "She worked her way over by my head and stopped there, kind of panting. I thought, 'just lay still.' I could feel the drool dripping on the back of my head."

The sow walked a couple of steps away, turned back to look at Murphy, then loped off. Murphy pulled some 2-inch by 2-inch gauze pads from a small medical kit and patched them to his shoulder with duct tape. He wrapped a game bag around his wounded thigh.

His rifle took some hits, too. The bear broke off its stock and bent the cross hairs.

Murphy walked nearly three miles back to the Permanent Trail where his four-wheeler was parked. Then he rode 14 miles toward the trailhead before the machine malfunctioned a mile from his truck. He walked the remainder.

A man camped at the trailhead took Murphy back to the stranded four-wheeler and towed it to the parking lot. He helped Murphy put the machine into his truck. Murphy drove himself to Valley Hospital, arriving at 9 p.m. -- eight hours after the attack.

He has six puncture holes in his shoulder and more in his thigh, including one that is especially deep. He didn't stay overnight at the hospital because he wasn't sure the Veteran's Administration would pay for it, and he doesn't have other insurance.

"They said my blood pressure was a little low," Murphy said. "I didn't need a transfusion. They did a nice job."

The 54-year-old heavy equipment operator has been recuperating at home this week. He said Wednesday he's still "pretty bruised" but is improving each day.

Murphy, an 18-year Alaskan with lots of wilderness experience, has had other bear encounters but nothing like this.

"I'd call it a light mauling," he said with a laugh. "My pack saved me. The bear bit it several times and expended some energy doing that."

Murphy realizes the danger of venturing into bear country alone.

"The problem was that I was walking into a headwind. Normally if I was just sheep hunting I'd make noise but I was also looking for moose so I kept quiet. I'm pretty aware and I didn't see any sign of bears."

He didn't hesitate when asked if he'll be scared going into the wilderness again.

"It's not going to affect me," Murphy said. "I'm just sorry I missed the last of moose season. I don't have any meat."