The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-09-19
BEAR HUNTING WITH DOGS.
AN OLD HUNTsMAN or THE rAzo0
ASH TELLS dBOUT IT.
Tho Cro,s Tint Makes the Heat Hear DoE-
Following n Cold Trnii-A Long Chase for =
BiE Benr-ThRwinE UP n Frozen scent In
the snow-Troubie 20 Keep Hear Dogs.

Mississippi, and one Of the most successful hun
ters OF game in this section of the country, Is IN
the city. Last night he talked for an hour
upon that line and proved that he was not only
a successful hunter but n most remarkable
ono. IN tho many years that he has been kill
ing bears he has never had q hand-to.hand
struggle with one, and asserts boldly that
there never was n black bear in this section Of
the country that was In the least dangerous to
a man. He is above the normal height, power.
ful Of build, and II he vas ever i'll for n mo-
mcnt thcro is no trace Of it left. He looks
capable OF giving a bear a fight on an even
basis and winning out, but states, greatly to-
the distress of the other bear hunters who have
spun fabulous tales-ot hand to. hand ~conficts,
that hc has never had a chance.
81 was born" he said, within six miles Of
where i now live at Bobo, Miss, and ever since
i was large enough to carry a gun l have been
hunting bear. l have not the slightest idea
how many / have killed, but | don't suppose
that there Is anybody in the country that has
killed any more bear than l have. During the
early days in that section of the country ] have
seen a cornfiold with n fence on tho back side
mile long, and there would not be n stalk OF
corn within fifteen feet of the fence. We
would be killing bear all of the time, and. still
they would he so plentiful that VT could not
raise much more than haif a crop OF corn. Bue
section of the country. and ! am informed thas
they are as thick In one section of the country
| FORE" .
The section of the country that the hunter
referred to is In Sunfiowcr county, and the
Commissioners there have made n rule to the
effect that none but residents or land owners
shall hunt within the limits of the county,
timber with water on it for the location ola
Il must not be understood that Mr. Bobo does
nothing but hunt. He is one of the most sub
Of years past he has planted between 100 and
500 acres Of cotton land, and has never aver
hunt Sntin le's season. sn@n " a fais the '1 crop SSi IS alEi:ca"lrreaSf for.
he will remain in camp for ten days, or two
, w9fSRs' and 'a"k, then .s sPsnd hal a few Eet aaySi at t aSsI RlatR IN
Mr.. Boho is in another respect different from
all of the other famous bear hunters of the
world. He says bear, not "bahr,' for the ami
Il have hunted he continued, with all
kinds OF dogs. l have bought them and had
them sent me from Virginia, Kentucky, New
! want to state right here that there is no such
thing as q breed Of bear dogs. The best re.
S dHres 6 tns' c a ne' from SHer a p eross a Of the he s scoteh ' ters
rier upon the Virginia hound. When these
of them will take naturally to the trail than Of
any other kind of dogs that | have seen, but
hem that will take right for home the minute
they come across the trail Of q bear. The dog
thne G 1 set 'f home a."f I ne a'ss Se snf but Ma one U' dog 10 .fi in
my life that would not run a bear, and l did
il, for the reason that he was the best strike dog
that l had or had ever seen. He had been in
his day one Of the finest bear dogs in the coun-
try, but on one occasion he had gone in toe
shape. After that he would always strike the
trail in the lead of any of the other dogs, but
for the rest of that chase. In, that way he
prolonged his days far beyond the number for
the average good bear dog.
1T is no small matter for a hunter TO keep up
a pack. of bear dogs. Last winter I hunted in
there is never a time. that l do not have az
many as twenty-five in my dog yard at home,
that l ever hunted with in the past. They
are new and young dogs. II is not an unusual
v WITH a 10 b taHe and and most os1e Of HI SS are lost on Hs &C.
count Of the fact that some man shot at the
S Sesr saq tS Sea do oss viii viii n no in ON M nf him Closely Ieae !.
and as a result many Of them are sure Of getting
hurt. The tI most ,f Hf the dogs tefsrd th" t. l m haze lost lost
shots. that is. shoot at a bear that the dogs
have driven to a tree. Often the friend is not
and then there is a fight with the dogs so close
that l can't shoot. Under these circumstances
bear is to land. and want to be near the
second dog, that gets at him when he hits the
he be able he will run, and il there be any fight
in him there will be plenty of dogs to occupy
1t was one Sunday afternoon last January
that q friend of mine came to my house and
tremendous bear had swum the river and
caught a hog about daylight that morning.
carcass and told him that i would meet him
there with. a pack OF hounds Monday morning
at 3 o'cl .Sa, and aEis that we .T would nfsh have ,w thG bear;
miles in that direction and canned with the
dogs, and at the appointed time met the friend.
hog. but that he could show mt where it had
crossed the road on the morning previous.
told him to ride up with me slowly until near
saying a word: lie did 50 and when / was
several times to the pack that was following
me, so that they could be on their guard.
and It was "a only "a a few moments until the strike
dogs began opening upon the trail; Al OF the
and the friend thought that We would have the
bear within n few moments. But the trail was
For the first few hundred yards out of the road
tho, bear had gone straight through the cane
and in = low ground TT Tha, was wet, q a under n6sr
holding the moisture. the dogs could trail
easily twenty-four hours behind the animal.
But then we came into an omen country, where
had worked all over this glade, eating the mast.
those dogs to, work up the trail, Some of them
simply quit. but the bulk of them worked as
most like taking a slate and figuring out a hard
problem in mathematics. Finally ono Of tho
out into the cane again and then it was easy
work for another half a mile. when again we
came into n place similar to the one where wa
had had so much trouble before. 1, was the
same kind of ground and II took the same KIND
OF work to get the trali out or there. finaiyi
: however, we did so and ran II into a swamp.
by this time 1t was late in the afternoon.
and although We had worked all that day in
: following the bear only seven miles, l felt that
/, he had spent Sunday night near where we were,
and that the best thing TO do was TO camp and
, take the trail again early IN the morning. we
did SO. and Tuesday morning went To the same
spot, then being thirty six hours behind the bear
a Hut the dogs knew We were after ne same AMI.
been out an hour before they all plunged into Z
thick bunch OF cane, and You, would have
thought from the fuss that they had ten bear
!: ali at once. But it was simply the place where
: Bruin had spent the night, and thar put us OF
. a trail that was only twenty-four hours old
y 1t was easy work then, and the dogs did beau
D tifuily. We worked along without any trouble
and in the course of u few hours came TO wher'
. the bear had spent Monday night. Here ther,
: was a repetition Of the scene OF early in III,
g morning. and when the dogs found that thu
bear had left there they went along Mt a mt
pace and with every one OF them in fine mouth
n Up the road we went where mo tracks ,wcr'