The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-11-20
HUNTING GRIZZLY BEARS.
TALES OF SPORT FROM THE FOR
FsTS or MONTANA.

nnturalists have named him., but that 10 too
iona and hard a name for the hunters and
tr,ppers to pronounce, so they call the animal
,ho grizzly bear. Many OF the old-timers cay
that there are distinct varieties OF the species.
"a for instance. the cinnamon. the bald face.
,hs roach back and the white breast. but the
more intelllgentof them agree with the natural
Is,s that oolor does not affect the olassln-
.,tlon at all, and that the lonR-clawed bear of
,bo Rocky Mountains, whether cinnamon or
ether color. is the grizzly.
Nneh has been written about this animal. q
.r.st deal OF 1t so misleading that TO the East
arm reader the term grizzly bear is anonymous
,or all that is cruel and feroclous. The truth Is
that the animal will run from the hunter. even
vhen wounded. oftener than he will attack ;
bnt he will charge sometimes. wounded or not.
and then he is q terrible foe. 1t Is the uncer-
,.Inty as to what n grizzly will do that makes
ths sport OF hunting him so exciting. Tho
hunter should always to get the
hs,t of the position and not shoot until he feels
cha, he can plant his bullet where he wishes.
oteourse. where a bear suddenly charges one
The case will be different: then the only thing
N do ia to stand still and keep shooting; the
nearer the animal comes the more likely he ia
10 be hit. and every time he IL hit he will fall
and roll and bite at the wound. giving the
hunter time to put In q deliberate shot.
The size OF the grizzly varies according to the
length OF the summer season and abundance
Of food In the locality in which he is found.
The largest, undoubtedly. is found In Oalifor-
MIA, where he is not obliged to hibernate
during the winter and food is plentiful the year
around. In Montana, on the other hand, the
snow and frost cause the grizzlies Ito retire to
their dens in November. where they lie dor
mant until the following April When they first
come out in the spring they are. apparently, as
fat as they were In the fall. but for q month or
two following the opening spring food IL very
scarce. they are obliged to travel day and night
in search Of sustenance. and they soon become
akin and bones. This ia q heavy setback to the
constitution Of growing cubs, and it is
no wonder that they do not attain the
,lEeo their brothers In moro congenial cllmes.
The large male grizzlies IN Montana will not
average more than 700 pounds whenf fat. Some
Years ago. however. in Fort Benton. the hide OF
one that measured ten feet In length was
shown. This bear was killed In the Judith
Basin. and undoubtedly weighed more
than 1000 pounds. Yet, when one comes
to think OF 1t, TOO pounds is quite a
weight. The average Eastern mich cow will
not weigh more than that. And 700 pounds OF
bear, when that bear Is mad. Is a bad thing to
face, because q grizzly. for all his clumsy ap-
pearance. Is as quick and agile as a cat, and
carries DeQedLu his uluo U tEoLuOuuoup uulOuht
OF vitality.
Tho sportsman who is anxious to add the
skin OF a grizzly to his collection OF trophies
should by all means hunt grizzlies in the spring.
preferably In May. In the autumn. oven up to
the time they retire for the winter, their fur Is
not prime. and again. having become rolling
fat by gorRing themselves on berries. they
move about very little. and that mostly at
night. 30 that q hunter might be In a good
locality for them for weeks and never see moro
Of them than their tracks. But in the spring.
the minute the bear leaves his winter quarters.
he begins q ceaseless tramp for food. Then the
wise hunter will procure three or four old
crippled horses and kill them In some
favorite places along the foothills whore
bruin Is likely to travel. If one has three bats
they should be placed about five miles apart.
and camp made within a mile or two OF the
centre one. Early in the morning. and again
1t evening. the nearest bait can be visited
eioot. and the other bats can be watched on
alternate days. a ten-mile horseback ride being
Just good exercise for the very weakest tender
foot. Great care should be taken in placing the
horse bats. II possible. find a small hill en-
ttrely bare OF timber or brush which slopes
steeply Town to the west. at the foot Of
which Is some heavy pine timber and brush.
also water. Kill the horse SO he will lie about
fifty yards below the brow Of the hill. and. II
you wish. cut three or four stunted pines
and stick them side BY side or, the brow
saod =" screen sem when aPproae5ing the bait. or
when sitting and watching for the bear to APP
Wind is always blowing from the west, and as
the bear. having once found the bait: Will put
n his time between gorges lying in the thick
danger OF his getting wind OF the hunter and
lighting out for parts unknown. Having once
hye times a day and eat until he can hold no
more, and when not eating he will lie In the
It doesn't take a grizzly long to eat up a
s0[se; b several FIn {e @Ifb s 3 q GSIas Ten sp on a
man IAN They Killed a horse Tor bait on the side
peIt morning found that ,two.ihlrds Of Il, had
the screen OF pines to watch. M IN less than
an hour three fine grizzlies came out from the
fhe arSt. shot the hunter fred took one OF
them in the brain, and he sank down without a
s siSf' H whil9 the itn others . sat up on their a hsIns sbos
brained another one, and the remaining one.
md snt the largest Of them all, started h, to run.
fine grizzlies. all ofgood size and wearing thick
.,G6out a Week after they MADE this killing
they went down to tire river one afternoon to
SSs osn t tFouSS sp tbs on w sas Y tsk s9 q 1eof a6 s3eh. s Sait
and see Il any more bears had visited 1t. They
FFs sFY The brow Of the hilli and looking care atn
I"' ofV OuIh. IIluN tiIC paaS wa cio' Hcih4
down TO where 1t had lain, they saw that 1t had
Reen dragged down the hill into the tim Der.
Following the sign elowly and carefully some
twenty or thirty yards into the pines. they sud-
denly saw q very, large grizzly lying by the re-
mains. His head was obscured by a pine tree.
but the whole Of his immense body was IN plain
yiLSE. The sportsman. who carried the ride took
e~en6erate aim at o point Just, behind the
shoulder and fired. With. a howl OF rage and
pain the animal jumped from his bed. looked
atus and jumping into the brush quickly dis
appeared. The hunter had been unable to get In
enother shot on account OF the smoke which
obscured his view. They took up the trail. hnd-
Ing blood on each side OF II, showing that the
bear had been shot through and through. and
on a broad Leaf beside Q spattering OF Grim
hhon, they found a small piece OF splintered bone.
They followed the trail carefully for q half mile
Or more. and then. night coming on, they went
nome. intending to resume the hunt In, the
morning. But that. pighti II rained, washing
out all sigma Of the bloody trail. and 80 they
never found the bear.
Although having shot, and also been II atthe
death Of o number of grizzlies. the writer has
never had the fortune. or rather misfortune. 70
~ charged by one: consequently. the expert
epee Of friends will have to. be drawn on to
show the, terocious side Of old long claws ma
ture. John Ii. Harris. one OF our cattle kings.
tels a very amusing story of q bear hunt he
once had; that is. it's amusing now, but at the
ums Il happened 1t was a serious enough