Ryan Beierman told The Minnesota Star Tribune the bear pierced its fangs into his forehead during the attack. He had to get 23 stitches.

A dad is calling his 12-year-old son a hero after the boy saved his life during a black bear attack while on a hunting trip in Burnett County, Wis.

Ryan Beierman, 43, and his 12-year-old son, Owen, recounted their brush with death to the Minneapolis Star Tribune this week. The elder Beierman said he had been tracking an injured bear near his cabin in western Wisconsin when he happened upon the animal in a small clearing under an oak tree.