Father survives bear attack during hunting trip

09/02/2026

 A father says he’s lucky to be alive after he was attacked by a bear and bitten in the face during a hunting trip to Alaska.

Content warning: Some of the images in this story may be disturbing for some readers.

Jadon Nicoara, a 27-year-old father of two, is now resting at home after he was attacked by a brown bear while hunting caribou around 100 miles outside of Deadhorse.

“I’m very thankful to be alive,” Nicoara said. “Glad to have my eyesight and the use of all my limbs. God is very good.”

Four days into their hunting trip, on Thursday, Nicoara and his cousin were aiming to find a herd of caribou they saw in the distance. The pair were climbing up the edge of a canyon on a steep hill when Nicoara noticed bushes above them starting to move.“I don’t know if I said it or thought it, but I was like, ‘Caribou,’” he said. “I turned around to my right, and there was a bear just running, at probably 15 to 20 feet, straight toward me. It was growling, its mouth was open and it was just running full speed.”

Nicoara was thrown backwards and rolled down the hill, as the bear began biting and scratching him.

“I just felt it bite my arm, and it was very surreal because everything happens so fast,” he said. “Then, it finally ended up on top of me, and it bit my face. It was just biting again and again, and I could hear all the bones crunching in my nose. I saw stars, and I was like, ‘OK, this is kind of where it ends.’ I thought I was going to be dead.”

Nicoara says the bear then began moving down his body, grabbing his hands and then his foot. It was around this time his cousin took out his handgun and started shooting toward the bear.

“I was screaming at him not to hit me because I was all tangled up with the bear, and I didn’t want more damage,” Nicoara said. “He emptied his whole magazine, and then, the bear turned and went to him.”

It was then, Nicoara says, that he was able to pull out his revolver and shoot the bear, which ran off.

Following the attack, Nicoara and his cousin began relocating to a new location where they would be able to meet a helicopter. They were initially told it would take two hours before help would be able to arrive.

“I was like, ‘Oh my goodness, I don’t know if I’m going to make it because I’m bleeding pretty good.’ We were praying, and I was thinking about my girls. I was like, ‘I need to make it home,’” Nicoara said. “I just remember at one point looking around, and it was a gorgeous day. I’m like, ‘How did this even happen? It’s so surreal.’”

Now, days after the attack, Nicoara is back at home with his wife and his 3-year-old and 7-month-old daughters. Lucky to be alive, he says it’s a miracle he has his eyesight and his limbs are attached.

“I’ve been listening to some of the Psalms in the Bible, and Psalm 23:4 stuck out to me,” Nicoara said. “It says, ‘Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me.’”

The road ahead for recovery is still unclear, Nicoara says. He has lacerations to his arms and legs and is awaiting facial reconstruction surgery sometime next week.