Morning journal and courier., 1884-01-24
Trapping A Grizzly.


 Trapping grizzly has it's perils and ex- citemsnts also. The trap employed is of the
 double spring pattern, with steel jaws. and ! weighs complste thirty eight pounds. The springs are very powerful and have to be bent with levers. It is quite an art to set and place trap cunningly, and trappers vary in their methods and are chary of explaining them. I will then pass this branch of the subject. Let us suppose, therefore, that the hunter has made his camp in 8 neighborhood redolent of grizzlies, and that he has his traps set in likely place for bear. At the end of the trap chain is ring about five inches in diameter, and this is driven about half foot over the end of 8 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 sufficiently to prevent his going to great distance away before the hunter can arrive Great care must be taken that the chain be fastened to the extreme end of the clog, in such way that 1t cannot get across two trees, and so give the brute 8 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 Q grizzly caught in such 8 trap will eventually get loose, and ordinarily in few hours. He is generally caught by the ex- sremity of the forepaw, just above the claws; the hold on him is not very great; his exer- tions to get away are tremendous, and result in so cutting and lacerating the foot that sooner or later he will tear out of the trap altogether. Two grizzlies that I caught got away; one who was probably taken by the claws alone leaving some hairs only to tell
 he tale, the other leaving small piece of his foot behind as 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 mans little
 finger remained to hold the terribly infuriat- ed monster to the much detested clog.
 The traps are set far back in dense and gloomy forests near the tangled sYamps, 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 of on tre mendous rush for the sS amp which is close by. Here he catches on @ rotten log for second and ploughs path through wide enough for Q cart, there he hangs on two 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 8 tree, and in his rage turns and eats the whole side out of it, leaving the fresh white pine red with blood stains from his gums. NOW ne re&cnes tn6 swamp ana pluuSsS uSep into it's recesses, venting his rage on the bal sams and poplars, absolutely chewing down saplings and even gnawing them into lengths ike 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 thousand pound grizzly, you have not caught a bear; you have simply caught the devil incarnate. Indeed, the question sometimes IS, not whether you have caught the bear, but wheth- ST you have not simply given him first class opportunity to catch youl Now let us see bow this is. The grizzly thus caught, and thus worked up into the mest formidable ferocity, has to be followed up afoot, first through dense forest and then carefully and laboriously into the heart of a tangled swamp, where one cannot see ten steps ahead, and where, if the monster should suddenly rise directly in front and charge, trap, clog, and all, retreat would be absolutely impossi- ole. Add to this that at the time of the hunters arrival the bear may have jast 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 shich 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.