Georgia Hunter Suffers Hundreds of Bite Wounds
BY TRAVIS HALL | PUBLISHED FEB 13, 2023
Georgia Hunter Suffers Hundreds of Bite Wounds During Brutal Dog Attack in the Woods
The hunter was mauled by a pack of attack dogs while moving a tree stand on his hunting lease
A Georgia man sustained serious injuries to his legs, arms, and hands after a pack of loose dogs attacked him while he was relocating a deer stand. The 61-year-old hunter ended up with 298 puncture wounds and a severed ligament in his hand after an attack that lasted upwards of 15 minutes. Once he escaped, the man managed to flag down a passing driver who helped transport him to a nearby hospital.
The hunter—who asked to be identified by first his name only—was in the process of removing the straps from his ladder stand on the morning of January 15 when he noticed three large dogs approaching. “One of them came in and attacked me. When it did, the other two joined in. They were attacking me from all three sides. It was kind of like wolf-mentality,” Scott B. told Field & Stream. “They were in a complete frenzy. I was doing anything I could to fight them off.”
Scott tried screaming for help, but no one was around to come to his aid. Because he’d left his cell phone on his ATV more than 150 yards away from the scene of the attack, he was unable to phone authorities while the dogs were mauling him. Eventually, he managed to fight them off by wheeling around a large stick in circular motion. As he spun with the stick, Scott made his way toward another ladder stand that he knew of on an adjoining piece of property.
“They were still biting me, but spinning with that stick kept them from teaming up and keeping me stuck in one place,” he recalled. “As I was going up the ladder stand, I told myself that I really needed to hold on tight to the rungs because the dogs are going to be jumping on my backside and trying to pull me down—and if they did, I’d probably never get away.”
He stayed in the stand for about 30 minutes, waiting for the dogs to leave the area. When it seemed like the coast was clear, he climbed down. But the dogs heard him moving through the dry leaves and quickly returned. He scrambled back into the stand and waited out the dogs for another half hour. Then he made a run for a nearby highway.
“I started trying to wave cars down. Finally, a family stopped and rolled down their window. I just yelled out: ‘I’ve been https://www.fieldandstream.com/survival/grizzly-bear-attacks-college-wrestlers/ by a pack of dogs, and I need medical help,'” he said. “When I got to the emergency room they said I had 298 puncture wounds and lacerations and needed to be sewn up in seven places.”
Upon being released from the hospital around 4:00 p.m. that afternoon, Scott went directly to the Jackson County Sheriff’s office and filed a police report. “The sheriff’s deputy and one officer from animal control made a visit to the property that night and had the three dogs that attacked me put into a cage for a 10-day rabies quarantine,” he said. “They were all large attack dogs. Two of them were part pit bull and one was part German shephard.”
According to the Athens Banner-Herald, all three dogs were euthanized after the mandatory quarantine, and the woman who owned them received a citation for being in possession of dangerous animals.
While the attack was both physically and mentally traumatizing, Scott said he won’t let it keep him out of the woods for good. “I’m going to start carrying a side arm again, and I already bought a collapsible steel baton and a canister of bear spray,” he said. “When I do go back, it’ll have to be with my son, at least for the first few times.”
Travis Hall is the associate news editor for Field & Stream.