Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1903-06-19
Hunting Grizzly Bears.

Hunting Grizzly Bears.
New York Commercial Advertiser.l
The old big game hunter was anus
ing himself throwing peanuts into the
mouth of Bruno, the Central Park men
agerit grizzly bear. when it comes
down to real shooting the hunter eN-
planned .I'
planned there's just one beast that's
worth while. and that's this bear here.
Let them tell you about the fun of
grouse and quail and duck shooting or
deer stalking, for that natter but If
a man ever feels his throat swell in
pride and his nerves Jingle to the end
of his finger tips, it's when he stands
over 7o0-pound carcass of the king
of all American beasts. the grizzly.
What the tiger is to the Indian hunter,
that's what the grizzly is to us.
Have l shot many? Bless your
heart. I've spent ten years along every
foot OF the Big Horn and the Shoshone
and the Wind and the Sinking Water
rivers. Three times l crossed Wyom
ing and Montana, and there aren't
twenty miles of the Bear Tooth and
the Belt and the Crazy mountains l
haven't seen-and if you know any
thing at all about the grizzly, you
know that's where they make him. I've
stalked him just as you'd stalk deer
in the Adirondacks; I've bagged him
fair and square on meeting him face
to face. I'm sorry to say, l once trap
ped him, and I've followed his trail
for DAYS and lured him with a drag,
and no finer, more exciting sport, is
under sunshine than to hunt the old
grunter in the wilds of his own home"
Few persons will believe grizzly
will attack a man unless he himself is
first attacked l took hunters at their
word one time. l was up in Crazy
Mountain and same near paying for it
with my life l had killed a large elk
that morning. and returning in the
afternoon on horseback with a pair of
men from the camp to skin the car
cass and have picture taken OF him.,
for he was a big fellow. AS we neared
the spot we saw that grizzly had
been there ahead of us. We did not
imagine that we had actually scared
him from his meal and without the
least apprehension of danger we leaned
our rifles against tree about fifty feet
away and got to work. There were
three OF us, but only two rifles we had.
for one of the men was loaded with his
camera, and had come unarmed. We
had finished taking the picture and
We're lard at work when we heard a
swapping and crashing in the bushes
behind us, and with a series of savage
growls a big, old female and pair of
half grown cubs came down on us
like three avalanches. We were horror
struck to see that the beasts were be-
tween us and our rifles. and we dashed
for our horses. thinking the bears
would center their attention on the
dead elk and leave us alone.
1T was strange how they singled us
out and neglected the elk, and even
the horses. We had not time to mount
our terror stricken beasts, the bears
came down on us so quickly, and all
that remained was to fight at close
quarters for our lives. With one &C
cord we drew our hunting knives and
in desperation rushed toward the bears
to attack. We threw our hats at them
and yelled like Indians, and. actually,
we bluffed them to standstill. Be
ing confronted in equal numbers
they stopped, raising on their hind
legs snapped and grunted and turned
tail and ran. That gave us our chance
for the guns, and we got the old bear
and one of the cubs for our scare, but
the second cub escaped in the thicket.
Il guess more lies are believed about
the grizzly than about any other ami
NAL. We hear about them weighing
4
but the biggest grizzly l ever saw didn't
weigh more than 700 or 500 pounds.
The trouble with most of the grizzly
hunters is that they don't go to the
trouble of weighing their game. For
the most part they are too lar IN the
backwoods to get at scales. But the
biggest of the bears don't weigh more
than 500 pounds, and you can put that
down as gospel truth.
"a grizzly will eat about everything
that can be eaten. 1t makes no differ
ence whether the food is flesh, hsh'
fowl. berries, bees or worms-anythlng
down 70 roots and herbs goes with
his highness. Elk meat he likes better
than any other, and whenever hunter
kills an elk, after he has taken enough
| for himself, he uses the carcass TO
bag a grizzly. In winter the bear nj
bernates in Il cave, or some hollow Tree,
where he sleeps. living on the fat he
has stored away in layers during the
season. An old grizzly is about as ut
to eat as an old horse. That is, you
can eat him, but he is stringy and
tough as hades. But young, tender
bear of this species, especially when
fattened for his first siege of winter
sleep, is one of the most delicious
meats served.
The skin of the grizzly is one of the
most valuable trophies sportman can
obtain. In America it is what the tiger
skin is in India, and the lion SKIN IN
Africa. The danger of taking such
skin and the nerve and experience it
tells is like having post graduate d.
ploma. into the highest ranks OF the
hunter. No sir for the best OF all nunt-
ing. give me this same chap here.
Special Excursion Rates to Colorado,
Utah and the Black Hills,
! Via the Northwestern line. Beginning