Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1893-11-24

confident of success We had hunted tn
best part of the day, when the Doctor said
Browning the honey is mine BY no mean
replied, the day is not yet over and W
will now make in the direction of the laure
thicket on the summit Of Meadow Noun
tain. 1t was here had my trap set ant
felt certain l would meet with success
Onward we pushed In the direction of th,
laurel thicket, when about forty yards from
the trap saw it was down, and cried out
Doctor the five dollars-'where is the bear
said the Doctor. In sight | said, now TO
nerve and we will capture him. With thi
led him to the trap and there was huge
bear. The Doctor In the most excited man
ner cried out, let me shoot him, let me shoe
him. No, no, l said, If you shoot at ran
dom you will only wound and enrage hin
and in that event we will have considerable
trouble, all of which can be avoided by pru
dence and deliberation. We'll, want t.
kill him, said the Doctor. This you shall
have the opportunity OF doing, but let mt
arrange the mode of attack. | saw that thu
bear was a large one and had been making
strong but Intellectual attempts to liberatt
himself and that any Intellectual attempt in
taking his life would only make him des
perate, and in his rage he might thrust ou
a log and thus enable him to give us an oper
and hard fight, and probably end in biz
escape.
81 here requested the Doctor to take his
stand Immediately in front of and close to
the trap-that would go around. on the
near side and close to the upper corner
That would make a leint in the way of az
attack and felt certain that the bear would
follow il up. | had no sooner put in exc
cution my design than with an angry grow
he made for the corner at which was stand
ing. Now, | said let him have II and at the
heart. The Doctor fired, the bear fell and
in few minutes was stone dead. had won
the five dollars. Even though trapped the
Doctor had killed his frat bear, and | reckon
his last.
"Nor is this all" he said, for the old gen.
tleman had warmed up to considerable
degree and we were deeply interested, 81
would have liked to have gone some dis.
lance on and shown you an old and favorite
camping ground of the late Frank p. Blair
and Edward Stabler, where with others and
myself we would camp and bring in our
game, deer principally, and sometimes q
bear. A picture of our last encampment at
this point can be seen in my fathers Life of
Hunter 1t is true to nature, and you can
easily recognize in the group around the fire
the image of these two once prominent gen.
tlemen. | was much attached to both for a
number of years they made annual visits TO
my house-the greater part OF which time
was spent in long tramps In the woods in
search OF game, sharing the hardships, and
the wilder and more secluded and rugged
the forests through which we roamed, the
more they appeared TO enjoy it. 1t was the
strong love of nature, the bold and pictur-
esque scenery of the mountains that seemed
TO attract the attention, awaken and har-
monte with the feelings and sentiments of
Mr.. Blair, rather than the delight he exper
fenced in the capture or pursuit of game
| have heard him many times, when he
would look out upon some striking range
of mountains, exclaim, How massive and
grand in appearance-they recall many Of
those intellectual giants whose mighty minds
gave birth To eternal principles, whose whole
life was spent amidst the volcanic scenes Of
the early days of the republic. Giants, sir |
statesmen Graded midst storms, warning
with conflicting elements and finally going
down to the grave with halo of national
resting over the country in whose
interests they had given every energy of
mind and heart throughout the best days of
their patriotic lives
Edward Stabler, whilst warm and en-.
thusiastic admirer of everything that was
beautiful aud striking in nature, was fond
of hunting he would go for miles in a
chase or lay in wait for hours for deer. If
it was bear that he was in pursuit of, there
was no endurance he could not stand, no
seeming hardship TO which he did not press
every energy of mind and body. He seemed
completely absorbed, lost TO everything else
save the excitement which the hunt afford
ed. lie was not what | would consider q
successful hunter. lie allowed himself to
become too much excited when In the pres
cnce of his object. | have seen him miss
many times bringing down deer when
there was no earthly excuse. A successful
hunter must not only be a good marksman,
but he must be calm, cool and collected. II
he possesses these traits he seldom fails TO
bring down his game | cannot recall many
instances where good woodsman and shot
failed either at deer or bear In his first fire,
failing TO kill in this fire, nine times out of
ten, he will have seriously wounded him,
when after a short pursuit he is sure to come
upon him in the grass, bushes or stream,
where a second fire will bring the prize.
well this happened to me when
in company with Stabler in one Of our hunts
for deer. We were just coming out of a
piece of heavy timbered land into long and
narrow meadow land which was skirted on
either side with dense growth of alder and
other bushes, when we caught sight of n
splendid buck standing erect just on the
edge of the bushes. said TO Stabler, fire,
you are plenty close enough. No. he said i,
Il can get little nearer by keeping within
range of certain trees which stood between
him and the deer. No, | repeated in low
tone, fire, he is looking in this direction now,
he will be off In moment, now is your
chance. Stabler did not heed me, but made
for nearer point. The deer caught sight
of him or heard his approach, and throwing
up his head dashed away. was expecting
this turn, and let him have 1t on the run.
| knew | had struck him for | saw the fur
fly. turned 10 Staber and said, the deer ia
ours. why did you strike himT Yes, |
said, and he Is not more than one or two
hundred yards off. Sure enough after go.
ing about the distance | have named we
found the deer resting just outside of the
bushes beyond the other side of the meadow
Another shot, from Mr.. Stabler, and the deer
was ours.
speaking of this old friend, / am re
minded Of a very amusing incident that hap
Dtutu uDDI tuG DltCh- w outi III Obt VI Jul
long hunts. We were accompanied upon
this occasion by William II. Kitsmeller, a
famous hunter, " oodsman and guide in the
many marvellous explorations Of engineers
and sur veying parties in that section, Gus
Delaud or, whom you know, another old and
success full hunter, and William Browning
we think, he said, was among the party
We had been hunting all the morning with
out much success. A little after noon, per
haps later, we met somewhere along tho
stream Of the Black. Water or one Of il
tributaries for the purpose Of taking bite
which we had brought with US from camp
A few moments after we had been seated
Delauder pulled out bottle Of old Frazier
whiskey,' the best whiskey that was ever
made or bottled, handing IL TO Stabler, HI
SAID, old gentleman take drlnk-it will dc
you good after the fatigue Of your long
tramp and sharpen your appetite NO. re
piled Stabler, Il have neither tastei ol
handled anything In the shape Of whlskey
for forty years Good enough said d..
lauder, at the same time handing me the
bottle took n good, stiff drink, so did
Kitsmeller and William Browning, each
pronounced IL excellent whiskey. With this
Stahlar aaid "a npuaiua thee NAV hand mi