The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1873-04-18
A Modern Rear Hunt.

had in Arkansas aud Missouri:
Imagine yourself at Mr.. Guests, on
the St Francis near the Arkansas and
Missouri line. You have slept and rested
until four o'clock. Then the warning of
poor old Peter comes shrill on the De-
cember morning air from cbant;cleer, as
he looks on the morning star mounting
above the eastern horizon. Listen to the
Weakening coherent calls of Mr.. Guess,
appealing 70 his wife : "MsFth, Marth
git up and make ire-we will have no
breakfast till ten o'clock and no bear
killed to-day" An hour later, some
eight or ten of US are in our saddles with
Dir. Guess, the great bear>hunter of
Southeast Missouri, and his well trained
bear~dogs at our head. A gsilop of eight
miles brings as to where the grape mast
is good and the bear fat Mink, one Of
the dogs, strikes trail Mr. Guess storms
at him: "Mink, come here, TO me" and
the dog obeys. He then calls to Monte
| (anothe: and more reliable dog and
takes him to examine the trail Monte
raises his bristlss IS for fight. A groWl,
and he is off All the pack seem to have
gotten as mad as he, and away they go.
Mink like al indignant dog pursues his
inferior fellow dog. Mr.. Guess almost
lies down on his horse, calling out, come
on, boys" He spurs his horse to a gal
lop to keep pace with the dogs and break
! the way for the uninitiated One after
another the whole company take the path
opened by Guess. Keeping just as close
as possible through the thick pawpaW and
elbow brush, green, haw, blackberry and
all sorts of brisrs, grape, rattan, wild Gu
Cumber, wild potato, and all the family
| vines. Now we are In full chase. On,
on We go at desperate gaIlOp, over logs
through thick clusters of cypress knees,
! down in holes from old blown up trees.
Now a Jungle. Guess horse has seen
them before and knowing that he cannot
tare through, with one brave bound clears
| them. All the horses get his idea and
follow his example. You feel, as one of
our company expresses il, like you had
been shot out of cannon, as yOu go sail
ing over the iungles aud logs. You are
compelled to keep up or be left and lost
in a terrible wilderness of woods and
wild beasts. Your comrade, jus. ahead
of you, is caught by a vine and drug from
his horse; his saddle is caught by an
other and held vibrating in the air, like
the pendulum OF a cock, much to the
scomforture of its owner. Poor man,
he must help himself, for you are in a
bear>c base now, and cannot stop for
trifss. Your horse it excited and leaps
logs and junglss, drops into many small
sinks which are ali over the country
Caused by hurricane over two hundred
years ago, uprooting the trees But he
Sc ldom ever fails. The dogs stop. The
bear is up tree. If cub bear, We have
run from one half to a mile and half !;
| if q grown female, two to four miles; if
an old male, from four to six miles. Hold
your breath, for no one is permitted to
| huTrah or speak for the bear fears most
of all the human voice. Check your
horse, ride up quietly; get down and
hitch for now you are to go int or look
upon a regular bear fight after the im>
proved N ethod of the nineteenth century.
The riheman takes his stand. Guess goes
to the root of the tree. The riheman
aims at the bears head, between the eye
and ear. If the bear iS young the ball
well aimed takes effect. The bear drops
his head on his breast, trembles for q
moment and drops dead But if cid, the
ball may glance and down he will climb
fast. Guess sends ball from Colt
navy six, hoping to drive him back for
the rifle once more, but if MORTAL ,
wounded he will come down As he
nears the ground the dogs take hold OF
him and he turns upon them, hurt and
mad. Then Guess quick as thought
places his pistol against his side just over
the heart and fires. The bear turns tc
retaliate on his assailant Releasing the
dogs, Guess springs beck and the dogs
snap him on the Othey side again. HI
wheels on them, and Guess is upon him
again with his dsath-dealing Bavy. The
bear turns upon him and the dogs, jos
as careful of their master IS be is of then
with madened growl and vindictivs snaps
dash at the bear. Thus the eight often
proceeds half an hour or upwards. Guess
has smptied his sixth charge, and the
bear, tenancious of life, still contends
You hand Guess your pistol-if you are
: willing to get near enough-or he viii
draw his knife and instead Of ball from
Colts six, he sends its mereiless blade il
search of the bears heart You fear TO
Guess in the frst Of the fght, then yol
, are plying some unfortunate dog whicI
has unluckily been caught by the infura
ted animal At first you wish to hell
Guess; but soon the bear from loss o
blood becomes week, clumsy, and blind
You have seen all the time that he wa
the victim of but one desire, which wa
! to get away IF he could and hurt DO one
! or to hurt ali that would prevent the ex
! ecution of that Thought HE rssistanc
becomes feeble and your sympathy pas
ses oSer to the bleeding, sad hooking, de
fsated and dying brute. The balls an
\ the knife have done their work Tn
e bear is dead. He is then skinned an
Il quartered. Then with strips cut froI
the hide sew the flesh up in the skin, an
: throw it across your horse, and we AZ
: of again fer home or another chase, &