Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1890-04-24
A DEADLY ENCOUNTER.


! have often met old hunters who have
heard of battles between the grizzly
bear and the immense, tawny panther
| OF the Rocky mountains; but | have only
once known a man who had such a COM
bat.
Sergeant Rosecrans, of the til United
States cavalry, whom | met in Wyoming
while on hunting expedition in '96. told
me of a fierce fight between ''Old Eph''
and two mountain lions which he had
''umplred as he put it-near Caspar
mountain several years before.
At that time he was stationed at Fort
Fetterman. A party of citizens had come
out from St. Paul. Mimi, to hunt the
big game, then so plentiful in eastern
| Wyoming, and the sergeant. one of the
best hunters in his regiment, was allowed
to go with them, taking a small detach-
ment of soldiers to look after the camp,
and take care of the game. The party had
been hunting elk among the foothills of
the Caspar range, and near the great
ragged mountain which is their chief
feature, when the adventure befell him.
II killed an elk, said be, 'early one
morning and as | often did in a region
where there were grizzly or silver-tip
bears, left it where it fell, for bear bait.
There is nothing the big bears of this
region are more fond of than a freshly
killed elk or black tail. | had already,
at one time and another, shot seven bears
by batting in this way, and watching by
the bodies of the dead elk.
''Perched comfortably in the branches
of an evergreen, or lying on the top of
some high rock within few yards of your
bait, 1t ism t such d desperate adventure,
the killing of Il grizzly. A good gun, using
heavy ammunition. decent craftsmanship.
and a steady nerve are all that is required.
If you are fresh at the business though, you
probably won t fret a great deal If the bear
fails to come.
This time mad killed an elk in Just
such Il spot and with such surroundings as
| would have selected could | have had
full choice. I shot it in the act of drink
ing at IL small basin of water in the bed OF
d canon. which cut back into the foot OF
old Caspar mountain. The side of the
mountain on either hand was rutted with
deep gorges leading into the canon Quak,
ing asp thickets clustered around the heads
of these ravines, while the bottoms, where
to willows, currant and burberry bushes
1t was just the place for bears, and their
sign was as pletiful as had ever seen any
where.
The spot was only mile from our
camp, and when | came in from my hunt
for we hunted singly or in tvos or threes
as the notion took us-I found three of the
St. Paul men taking late dinner. told
them of my success and invited them to go
with me and lie in wait for bears that even
ing.
They declined, declaring that they
hadn't lost any bears, and, therefore,
didn t feel called upon to hunt for EN-.
was welcome. they said, to gather all the
strange grizzlers In the region, and put
my particular brand on EN-.
$50 about 3 o'clock | went up to my
bait alone. Lfound it undisturbed, perch
ed myself in the crevice of ledge of rock
some thirty yards distant, which position
| reached by making ladder of poles
that lay among some drift of a recent
'washout. Ny hiding place was perfect
ly safe from the attack of bear, should |
be lucky enough to lure one within shot,
as it was fully fifteen feet from the base of
the ledge, perpendicular height
Il found the crack in which I could
stretch myself at full length, such a COM
Portable place that concluded to watch all
night, provided no bear came to bait
sooner. had not long to wait, however,
before | was treated to the most thorough
and thrilling surprise of all my hunting
experience.
Il had lain, perhaps. an hour, and the
sun had just sunk behind the mountains
back of me, so that their shadows had
crawled over the tops of the lower ones in
front. when ] heard the sound of soft foot
falls just on the other side of fringe OF
bullbury bushes, which skirted the stream
above the spring where my elk lay.
pricked my ears and looked sharply for the
game. which from the muffied sound |
took to be two or three bears running down
the canon
Il had no time to speculate upon the
nature of the animal before there bounded
in sight two big tawny mountain lions
They were racing down the canon, jump
ing sideways and running against each
other in a way that was, no doubt, intend
ed to be playful, and | was just about to
stop one Of them with a shot from my rife,
wien in the same breath each of them
caught a scent of the elk's carcass, and
came to a sudden halt
They stood for a moment with heads
erect, ears pricked forward, and tails
switching eagerly, their yellow eyes gleam-
! ing and scintillating, the white spots on
their breasts offering a splendid target If |
| had cared to shoot at once. They were
fine, sleek animals with glossy coats, far
more imposing In looks and much larger
than the panther to the east and south, and
was anxious to bag both of them, which
| thought | might make sure of doing if
they attacked my bait, as | might easily
! bore them both with a single shot from my
Winchester express if they got in range.
They hesitated but an instant. a few
seconds later. they leaped the channel of
the stream with cat-like jumps, and APP
preached the elk, which they cautious1y
snutfed with pointed noses. | reioiced at
the prospect of securing two such magnif-
cant cats.
One of them, the larger and a male,
came up to the bait first. shifted it over,
licked the fresh blood about the neck. then
with sudden proprietary air he mounted
the carcass with his forefeet. gave a. salts
factory purr, that sounded like the muffied
drumming of partridge's wing. and
switched his tail about with a swapping
motion at the end, Just as cat with a
fresh-caught mouse In her paws might
have done.
Il The female took her turn at licking the
bloody neck, and snarled her cat pleasure
at the prospect of gratuitous feast They
did not seem to be IN the least hungry. for
they made no move toward devouring but
after snufhng and examining the game for
a bit they set about scratching leaves and
dirt over it. with the evident intention of
preserving or hiding il for future time.