CanÌƒon City record. [volume] (CanÌƒon City, Colo.) 1883-192?, 1903-08-13
GETS FIVE BEARS.
e. T. Ward is Champion Of Ere
mont County and q Redoubt-
able Bear Hunter.

o'~ s~~~' ssAhss~s
By his achievements during a recent
trip, some forty miles up the country,
E. T. Ward, of this city, is entitled to
the distinction OF the champion bear
hunter Of Fremont county. Mr.. Ward
returned h me last week after an alb
sence ofa little over q month in the
mountains in the course OF which he
killed five Silver Tips. seveai wolves
and other wild animals whose destruc-
tion is not under the ban Of the law.
His hunting was all done in the Black
Mountain country, territory long
famous for the abundance Of its game
Although nearly seventy years OF
/ age Mr.. Ward is an indefatigible
sportsman. and on a hunting expedi-
tion is willing to undergo hardship
and inconvicnces that would be appal-
ling to many a Younger man. At the
timeOf his late hunt his headquarters
were at ranch in the vicinity Of Elk
mountain, in the neiehborhood OF
, which he was assured bear were fire.
quently seen.
Climbing an eminence one morning
he saw a number Of deer feeding on the
hillside in the distance, and while
watching them bear ambled across
the trail about half mile away. With
n view Of heading Bruin on Mr.. Ward
made his way up = steep canon and wis
r, warded by catching sight Of the bear
about 400 yards away. He had a 5000
Winchester repeating rifle and fired as
soon ~ the bear came within the line
Of vision.
Almost before the report Of the shot
had died away the bear turned and
came at Mr.. Ward as rapidly as his
wounded condition would permit,
evidently determined to make q fight
for his life. Although made a little
nervous by the changed condition OF
affair. in which the hunter becam- the
hunted Mr.. Ward managed to keep his
wits about him and fr.d two more
shots at the bear. the last one render
ing him hors du combat when only
twenty-five feet away. II was fortu-
nate shot indeed for Mr.. Ward, otheree
wise he might not have returned to
Canon City to relate his adventure.
An examination Of the carcass re-
vealed the fact that the first shot had
gone through the bear, breaking a rib
on the side Of penetration and two at
the place Of exit, which prompted his
desperate effort to get the man who
had shot him.
Mr.. Wards recent success in hunt
ing big game in the Black Mountain
country is in keeping with the expert
ence Of other Nimrods in that locality
during the last few months, particu-
larly has that been the case in the
vicinity Of Stirrup ranch, celebrated
as the principal scene Of operations Of
"Old Nose" in II. N. Beecher's story,
"The Autobiography Of a Grizzly"
published in Recreation last winter.
Wharton Pigg, proprietor of the Stir
rup ranch. trapped large mountain
lion few weeks ago, and we are in
formed that near Jackson's ranch, in
the same neighborhood, three large
bears were killed about the same time.
Mr.. Pigg had lost three horses In
consequence Of raids on his pasture
from mountain lions, the remains OF
one of them, q two-year-old colt. was
found cached" in a small canon,
where 1t had been seereted by one OF
the animals until its hunger should
cause 1t to return for the purpose Of
appeasing its hunger. Near this place
Mr.. Pigg set trap and couple OF
mornings later was rewarded by find
Ing large female mountain lion,
meausuring nine feet from tip to tip,
securely caught in its jaws. So
tenacious Of life was the lion that It
required three shots from Mr.. Pigg's
rife to kill 1t.
1t is stated that bears and other
animals are more plentiful in the
mountains now than they have been