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© Jim LandessJim Landess with the grizzly bear that he killed after it tried to enter his home in Sterling, Alaska
Jim Landess woke up to loud banging at his home in Sterling, Alaska in the middle of the night, only to find a giant grizzly bear outside the dining room window. He ran outside and fired a few shots to scare the animal away, but it returned three hours later. This time, Landess fired seven rounds into the animal, killing it.

A sleepy Alaskan man had to twice battle an angry bear that attacked his house.

On the second go-round, Jim Landess fired seven rounds from his .45-caliber handgun, killing the rampaging animal.

The ruckus started about 3:30 a.m. on July 7 when Landess was woken up by loud banging on a window and a wall at his Sterling home, the Alaska Dispatch News reported.

Downstairs, his 17-year-old son was looking at the face of a 9-foot grizzly bear peering at him outside the dining room window.

Landess bolted down the stairs, grabbed his gun and raced outside.

He and his son shot off a couple of rounds and ran back into the woods.

Thinking the worst was over, everyone went back to bed.

But they were woken at 6 a.m. when the bear returned, banging on the front of the house.

"I couldn't believe that it came back," Landess said.


This time, he grabbed his .45 and went out to his deck. He fired seven rounds into the bear, killing it.

It was not something he wanted to do.

"I'm not a hunter," he said. "I'm a fisherman ... I wanted to scare him off.

There was no food or garbage near the house and wildlife officials told Landess it wasn't clear what the bear was after.