--- description: A Minnesotan hunter survived a bear attack by fending off the 525 pound animal with a 5 inch knife, the hunter said on Tuesday. title: Minnesota Hunter Fights Off 525 Pound Bear With a 5 Inch Knife image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt69095200f5814824/69876d952dce0133649dc503/89175862.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [nature](/tag/nature/) ## nature Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Minnesota Man Fights Off 525-Pound Bear With a 5-Inch Knife  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 9, 2014 12:56 PM CUT  Asian black bear standing in the forest (Ursus thibetanus) Asian black bear standing in the forest (Ursus thibetanus)I.JESKE—De Agostini/Getty Images  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 9, 2014 12:56 PM CUT A Minnesotan hunter claims to have survived a bear attack by fending off the 525-pound animal with a 5-inch knife. Brandon Johnson told _USA Today_ that he was tracking a black bear that his friend had shot in a densely forested hunting ground earlier in the day. It was nightfall by the time the bear had caught Johnson off guard. The bear charged, knocking him unconscious. But Johnson awoke moments later and fought back with his hunting knife, he said. “It’s just going to town on my hand and I just keep stabbing it and stabbing it and stabbing away and I am screaming and yelling,” Johnson told _USA Today_. The bear left and charged him on three separate occasions, until Johnson says he stabbed the knife into its open mouth. He survived with extensive injuries and a slew of medical bills. His friends have set up a fundraising website with the goal of raising $10,000 to help defray the costs. [Read more at _USA Today_.](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2014/12/09/man-bear-attack-knife-minnesota/20127583/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3624972/minnesota-bear-knife-hunter/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3624972/minnesota-bear-knife-hunter/"},"headline":"Minnesota Man Fights Off 525-Pound Bear With a 5-Inch Knife","datePublished":"2014-12-09T12:56:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:15:07.157Z","description":"\"It's just going to town on my hand and I just keep stabbing\"","url":"https://time.com/3624972/minnesota-bear-knife-hunter/","keywords":["nature","Newsfeed","animals","fight"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt69095200f5814824/69876d952dce0133649dc503/89175862.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Dan Kedmey","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt69095200f5814824/69876d952dce0133649dc503/89175862.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Asian black bear standing in the forest (Ursus thibetanus)","caption":"Asian black bear standing in the forest (Ursus thibetanus)","creditText":"I.JESKE—De Agostini/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/nature/","name":"nature"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3624972/minnesota-bear-knife-hunter/","name":"Minnesota Man Fights Off 525-Pound Bear With a 5-Inch Knife"}}]}] ```