The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1887-04-16 00:00:00

A BEAR-HURT IN RUSSIA.

A sportsman, writing in the Field, gives an account
of an encounter with a bear during a bunt in Russia.
The writer and a friendwent to shoot a bear they had
formerly wounded. On arriving at the place where
the wounded animal was, they found the tracks of
another and larger bear, which they proceeded to kill
first. The second shot from the writer's gun rolled
him over—a monster, measuring Bft. 7in. in length,
whose skin is at present gracing a London drawing-
room. It was arranged that the wounded bear was
to be driven towards the writer's friend B. Here is
the account of what followed on the animal being
moTed by the beaters: The shrubs opposite me were
violently disturbed, and the head and shoulders of a
mischievous-looking bear presented themselves to my
view. To the best of my ability, imitating B.'s "war
cry," I stood up, expecting to see Bruin turn. But
no. Irritated, probably, by the wound he had carried
so long, and having "seen us before," he laid
his ears back, and, growling angrily, charged.
To seize and bring my gun to the ready was the
work of an instant. Still keeping up my Unearthly
yells and menacing gesticulations, and, standing my
ground, I refrained from firing, for I had resolved to
do by B. as he had done by me, and turn the brute to
him if possible. He was now not more than seven
yards off, and I was on the point of firing on him,
when he stopped in his headlong career and surveyed
me for an instant, his wicked. little eyes sparkling like
coals. This wavering on his part made me determined
not to fire, so, redoubling my yells and demoniacal
dance, I was pleased to see bruin turn, and, with an. ,
angry growl, disappear in the direction of B. Shout- I
ing to B. to mark him on his right, and hastening to
within twenty-five yards of him (whence I could see
clearly), I crouched in the snow. At that moment the
brute broke covert, and, at a distance of about ten
yards received B.'s express bullet, which rolled him
over. Quickly recovering himself, however, with a
roar of pain he charged. B.'s second shotonly grazed
him, and the next thing I became aware of was B.'s
rifle being struck out of his hand; the bear, rearing
up, held B.'s right arm in his teeth, whilst with
his right paw (his left seemed useless) the brute tried
to get B.'s body into his embrace. I could
not shoot, for man and animal were so close
together. Adjuring B. to keep his legs (and, being
a man of the wire-and-whipcord type, I felt confident
he would be able to do so), I hurried towards him.
At this moment, and to ray great astonishment, B.
gave his body a dexterous twist, and the bear, losing
his balance, rolled over. "Come this way ! " I cried,
all breathless from my run in the deep snow (I had
put off my snow-shoes on taking up my station among
the beaters). This he did; the bear following him
and trying hard to trip him up. When B. got close
to me the bear was not a yard and a half from bins
—in fact, in spite of the wound in his left shoulder,
had been gaining in this extraordinary race. At this
moment I fired, and had the satisfaction of seeing the
animal fall dead in his tracks. The bullet had
entered the region of the heart and gone clean
through him. This scene did not take long to enact,
but was Nary exciting while it lasted.