Greenbrier independent. [volume] (Lewisburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1980, 1895-01-17
LIVE BEARS ARE HEAVY
But Dead and Harmless One That Weigh
One Thousand Pounds Is - Monster.

But Dead and Harmless One That Weighs
One Thousand Pounds Is - Monster.
] have hunted and trapped for
years in tin" Rocky mountain and
coast ranges, the homo of the griz-
Fly, just for tho money that made
by it, and i'll all my experience l
have never killed nor oven seen
bear that l Thought would weigh
half as much AS some have read
about, and have never known any
one who ever saw bear weighed
that tipped the scales at 1900
pounds. Nine out of cvcry ten bears
that are reported aS weighing all
the way from 1000 pounds up to
$500 pounds We're killed many miles
away from Il pair of scales.
Tho largest boar l over killed, or
rather helped to kill, was when my
partner and | wCro hunting and
trapping on the Yak river in north
western Montana, in the winter of
1882. We had had very good luck
with beaver, marion and lynx and
other land fur. Along toward spring
We took a pack of grub and blankets
on our backs and went up u creek
that cmpticS in the Yak. We intend
cd to hunt in that locality for bear,
! and, as VIC always take the easiest
way to hunt, VIC kill an elk, deer or
any kind Of game we run across for
| bait, then wait for the bear to como.
We had lots of bait up that creek
and killed some moro on another
creek. Then our grub was about out,
and wo had to go back and pack up
enough to last us through the hunt
ing, When wC got through packing
our grub, wo began to see where
thCrc had been bear taking tho
bait a warm Chinook wind at that
timo did the work, wcro kill
ing one now and then. We lad traps
and guns for bear, also four good
dogs, so we were kept hustlin@ tax
ing care of the hides.
had not been up to tho farthcSt
bait for several days. When had
time to go, d. said that he would
keep me company, us no wanted to
raise n cache of traps he had made
in the fall when trapping for beaver.
We had got almost up to the bait
when i saw II bear track. 1t was q
whale. l told ID. that most likely the
old boy was handy around the bait,
for the tracks wcre>frcsh. When we
came III sight of the bait, the bear
had either heard or smclt us, for we
saw that he had been eating on the
bait. We put tho dogs on the track
and followed after them as fast as
we could travel, over windfallS and
through undcrbruSh, with snow
shoes. We have shoeing away into
the spring III the mountains. We
had not gonc more than half II mile
when heard one of tho dogs howl.
| Then / knew that tho bear was our
meat. We went down to where the
dogs wcrC, and there was u bear that
was the grandpa of all the bears eli
thcr of us had ever seen. 1t was a
bald faced grizzly. He was fighting
the dogs. He would run after one,
when one of the others would bite
him on his heels. 1t was laughable
to sec him. Ec did not know what
kind of II jack pot he was i'll. Finally
he thought IT WAS getting too warm
for his rear end so he sat up on his
launches. That was the opportuni.
ty we We're waiting for. We both
turned loose with our 40. 90 sharps,
and the bear tunblcd all in a heap
We skinned him and found where
one of the bullets had broken his
neck and the other his shoulder.
had never seen such an animal
before for size. l asked d. what il
would weigh. That was the first
bear 1 had ever wanted TO weigh. d.
said he had no idea, but we could
try to pull him. We could just
move him. He was lying on snow
that was pretty solid. We had n stick
through his gambrcls, SO we had u
good pull at him. Both of us were
over 6 feet tall and weighed over
200 pounds, so we were not very
weak. We talked about the weight
of the bear and thought he would
probably weigh 500 pounds. His hide
when stretched measured 10 feet
inches from tip of nose to the tail
and was 8 feet inches wide. When
we went down in tho spring, we
showed the hide around, and old
hunters said that it was the largest
bear hide they had ever seen.
We killed 16 bears that spring, but
none of them was as large by one.
third as the big one. / do not believe
that the big one would weigh at the
very most 900 pounds, and he was
very fat. l think he had not been
out very long, az it was in April
when he was killed. Now, my no,
ton is that all these bears that weigh
from 100 pounds up have been kill.
ed around Il campfire. l would like
to hear from any one who ever saw
n bear weighed that tipped the scales
at l, 800 pounds. a person who had
never seen bear running wild
would say on seeing his first that il
was the biggest thing ever wrapped
up i'll hide. The first bear ever saw
looked as big as a mountain, but aft
er had killed him he shrunk down
to Il small black one. could pack
him all around, he was so small. -
Forest and Stream.
Beer Is Death to Snails.
Rom. ,,lnnnl II, u ,,a,,.