Eleven-year-old Elliot Clark was on a fishing trip with his family in Hoonah, Alaska last month when a brown bear appeared from the woods, charged at them, and began attacking his uncle.

“The bear was on him so quickly he didn’t have time to take his rifle off his shoulder,” Elliot’s father and bear hunting guide, Lucas Clark, told the Peninsula Clarion.

Elliot was the only other family member in the group who was carrying a gun. Fortunately, the night before he had swapped out the ammunition in his rifle from out-of-season bird shot to ammo that could take out a bear. The boy shot the bear right on the nose.

Alaska state troopers have ruled the shooting to be a Defense of Life or Property (DLP) killing.

Alaska Sen. Shelley Hughes posted about the incident on her Facebook page along with photos, noting the gunshot wound on the bear’s nose.

“Look where he hit the charging beast,” Hughes wrote. “What a shot. What bravery.”