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Dec. 21, 2015, 12:16 PM GMT / Updated Dec. 21, 2015, 12:16 PM GMT By Henry Austin

A Scoutmaster fought off a black bear with a rock hammer after it mauled him in a cave on Sunday afternoon, officials said.

Christopher Petronino was hiking with three Scouts when they stopped near the Split Rock reservoir, according to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

But after the 50-year-old entered the cave “a black bear grabbed his foot and pulled him further" inside, the DEP's statement said. “The bear then bit the victim’s leg, his right shoulder and then his left shoulder.”

Grabbing his rock hammer, the Scout leader struck the beast twice in the head, before pulling his sweatshirt off over his head and curling into the fetal position.

Outside the cave, the Scouts called 911 on Petronino’s cellphone but they were unable to give the dispatcher specific information about their location.

Petronino said he could hear the bear “huffing” as he kept his back to the animal and yelled at the boys to take out any food they had and leave it at the mouth of the cave.

After “a substantial amount of time,” the bear lumbered out and after one of the Scout's dogs barked and snarled at it, it ran up the hillside.