The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1878-11-09
Our Olio.
Deer Hunting in the AdirOndacks,
And Finding Bears.

Aees- bt. =. II. hAeotAri U t1t- t$ooias
gives the following narrative in the Nep
York. Observer:
was fortunate enoughto kill four bears
at the place aud in the manner specified
Twas going to say, in view of certain things,
unfortunate enough; but if royal David
boosted that he ssslew a BEAR" and Paul
declared that he "fought with beasts at
Ephesus," Ill not be ashamed Of my com
panyi But to avoid any ground for mis-
apprehension, let me say that while all
bears are bears, all are not of the same
size. OF these four, one was quite large,
and three were small, rot sucking cubs,
but three young bears, not fully grown,
weighing about fifty pounds each, possibly
more. The old one weighed about two
hundred and fifty pounds. The way in
which it all came to pass was this. Those
who are familiar with the Fulton Lakes,
10 the Adirondacks, viii remember that in
First Lake there is little dot Of an is
land, not over fifty feet in width and about
eighty or ninety in length. With its
borders fringed with aiders and its crown
covered with cluster of young trees, it
lies like an emerald on the bosom of the
silvery lake, aud is worthy Of better name
shan the one by which it is commonly
kaoEn, namely, Dog Island. 1t is IA
vorite stand for watching when the
hounds are out driving the deer, being
near the centre Of the lake, and right in
the line of the "run-ways;" even an mex
pert rover can overtake struggling deer
before il reaches the shore This 'stand''
was assigned to me during certain deer
hunt last summer. Going to it with my
wife and daughter, we listened to the bay
ing Of the houads as they followed trail
through the forests, aad eagerly watched
ahe shores for the expected deer to plunge
unto the water After while we relaxed
our watching, IS the sound of the barking
died away in the distance. Then, looking
eut again, / saw something swimming in
khe lake close By point of land about
balf.a-mile away. At first | supposed it
was doe followed by her fawns, and said
in low tone 70 my companions keep
quiet, the deer are coming" As they
were swimming ia direct line FOR the is
land, | knew they would be close BY us in
a short time, aud We could easily capture
them. But when the supposed deer we're
about halfway across the channel, I saw
from the shape Of their heads that they
were bears, and that there were four Of
them, how large or small could not tell
Ny earliest impression of bears had
been derived from the somewhat frightful
story recorded in Ii. Kings, in which two
OF them avcnge the insulted prophet. But
the experience of later years had destroy
ed these old terrors and convinced me that
those deyouring beasts we're not at least Of
the tribe of black bears in Northern New
York. They, as q rule, would run from
child faster than it could run from them.
lam very sorry to destroy romance and in-
terferc with nursery tales, but truth compels
me to say that the black bear is a very
timid animal and viii not fight unless at
tucked. When wounded, it is at times
feroeious. Our policy, then, in view of
the approaching visitors, was to keep un-
der cover aud make no sound or motion
least the bears shonld discover us aud re-
fuse to land. / must, however, confess
that the ladies held somewhat to the old
Biblical idea Of bears, and we're a little
anxious to know what we would do in case
the more modern theory should not prove
true. But they bravely kept quiet, as l,
peering through the bushes, reported pro-
gress and declared the expected arrival
close at hand. can only remark at this
point that it is more exciting than trout
fishing TO sit under the alders with ones
family, watching some wild bears swim
ming up to you.
When they we're about twenty rods
from the island another coincidence took
place which helped us. My guide, Bart
Holiday, after starting the hounds, had
returned to his boat, aud pulling out from
the shore, saw the bears and began to row
toward them at his utmost speed This
encouraged me, for knew that if miss
ed my shot aud the game took to the
water, he would drive it back. So wait
ed until the bears landed, and as the large
one rose out of the water, fired She was
hit with full charge of buck shot behind
the fore shoulder, but did not seem to mind
it, and rushed by me on the island. As
the others followed, fred the second
barrel aud killed one of them. Hastily
slipping cartridge into the breech-loader,
| ran after the older one. As | came
within twenty feet of her, she rose up on
her hind legs, and came walking towards
me, waving her fore-paws as thought in
very distracted manner. My guide who
was cireling round the island in his boat
seeing this performance, shouted to me ito
take care, which | did by shooting very
carefully at her head After that shot
she resumed the proper attitude of quad
rupeds, and with the blood flowing from
her mouth, started to run where the ladies
we're standing. | was out of cartridges,
but my daughter had three, and she was
soon at my side. Two more shots deliver
cd at close range finished the old bear;
then | had but one shot left, aud two young
bears to kill. These two ran to where the
old one had fallen and stood side by side,
the head Of one opposite the shoulders Of
the other. | fired at the one nearest to
me, aud TO ny astoplshment both fell dead.
The scattering buckshot had entered the
lnngs Of the farthest ope, aud three bears
lay piled together My guide, who had
been watching on the water lest any of
them should get away, now came ashore
and sharpening a stick approached the
PROSTATE bears ande unehed them to see
if they were really dead. The inYestiga-
tion was satisfactory. and the verdict was
rendered accordingly. Then,-wcll then
We shouted in chorus; the ladies clapped
their hands and said i'lhey would not have
missed it for the world: !" and We told the
story over, and looked at the bears, and
explained how we felt when they growled,
and described each shot; and the guide
told how he saw them, and we told how