An Idaho hunter was sleeping in the wilderness when he felt something was tugging his hair and heard a bear breathing.

CTV News reports 29-year-old Stephen Vouch reached behind his head and realized a bear was biting him.

"He got a hold of my head, and that's what woke me up," Vouch said on Wednesday. "That's when I kind of freaked out. That's when I could hear the bear breathing on me."

Vouch was in an isolated area in Idaho to hunt for bighorn sheep with his friends. They were sleeping under a tarpaulin at around 2 AM on Friday when he screamed for attack.

Vouch's reaction prompted the startled bear to jump and tangle itself with the tarp above their sleeping bags. "That's when my buddy's gun when off," he said.

His friend's 45-calibre handgun injured the bear scrambling into a tree nearby. Vouch then got up wounded and shot the bear to its death.

The group didn't have satellite phones to call for help but were prepared with medical supplies and patched him up. After rafting downstream the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness on Sunday, they flew out and found a hospital on Monday where he was treated and released.

According to Idaho Fish and Game officials, the male black bear was around 3 to 7 years-old and weighed about 90 to 124 kilograms.

Although the hunters were able to store their food properly, state wildlife manager Jon Rachael says bears must have gotten used of finding food from rafters at Middle Fork of the Salmon River during summer.

Rachael adds the bear must have not encountered people before and chomping on Vouch's hair was just out of curiosity. A much more violent attack may have happened if the bear intended to kill, he explained.

For these wild encounters, he recommends the use of bear sprays instead of guns for safety.