HELEN, Ga. -- An ex-Marine used a whole lot of bravery and a little bit of luck in a harrowing encounter with a black bear.

Norcross resident Christ Everhart took his three boys on their first camping trip to the Chattahoochee National Forest last weekend. There, a 300 pound bear set her sights on their cooler. But when Chris’ son distracted the wild animal, the bear dropped the cooler and headed for the 6-year-old boy.

“He held it right here then he threw it and it went rolling and struck the bear right there,” said Jake Everhart.

Eleven-year-old Jake described how his dad kept a 300 pound black bear away from his youngest brother, Logan.

Chris Everhart and his sons were packing up after dinner when they got the unexpected guest.

The bear sunk her teeth into their cooler and was headed to the woods. Then 6-year-old Logan took action.

“I got a shovel and I tried to scare it,” said Logan.

But Logan was the one who ended up getting scared and getting the bear’s attention. The bear dropped the cooler and headed towards Logan, growling.

“When Logan was being chased by the bear, I threw about five rocks at the bear to keep him away,” said Kyle Everhart.

The boys’ dad, an ex-Marine, knew he had to do something. So he grabbed the closes thing he could find – a log.

“(I) threw it at it and it happened to hit the bear in the head and I thought it just knocked it out but it actually ended up killing the bear,” said Chris.

Chris’ family will never forget the camping trip. Chris even ended up being cited for not properly storing his food, but that’s not what he feels bad about.

“I feel bad about killing the bear,” said Chris.

Officials from the Department of Natural Resources said there has never been a bear attack in Georgia. But they said there is no way to predict how wild animals will behave. The best advice is to keep food and garbage away from the reach of bears.