Kendall Cummings (right) jumped on a grizzly bear in an attempt to pull it off his friend. Cowboy State Daily
A pair of young outdoorsmen — both college wrestlers — have joined a fraternity that includes Mountain Men Hugh Glass and Jedediah Smith: They survived a mauling from a grizzly bear. The incident occurred outside Cody, Wyoming. From Cowboy State Daily:
Kendall Cummings could feel the grizzly bear’s jaws tearing through flesh down to his skull, but the adrenaline coursing through his body made it a painless sensation.
“I could hear when his teeth would hit my skull, I could feel when he’d bite down on my bones and they’d kind of crunch,” Cummings told Cowboy State Daily on Monday morning.
Cummings and his wrestling teammate at Northwest College in Powell, Brady Lowry, were attacked by a grizzly bear Saturday afternoon outside Cody. The two survived but suffered serious injuries from the angry bruin.
Cummings jumped the bear and yanked on his ear to save his friend, taking a beating in the process. That’s as heroic as it gets. Waugh!
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Hawken Horse recently dropped a ballad titled Old Ephraim that lays out just how terrifying was the Mountain Man’s nemesis:
Hugh Glass and Ol’ Jedediah, fared far better than most
Cuz when a griz is set on winnin’ most men gonna give up the ghost
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Ran across a nifty YouTube Channel the other day — Live Ready. It’s basically another bushcrafting/survival channel, of which there is no shortage, but conducted as it is by a young woman from South Africa, I found it worthy. I find myself so drawn to that landscape. Can’t explain it. And I’ve always found the SA accent charming. Anyway, a better way to spend time with your morning coffee than doom-scrolling the news.
Clarise is from South Africa and lives in a small village in the Western Cape. She is the founder of Live Ready and believes that survival skills, bush craft and preparedness are not just for those with advanced outdoor skills, but that every person should make those elements part of their lifestyle especially in the times we live in today.
“The purpose of the Live Ready platform is to share our experiences of survival, bushcraft and preparedness while assisting people in learning skills at a level that is easy and practical. These skills can be adopted by anyone on their journey to preparedness. I believe we can do this while taking care of our environment and ensuring the sustainability and longevity of our resources and wildlife. With the implementation of the mark of the beast many of us will no longer be able to buy or sell, to earn a living and to continue being a part of society. For this reason we need to prepare ourselves to survive this period in time.”
Through the Live Ready Youtube channel, Clarise shares her experiences of her time spent in the wilderness and practical bushcraft skills. She also talks about preparedness in the face of emergencies, evacuating due to fire and advice on urban situations such as how she dealt with being held at gunpoint in her home on two occasions, managing the situation and consequent home safety tips.
Clarise runs through her “bug-out system” in a video. I find the inclusion of a crossbow intriguing. I’ve never done anything with them, but my understanding is that a modern crossbow is a mighty weapon. Anybody here done any crossbow shooting?
Craig Rullman says
The old Prussian Officer Corps will have nothing on this kid’s sword scars. Well done, and the chicks will dig it.
Reese Crawford says
Yikes! No grizzlies down here, thank goodness. Those young men have nerves of steel.
I would say the modern crossbow is a highly effective weapon. It has become my go to weapon for hunting the Ozark highlands. It is a 45 – 50 yard weapon max and like a compound or any other bow, range estimation is essential. However, when a clean hit is made, a through and through wound with enough power left to stick in to a tree or a stump is the norm.
JimC says
Well there ya go. Thanks for the feedback. Don’t know why, exactly, but I’m suddenly kinda interested in the x-bow.
Reese Crawford says
Barnett makes a decent one you can pick up at Walmart for 250 or so
JimC says
That’s in the right range for me. I’ve seen some that command an eye-popping number of plews…
Stanley Wheeler says
I read that story of the wrestlers and the bear. Wow. Courageous. Now let me say something offensive to some: Wrestlers are a breed apart. You probably wouldn’t get that response from the boys dedicated to soccer and basketball. — Of course I jest, but the jest is only amusing because there may be some truth to it. I was a wrestler, and I can’t say that I would have been that brave.
Greg Marshall says
When I was taking coaching clinics the refrain was “You need people with a high tolerance for pain.”
lane batot says
Here, a few days ago, in the wild, wild East(Connecticut, specifically), a male black bear grabbed a 10 year old kid in his yard and started dragging him off by the leg. His Granpa, in a wheel chair, no less, managed to scare the bear off(which dropped the kid), but it came back, and a neighbor then got involved and chased the bear off again. But it returned a 3rd time, to be shot by Law Enforcement/Wildlife officials, which had arrived on the scene by then. You can’t make this kind of stuff up!
JimC says
Black bears are not benign, that’s for sure.
John Maddox Roberts says
I wonder if that griz was full-grown.
JimC says
That’s a dammed good question.
Hawken Horse says
Thanks for including the song!
Great write up. Ol Ephraim ain’t no joke!