A JBER man was critically injured while on a bear hunt with a partner above Carter Lake on Friday and was transported to Anchorage via Lifemed, troopers report.

The Soldotna Public Safety Communications Center received a notification via an In-Reach device at 12:08 am on Saturday morning reporting that two men were in distress.

Alaska State Troopers, the Moose Creek Volunteer Fire Department, the Bear Creek Fire Department, and a Life Med chopper responded to the location. When the responders accessed the area, they found that hunter 28-year-old William McCormick was seriously injured and so carried him to the waiting Life Med helicopter. He was transported by air to the Anchorage Providence Hospital with life-threatening injuries.

When troopers interviewed McCormick’s hunting partner, Zachary Tennyson, age 19, on the details of the victim’s injuries, they were told that the pair had shot a bear on the ridge above them on Friday and the bear began rolling down the slope. As it did so, the falling bear dislodged rocks that also began rolling down the hill. McCormick was struck by a falling rock as well as the bear.

Tennyson reported no injuries.

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