In what's sure to be the gnarliest video you’ll see today, a Russian man can be seen coming face to face with an enormous brown bear – and he's being praised for how he handled the terrifying situation.
Watch the footage below:
The heart-pounding footage was posted on Reddit by user @freestudent88 and shows him exclaiming in Russian: “There’s a female bear with three cubs here,” as he points his gun at the huge animal before carefully backing away.
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The man, who appears to be a hunter, adds: “I decided not to shoot. Leaving now.”
Redditors were quick to praise the man’s bravery and apparent reluctance to fire at the animal, with one person writing: “Balls of steel but did the right thing.”
Another added: “That guy kept his cool to an impressive degree,” while a third echoed: “I would’ve pulled on charge number three tbh. What a guy.”
It’s unclear exactly where the footage was captured, or how many cubs the bear had with her – if any – as only the man’s dogs can be seen in the clip.
In fact, some viewers speculated that the man may not have been trying to save the bear, but was actually waiting to line up the perfect shot so as not to waste a bullet.
Another Redditor wrote: “That's the REAL reason why he held off firing. He wasn't showing discipline, he just knew that he would never have time to reload if he fired both barrels and didn't kill the bear.”
Someone else wrote: “He knew that he didn’t have the optimal weapon for taking the bear down, so if he was going to fire it was going to be both barrels at point blank range,” while another person noted: “This wasn't him trying to save the bear, it's him making sure that if/when he fires, it's up close and deadly. He knew what he was about.”
It’s not the first time in recent weeks that footage of a bear trying to attack a human has sent shivers down internet users’ spines.
Back in August, a wild bear was seen lunging at a tourist trying to take photos with it in Romania.
A woman was seen walking over to the huge animal, but things took a turn for the worse when the bear suddenly lunged at her, giving her the fright of her life.
She quickly turned and sprinted to the safety of her car. Good old Mother Nature, eh?
Aisha Nozari