Bruce Auchly read in an article that large animals have a pronounced gag response, which is what made him automatically put his arm down the bear's throat. Photo: Reuters
A hunter tracking elk in the Montana mountains says he fended off an attacking grizzly bear by shoving his arm into its throat to induce a gag reflex that would frighten it away, state wildlife managers report.
Chase Dellwo, 26, was hunting with a crossbow for elk with his brother in the rugged foothills of the Rocky Mountains in northwestern Montana on Oct 3 when he surprised a 180kg male grizzly lumbering along a creek, says Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks spokesman Bruce Auchly.
