Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1901-06-23
beae and Deer Hast On the eup-
dover River, Miss.

6eae and Deer Hun an the oup-
dover River, Miss.
The residents Of the SunnoweT, and,
In fact, those Of vicksburg. M ex-
tremely partial to bear meat, andIfoupd
our friend Value could hardly wait y
tardy cooks preparation. / bad = faint
recollection Of interviewing bear steak
on ! previous occasion with rather dis
couraging results, still I thought myself
hungry enough to be able to dispose Of
my share. / knsN Ned would cat MS
II 1t killed him, and Straightforward
| Uncle Joe would eat bear II he liked It.
II not he would let it N,ne. ] watched
nv companions as they proceeded TO
discuss it's merits. Ned's first INSTALL
ment passed from view with apparent
relish; his next-must | say!-seeMed
to produce a slight pallor on his nrm,
well knit features; the third v saw
raised to his lips. would not dare
say this IL Ned were not at this writi4S
at least a thousand miles away. UrIe
Joe deliberately spat his first mouthfql
on the ground, and said: He would ne
shot IL another piece Of that blasted
bear ever got into his mouth" ! tasted
bear also, and silently stole away to
the rear of the tent out of observations
Suffice to say, that we all, except Uncle
Joe, learned to like bear meat before
our hunt was over. 1t only required
unlimited patience, combined with per-
sistent practice. We determjnea ITO
spend the next few days still hunting
Tor deer. In the meantime we sent a
man across the country to invite Holt
Collier, the great bear hunter OF the
Mississippi, to join us with his nne pack
Of hounds. AS still hunting Is little re-
sorted to in the south. ur friend mace
sport of our intentions, but we had
practiced this method to many years in
the Lake Superior regions not to know
our own capabilities. To the astonish-
ment of our doubling comrades, we had
hardly missed a day without bringing
down one or more deer, most OF them,
however, were ordinary animals Of their
kind, with one exception. One day |
reached the banks of a little Bayou las
all streams are called here) some four
miles from camp, and sat down on q
log to rest and drink in the beauties OF
the surrounding landscape. AS my eyes
were wandering UP the bayou that
wound SO gracefully among the stately
expresses and giant oaks until lost in
the distance, / suddenly saw emerging
from a thicket, about 10 0yards distant,
a fine buck. My rifle was at my shovl-
der in an instant, and as l was about
to fire I caught sight of another buck
the largest | had ever seen, issuing
from the same thicket. For a moment
the peculiar sickness, incident to such
occasions, took possession of me, but it
was ~momentarily. Taking deliberate
aim well forward, as he was walking,
quarterly toward me, / fired. 1 distinct
ly heard a heavy thud on the ground,
then all was still. I was astonished at
this, but, quickly reloading, awaited the
result. The smaller buck had passed
from view in the underbrush. Shortly
I saw him reappear through the OPEN
ing, feeding as if nothing had happen
ed. | fired at him. wounding him
slightly, when he concluded to take his
departure. l then approached the fallen
monarch cautiously, for l had some sus-
picion that he was playing "possum,'
but found this. was not the case. The
ball had entered the shoulder, ranging
upward and backward in such a manner
as to shatter the spinal column almost
its entire length. | forwards found it
fiattened and ~shapeless. lodged against
the skin, being the only time that the
body OF a deer had succeeded in stopping
one of my 46 cal. bullets. The animal
was estimated to weigh from $50 to 800
pounds, and many of my st. Louis
friends will testify to his excellent gas
trcnomic qualities. There seem to IL
here two varieties of deer. Although
the majority of those killed appeared
to be the genuine red or Virginia specie,
we frequently met those more compact
ly built, with shorter legs and necks,
bearing a greater resemblance to the
Rocky Mountain or black tailed deer.
This large puck was Of this specie. The
following noon, Halt Collier arrived in
camp, followed by seventeen dogs,
which, added to our previus pack, made
twenty-seven. All wac now hustle and
excitement, preparing for the next days
bear hunt. The starters" were chained
together in pairs to prevent them from
doing any private hunting on their own
account. A deer was cut up, boiled and
fed to the dogs. Ponies, saddles, etc.,
were properly looked after, and guns
carefully inspected. Early the next
morning we were all in the saddle ex-
cept Uncle Joe. 1t was a fine morning,
the atmosphere being clear, cool and
bracing, and sas We ~galloped along the
trail leading to Melton Lake, where we
expected to start a bear, we felt the
keenest delight at the prospect before us.
But a few minutes after the dogs were
let loose a portion of them were in full
pursuit of some animal. l asked Holt
what he supposed it to be. Nothing
but a cat" was his laconic reply. Soon
the dogs ceased their pursuit of the
cat, for at a little distance they had
heard the voice of one of the starters.
That's a bear!" cried Holt, as all the
dogs Joined in the pursuit. The woods
rang with their music. Gomez" cried
Holt, W must keep in hearing of the
dogs Up the banks of the Lake, then
down again we. rode, keeping as nearly
abreast of the dogs as possible. Occa-
~sionally some one would attempt to cut
off the bear by pressing into the cane,
but without success. At last bruin took
a different direction, leaving the cane
fnv fha ana ry0Ol~ 49,. -,