Slovakian Man uses Axe to Protect against Attacking Brown Bear (Video)

Link to video on X.

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, used to clear brush and trim limbs.

To this correspondent, the axe appears similar to what we would have called a “cruiser” axe in my youth, 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.

From the mirror.co.uk:

 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 a 3/4 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.

Analysis: Bears are not good neighbors. Brown bears are the most aggressive of the bears found in North America. When bears are not hunted, they lose respect for people and are more likely to attack people.

©2025 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

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Source: http://gunwatch.blogspot.com/2025/04/slovakian-man-uses-axe-to-protect.html