Kyle Schaff and his friend, Kent, set up camp in the Madison Mountain Range around 4 o’clock. The campsite was within the Taylor-Hilgard Unit. Schaff and Kent packed in with their seven horses and set up wall tents in a backcountry camp.The next day the men hiked up the ridge, splitting into two drainages. Schaff began to call back and forth with an elk, moving deeper into the thick forest. Suddenly he saw what he described as a “brown blob” about 100 yards away.

The peaceful hunting trip would soon turn into a fight for survival.

Kyle Schaff is a 29-year-old Missoula resident with a long past of hunting. On September 24th, 2016 Schaff was attacked by a grizzly bear while hunting for elk. Sustaining multiple bite marks and a severe tear, about the size of half a tennis ball on his right forearm, as well as a hole in his foot from the grizzly biting through his boot.

According to the Yellowstone Park website, from 1980-2011, 90 million people visited the national park and only 43 of those visitors were injured by a grizzly bear. Although the US Geological Survey states that no bear spray is 100% effective, it is still recommended to carry the deterrent.  Schaff has been hunting since he was a 12-year-old boy, knowing the ropes, bear spray was his first line of defense on the day of his attack.

“I could see that heavy stream of spray hitting him right, directly in the face as he ran right through it. It definitely slowed him down a bit.” Schaff recalls the grizzly approaching about 50 feet away before he started spraying, slowing the pace of the bear, but not completely stopping from charging Schaff.

Now the grizzly bear was three or four feet away from the seasoned hunter.

“Oh sh–, this is happening.” Schaff recalls thinking, “I need to figure something out.” This is the moment of realization, he is going to fight for his life, that he was the 1 out of every 2.1 million chance.

“He made two jumps, and was right on top of me. Knocking me over. I landed on my side, rolled over and began to kick him,” Schaff says.

The 400-790pound mammal clenched Schaff’s foot between his jaws, biting through his boot. As Schaff protected his face from the bear, it pierced his right elbow, dislocating his shoulder.

“I rolled onto my stomach and put my hands on my neck and he sat on top of me, hitting my chest with his paws’’ Schaff tells of the moment before he yelled to his friend, Kent to get the bear off of him.

Finally, Kent yelled at the grizzly, causing the bear to turn his head. Schaff took the second of distraction to shove his arm as far down the throat of the bear as he could reach.

The bear spray began setting in and the discomfort provoked the bear to jump off of Schaff and run down the hill.

The attack lasted “at max, 10 seconds” according to Schaff.

Schaff was attacked by a grizzly bear just north of Yellowstone National Park. After the long journey home Kyle Shaft was treated at Madison Valley Hospital in Ennis, Montana.

Since the attack, Kyle has recovered but the evidence of the attack will always remain. He has also decided that the attack will not stop him from pursuing his hunting career. Kyle concluded with saying, “I’m going to carry a bigger gun next time.”