Sudbury man punches black bear in face

A Sudbury man is walking away with only scratchesafter fighting a 300pound black bear.

Sixty-oneyearold Rick Nelson was walking his dog in thePanachearea on Sunday afternoon when he stumbled across thebear's cub.

"I sat down on alog and the bear cub poked its head out of the shrub nearby. It was so close I could touch it. It let out a yelp, because I scared the heck out of it," Nelson told CBC News.

"I knew right awayI was in trouble," he said. "It's calling for mommy."

Nelson is a former bear hunter, so he stood upknowing he only hadseconds to spare.

"The motherwas coming full speed," he said."All you could hear was the bush crashing."

No rocks, no sticks just fists

Soon the bear was infront of Nelsonandup onhind legs.

"I had no rocks, no sticks," he said, but he did have a lot ofboxing practice.

Nelsontried to swing at the bear but missed, hitting it in the teeth. The bear hit back, scratching Nelsonacross the chest and face.

"I knew it would swing first with its left but it would really come with its right, because most bears are right-handed," Nelson said.

So Nelson swung asecond time.

Most bears are right-handed.- Rick Nelson

"I had the perfect shot to take.I did an underhand and hit it right in the snout."

That's when the bear's cub let out another squeal and started to move away, Nelson said.

"Now it was themoment of truth. What's this bear going to do? Is it going to follow its cub or is it going to come after me?"

"[The mother bear]turned around and it was snorting blood. Itlooked at me, and I thought,'Oh no. Here it comes,'" he said.

"But it just turned back around and walked away like nothing ever happened and followed the cub," Nelson said. "So I really lucked out there."

Black bears 'get a bad rap'

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry told CBC Newsit has notreceived anyreports of bearattacks on peoplethis year.

Black bear attacks areextremely rareaccording to the ministry,and usuallyonly happen if the bear feels threatened.

Despite his close call, Nelson said he doesn'twant people tobe afraid of the animal.

"Black bears really aren't dangerous unless you have a cub involved. So sometimes black bears get a really bad rap. Probably they'remore afraid of you and [me],than we are of them," he said.

"I'm really glad that the bear walked away. And I'm really glad I did too."

Listen to Nelson tell his story on CBCSudbury'sMorning North.

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Morning North6:03Man fights off bear with his fists

A Sudbury man recently found himself face to face with a black bear. Luckily for him, he knew how to throw a punch. Rick nelson told the CBC's Marina von Stackelberg his story.