St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1893-01-07

"SAtcOs the foothills" and the mair
ranges of the Rocky mountain.
swarmed with bear. It was the mos,
exciting OF all sports to go with q par
" OF Mexican vaqueros, or white COW.
Ooys from the then great cattle ranches,
70 catch bears alive with the lariat. OF
IassO. rs the ''rope" is best known in
the eastern states. The preliminaries
70 this sort OF hunt are that two OF
the selected number, experts with the
rope, of course, whether to capture the
9saxxly. cinnamon, or common brown
bear. 60 out day or two in advance.
TO look over the ground of the proposed
chase, which sometimes covers an area
OF three or four square miles. This is
done for the purpose Of learning the
whereabouts Of holes ravines and
other dangerous places that the hunt
ing party will necessarily have to ride
through on the evening Of the sport
A played-out pony is taken along and
when the spot has been selected for
laying the bait, the poor animal is
killed. His visccra are then drawn out.
IN order that the bear may scent the ef-
nuvia at greater distance than he
could il the animal were left intact A
whole quarter of the pony is then cut
on. fastened by . rope to the horn of
one the mems saddles. and dragged all
all over the entire ground, after which
proceeding it is taken back, and left
with the remainder of the carcass; but
great precantion is exercised to cover
the whole bait pretty well with brush.
to prevent the buzzards from devouring
1t before the bear finds it
The party which has been made mp
previously, rs stated. do not start out
Tor the place until the second evening
sometimes they wait for the third
the second is the one generally chosen,
however. Not more than five or six in
dividuals participate in the huat. rs
more than that number are too many
for good sport, half Of them, like my
self on such occasions, merely lockers
on, all the work being done by three or
four Of the others When tho time has
arrived for the party to set out all are
mounted on horses; those who are to
do the business with the bear are on
those that have been drilled to the use
OF the rope: it is mot 1t all necessary
that their animals should be particular
~ fast; but they must be lively, and
know exactly what to do the moment the
bear is roped. The party generally en-
desvor to arrive where the bait is laid
about dusk; it having been placed on
m open clear piece Of ground. where
there arc NO rocks, or any other obsta-
cles to interfere with straightforward |
riding; but it must be within few hun
dred yards Of ledge, or other kind Of |
shelter, where the party may hide, %
that the bear will not see any Of the |
men or horses rs he approaches the
bait.
A horse trained to hunt the bear in |
this manner soon learns TO understand |
what the necessary silence Of the ex-
pedition means, and after = few times j
seems TO take AS much interest in the /
sport Is the men themselves. He lets |
his rider know by deep breathinRs and |
pricking mp his ears when to be on .
sharp lookout; and when this occurs,
either ON the part of all the animals.
or only = portion Of them, the hunters
know that bruin is on his way to the
spot Then they get up from the place