Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1884-07-10
TRAPPING A GRIZZLY.
Perilous and Exciting Western sport

Perilous and Exciting Western Sport.
Trapping grizzly has its perils and
excitement also. The trap employed
is of the double spring pattern, with
steel jaws, and weighs complete thirty
eight pounds. The springs are very
| powerful and have to be bent with lev
ers. 1t is quite an art to set and place
a trap cunningly, and trappers vary in
their methods and are chary of explain
ing them. / will then pass this branch
OF the subject. Let us suppose, there
fore, that the hunter has made his camp
IN a neighborhood redolent of grizzlies,
and that he has his traps set in likely
| place for bear. At the end of the trap
cham is ring about five inches in diam
eter, and this Is driven about half foot
over the end of heavy stick or log five
inches through and six or eight feet long.
The object of this "clog," as it is called,
| is to make trail which can be readily
| followed and to hamper the bear suffi-
| GENTLY to prevent his going great dis
lance away before the hunter can ar
| rive. Great care must be taken that
| the chain be fastened to the extreme
end OF the clog, in such a way that it
| cannot get across two trees, and to give
the brute chance to use his enormous
| strength to tear himself loose. Neither
must the clog be too large and heavy,
or the same result will follow. It may
be accepted as maxim that a grizzly
| caught In such trap will eventually
get loose, and ordinarily in few hours.
He is generally caught by the extremi-
ty of the forepaw, just above the claws
the hold on him is not very great: his
exertions to get away arc tremendous,
and result in so cutting and decorating
the foot that sooner or later he will tear
out of the trap altogether. Two griz-
zlies that caught got away; one, who
was probably taken by the claws alone,
leaving some hairs only to tell the tale
the other leaving q small piece
OF his foot behind rs souvenir. Many
had all but torn themselves loose; in
one case the foot was almost cut
through, and only small piece of skin,
the thickness of a mans little finger.
remained to hold the terribly Infatuated
monster to the much detested clog.
The traps are set far back in dense
and gloomy forests near the tangled
swamps, where grizzlies love to make
their lair. The ground is covered with
fallen timber, and travel must be afoot,
and is slow and difficult. The bear, on
being caught, starts off on a tremend-
GUS rush for the swamp, which is close
| by. Here he catches on rotten log
for second, and plows path through
wide enough for cart; there he hangs
on to fallen trees fifty feet long, but he
hangs for an instant only, moves the
| great trees to one side and rushes on.
Next he strikes against tree, and, in
his rage, turns and eats the whole side
out of it, leaving the fresh white pine
red with blood-stain from his gums.
Now he reaches the swamp and plunges
deep into its recesses, venting his rage
on the balsams and poplars, absolutely
chewing down saplings, and even gnaw-
ing them into lengths like stove wood.
! All this time he is slowly but surely
tearing his foot loose from the trap, and
surely, but not slowly, is he working
himself up into the most tremendous
degree of rage and ferocity.
When you have thus trapped 900
pound grizzly, you have not caught a
bear; you have simply caught the devil
incarnate! Indeed, the question some
times is, not whether you have caught
the bear, but whether you have not
simply given him a first-class opportu-
nifty to catch you! Now let us see how
this is. The grizzly thus caught, and
worked up into the most formidable fe-
rocity, has to be followed up afoot, first
through dense forest, and then care
fully and laboriously into the heart of a
tangled swamp, where one cannot see
ten steps ahead, and where, if the mon
ster should suddenly rise directly in
front and charge, trap, clog, and all,
retreat would be absolutely impossible
Add to this that at the time Of the hunt
er's arrival the bear may have just sue
ceeded in tearing his foot loose, or may
have just managed to break his chain,
or may have just finished eating up the
clog bodily, all of which things have
happened in my experience. He would
then be in beautiful state of frenzy
and would be perfectly delighted to
wipe out hunter or two if only to
quiet down his nerves. Forest and
Stream.