WARNING: BEAR ATTACKED!
A man struck her in the head with an axe!
The incident was captured on a trail camer. #ThisIsSlovakia #bearattack #bear #bears #wildlife #nature #scary pic.twitter.com/Y9rVylrNUD— This Is Slovakia (@ThisIsSlovakia_) March 23, 2025
On March 21, in the Malá Fatra mountains near Bratislava, Slovakia, a European brown bear attacked a man who was hiking with his dog. The bear was reported to have had cubs with her. Mr. Piotr was carrying a mid-sized axe, which was used to clear brush and trim limbs.
The axe appears similar to what we would have called a “cruiser” axe, about a 3/4-sized axe with a single-bit head. Mr. Piotr casually swings the axe as he walks along. It is something this correspondent often did while walking through the forest over 50 years ago. An axe is a very useful tool for clearing trails. This axe is much bigger and more capable than a typical hatchet.
The dog is fair-sized and fast but does not seem interested in closing with the bear. Mr. Piotr uses a medium-sized tree as cover while swinging the axe one-handed. It appears Mr. Piotr hit the bear with the axe twice. The first time, the bear retreated perhaps 20 yards, then came back fast. Mr. Piotr seems to be fumbling to get at bear spray on his hip but quickly makes ready with the axe as the bear charges. The second time, Mr. Piotr appears to have landed a solid blow on the bear’s head. The bear runs off, with the dog in pursuit. Mr. Piotr belatedly sprays bear spray in the direction of the fleeing bear and dog.
The video is said to have been captured by a trail camera.
He claims to have whistled to alert the bears of his presence so they wouldn’t be surprised, but the mother attacked him anyway. Footage showed the brave hiker, named Mr Piotr, taking cover behind a forked tree as the bear charged at him. He whacked it with his small axe, used to cut down overgrown branches during his ramble. The bear circled around and attacked again, but the man was ready with his chopper, similar in shape to a shepherd’s axe.
Mr. Piotr was not injured by the bear. He handled himself quite well. It is not easy to land effective blows with such a long axe with one hand. To use two hands, he would have had to expose himself more from behind the tree.
The video shows how rapidly bears can charge and close the distance. It shows the defender, Mr. Piotr, had plenty of time to draw and use a handgun if he had one available in a proper holster. A handgun is easier to use with one hand than an axe.
European brown bears are a genetically slight variation of the brown bears in Alaska, grizzly bears in the lower 40 states, or brown bears in Russia or Japan. The population of brown bears in Slovakia and in the wild areas of Eastern Europe is increasing. We can expect more human-bear conflicts in Slovakia in the future.
Bears are not good neighbors. Brown bears are the most aggressive bears in North America. When bears are not hunted, they lose respect for people and are more likely to attack them.
About Dean Weingarten:
Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of Constitutional Carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.
An ax and bear spray?
Bad enough with a rifle!
My shorts would be a total loss.
Just for good measure, appears he squirted it with bear spray too.
For clarification, although the video shows a Brown bear, i.e. of the grizzly, Kodiak, and collectively the Brown bear species (Ursus arctos), the photo for the cover story shows a brown color phase Black bear (Ursus americanus).
an ax is wildly useful , just watch out for Lizzy Bordon