Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1905-11-17


he, together with two or three OF his
handlers. would accompany n pack,
and Ii any dog left the bear trail TO
go on after a fox or wolf, the sting
of a whip on his back would soon
teach him that he was doing the wrong
thing. The task was not a hard one,
because the dogs had first been taught
TO run and then trained to hunt. 1t
was then only a matter or teaching
them what to hunt.
Bear Dogs Let Deer Alone.
After they had been well trained in
the open, the bear would be led through
the deer park. and the deer driven
across his trail, so that the dogs would
be trailing a cold bear trail, and going
across a very hot deer trail.
Old hunters have said for years that
a hound would rather trail a deer than
any other animal TO be found, Mr..
Avent says his experience is that while
the average hound loves to trail a deer,
he is almost equally as fond of trailing
a bear.
1t has been proclaimed time and
again by hunters that only a small per
cent. of hounds will trail a bear, and
that the rest of them as soon as they
smell the scent of q bear, VIII tuck
their tails and so to the rear. Mr..
Avent said a few days ago to a reporter
for the New York Scimitar that he
had tried some fifty Of his trained fox
hounds after bear, and out OF this lot
he had found only two which did not
take readily TO the bear scent, and went
to the rear instead of forward. For
years it was the custom of Mr.. Bobo
to shoot any dog which started to the
rear past him. Mr.. Avent, however,
put these dogs back in his fox pack,
where they are equally available with
other good fox dogs. Now he keeps
his bear dogs, or the fastest of them,
in training by running them TWO OF
three times a week after foxes, and
tire times a week they are worked
after bear. However, they have now
reached a point where there Is good
sport in 1t.
After one of the bears is led for as
long a distance as he riders want TO
follow 1t, the dogs are turned loose, and
any of the guests at Rogers Springs
who desire to do so, start out horse
back with the pack. OF course, the bear
is usually led where riding is easy,
Then he is put up a tree, and right here
another Of the ancient pipe stories is
dispelled. You have probably heard
many people say that the way TO es-
cape from a bear is to climb a small
tree. Don't believe this for q moment.
The territory around Rogers Springs is
covered with black jack growth. The
black jack tree is always small, and
Mr.. Bruin loses no time at all, going
by jumps up a tree as small as four or
six inches I'm diameter.
Taught to Bay at Tree.
II the dogs do not stay there n con-
tinue to bay, the bear will probably
come down. but If he does not come
down It is impossible to locate the tree.
Out at Rogers Springs Mr.. Avent usual
ly keeps the dogs baying at the bear for
49, 80 80 ill.,, fF tka,v loo va 4 alraG
them back SO that in the bottoms the
dogs may come from the tree to a
hunter and then pilot him back to the
tree where the bear is located.
The other exercise which Mr.. Avent
is giving this pack is in teaching them
to fight a bear.
This he does In three ways In one,
the bear is put in a small crate, when
the pack comes upon him at the end Of
an hours hunt.
This crate has narrow cracks through
which the dogs can nip the bear, n
the bear can nip and scratch them, but
1t is impossible for either TO hurt the
other to any great extent. This is good
exercise for the dogs because the nip
ping and slaps they get from the bear
teaches them respect for him.
Again, the bear is tied close to a
fence, 80 that the dogs cannot be be-
hind him, and a few OF the pack are
turned loose on him at a time. In this
some as fine sparring is done as is ordi-
narily seen in the prize ring. With the
dogs it is a case of nip the bear n
then jump back before the a can
get a good hold on any Of them. Here
It is comparatively easy for a dog to
keep out Of the bears mouth, but when
he bites at one dog on the left, n
gives an uppercut TO the dogs on the
right, several of them are liable to land
ten feet away and come up limping
very badly.
The third exercise Is to hold tho Dear
by an eight or ten foot chain, and let a
dozen dogs come after him. In this
case. the handlers always use a whip
with which to take the dogs off IL they
are hurting the bear. and a stick with
which to pry the bears mouth open il
he gets too strong a hold on a dog.