By Mike Godfrey

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK — If you're attacked by a bear, what should you do? Is "hitting the bear on the nose" solid advice or a dangerous folktale?

Targeting vulnerable areas like the eyes, throat and nose is a basic tenant of self-defense. There's no doubt, a bear's nose is extremely sensitive — at least to smell. But does that sensitivity to smell suggest targeting a bear's nose during an attack?

Today, we'll examine lessons from the attack that severely wounded Rudy Noorlander in early September. While helping two hunters locate a deer they wounded the night before, Noorlander encountered a "small" grizzly, and then a "mega grizzly," which he estimated was 10 feet tall, guarding a deer carcass.

With his rifle drawn, he attempted to shoot the grizzly when it charged, but his gun misfired. That's when, according to Noorlander's daughter, he decided to punch the bear in the nose. The grizzly responded by grabbing the man's head and shaking him so violently that his jaw was torn off. "Jaw, teeth, everything. There's nothing there," Noorlander's sister told MTN News in September.

Hearing his screams, the two hunters came to his aid. Though armed, they feared accidentally shooting Noorlander and began yelling and throwing rocks at the bear, which then retreated.

Noorlander was flown to a hospital in Montana for immediate trauma care prior to being transferred to the University of Utah Hospital where he's undergone additional surgeries.

The family has set up a GoFundMe* account to help with medical bills.

Lifesaving lessons

Wildlife experts broadly advise fighting back "with everything you've have," if you're attacked by a black bear. This includes advice to punch and kick the bear's nose and face. But Noorlander didn't encounter a black bear. He encountered a "mega grizzly" and that fundamentally changes the equation.

Tom Smith, wildlife biologist and global authority on bear management, has dedicated much of his more than 30-year career to the study of bear attacks, including what strategies work and what does not.

https://www.ksl.com/article/50736347/should-you-punch-a-grizzly-bear-in-the-nose-and-better-ideas