The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1896-03-07
HIS LITTLE HATCHET.
WITH 1T IKE PRATT OF VERMONT
I. HAS KILLED MANY BEARS,

NoaeSIy nave NNa0o 6hAbA sNS~Ss W. u
Bear hun'eFs-' -ow He Sets and Bait.
S ArN's For disappearing Bruin.
Ike Pratt of bennington, VT. Is tho
ma who S>tlls bears with hatobet. He
does not go s..ill-hunting Them in the
woods with this Gcmestio weapon. He
waits until he gets them Ito trap before
ne begins splitting them, but, considering
Inc number Of bears he has converted Into
ineee this way land the fact that Mt 70
years no Is stiliin the business, his speciality
rs bear man is worthy of special note.
: when ne goes out to sempty his traps, lie
Carries gun with him for safety and co.
caslonally when he finds some unusually
quick tempered and unoompanionabIe bear
ne has to use it. Occasionally, too. when
nc hasn't his hatohet with him he uses q
stoue club. But his regular bear sticking
ouGnt consists Of his hatohet and big
1aokknife, with blade likean eighteenth
century pirates outlass, which he uses to
40 Che final carving. Ike doesn't think
his method Of dispatohine bears is remark
able: Apparently no regards bear stiok-
ing IN much tho Same commonplace light
as pig sticking.
Lhe SUCCESS which he has been able to
aohievo In his long career 'of bear singing
mas pcen duo, 1t sooms, to his careful at
tention to details. Whom no runs across
MS Dear, caught In his trap, no always
makes sure tlrst that he Is In tight. If no
had almost torn his foot off, or was SO
slightly caught that no might at last break
away, no might put tho hunter in an on-
FURNISHING position. Having assured him
self of this, Mr.. Pratt gets out his hatchet
or his club, sticks his knife in a treo near
by and goes to work.
With bears, rs with mon, Mr.. Pratt
thinks, 1t makes u difference how they are
approached. Most people rush up to them
TOO suddenly and got them all excited, and
then thoro Is trouble. Ho himself walks
up In calm and confidential way and
waits around, he says, just outside of the
reach or tho tethored animal, until tho
bear gets sort of used to him. Then no
draws up his hatchot and waves 1t around
IN front OF tho boar, und whom he SECS o
chance ho raps him, either between tho
eyes or on tho nose. That stuns the boar.
anu before ho collects his bruised and
wandering thoughts Ike has jumped in
with his knifo and emptiod his remaining
llfo through his jugular vein. Bears nro
good boxers, bo says, but no never missed
his blow yet
1t makes ndifferonoe, however, just how
bear Is hitched to u trap. With only his
nina leg cnught it makes tho problem
$1,000 AtioAA MAUI piiuli NllCll ITO Is nClu DOWN
by n front paw and often in tho latter
case no has To go to tho expense of shoot
ing thom. A boar that is quito old. too,
Will discourage too close acquaintance
OH tho part OF any ono. But thon IL Is all
matter of knnok. There was u man in
Pownal few years ago, ho SAYS. who
didn't have tho knack. In fact, 1t wns his
first bear that ho tackled. Ho heard it
yelling back of tho house and started
out with his ax. Tho first blow tho bear
counterod and knocked the AK out of tho
mans hand. Thon he turned u complete
somersault, and when he came I'D again
he carried tho mans shirt and vest, and
also considerable of tho superficial area of
his abdomen, on his hind claws. This
made tho man somewhat moro cautious.
He waited around good while and took
good doal of lively exercise, but finally
he got In first class hit, which raised his
batting average considerably and won the
game. But he had q good days bear hunt
Ing out of 1t whom 1t was all dono.
Mr.. Pratt has another distinction For
reasons best known to himself, perhaps
from his long association with his little
hatchet, ho is the George Washington of
local bear hunters. He is not an imagina-
tive, poetic sportsman, like that inspired
autobiogrnphical bear hunter of Williams
town, John Barney Wright. On tho con-
trary, he Is just u fine workman with
BEARS who enjoys his work from tho
standpoint of an artistic workman, but
takes 1t moro or loss as matter of course,
without any fuss or self advertisements.
For Instance, when asked how many
bears no has killed in his lifetime, no fig
ures tho number at about 60. Now, as no
has been trapping since ho was 25 years
old, or for is seasons, almost continuously
n fnlr D,,A - u
to six bears every year the probability is
that his score Is fully 100 by this time.
But not only does he probably underesti-
mate tho size Of his catch, but he claims
that in oil his experiences with his bears
no has mover had any particularly exciting
times.
Mr.. Pratt comes by his sporting in
stincts naturally, for both his grandfather
and his father were the greatest hunters
Of their times and used to chase tho deer
about the hills to tho eastward of tho vii
lage when deer wero more plenty than
foxes are now. Ike thinks, however, that
In his long experience he has improved Oh
tho methods OF his ancestors and says he
would ike to try trapping with them now.
HIS rather, he says, always thought 1t was
necessary to set his traps in "a spring hole
but he has found he has fully rs good sue
cess OH bare ground He generally tries
+ to find place where the animals cross
through tho woods. Sometimes they have
beaten paths, no says, just like CATTLE In
these paths no sets his traps He is great
man for finding traces and "donts" of
bears. Dent is carly nineteenth GEN.
fury for tracks" Ikenever says tracks. -
In batting Mr.. Pratt prefers sheep's head
but no also nsos other meat and honey &C.
casionally. Ho doon't think much of bait
ointment, for he says when bears are look
Ing for food they generally find tho trap
and when they don't want it you can't in
duco them to touch your bat anyway. In