The hunter becomes the hunted: 'Dead' bear shot with a rifle springs up and attacks its would-be killer

The hunter becomes the hunted: a gunshot “dead” bear leaps up and attacks its would-be killer

• Alex Machavo, 22, was attacked and repeatedly bitten by a bear after it shot him
• Machavo and the animal struggled down a hill
• The hunter’s injuries did not appear to be life-threatening

From Daily Mail reporters

Released: 19:53 CET, November 2, 2012 | Updated: 23:53 CET, November 2, 2012

A hunter was brutally mauled after a missed shot failed to kill a bear.

Alex Machavo, of Medford, Oregon, was attacked by the injured animal near Shady Cove on Thursday.

According to Andrea Carlson, spokeswoman for a local sheriff, tThe hunter and his wounded target rolled down a 50-foot embankment, with the bear biting 22-year-old Machavo all the way down.

Black bears number about 30,000 in Oregon and are North America’s most common bear

A second hunter, 24-year-old Nathan Shinn of Phoenix, Oregon, was eventually able to shoot and kill the wounded animal.

Responding MPs found Machavo on a forest road and had him taken to a Medford hospital.

Machavo’s condition was not known, but Carlson says his injuries did not appear to be life-threatening.

Shinn was unharmed. Carlson says the hunters had a badge that allowed them to legally shoot the bear.