The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1906-05-26
SOUTHERN BEAR DOGS,
SORT OF HOUND IT TAKES TO
HUNT BRUiN.

HunterS OF the Craka Mountlin5-
Story Ct Old Jude. Famous Fight
er. and Her Last and Most Desper.
ate Struggle.
Mr.. Marshall w Bell, young attor-
hey OF Cherokee county, North Caro-
lima, while in Charlotte, told a Char
| lotte Observer man an interesting story
OF breed of bear dogs that has been
III his section OF the state for decades.
| Black bears abound in the Unaka
Mountains, which form part Of the
Great Smokes. and lie about the D-
| vide, between the Tellico river on the
| ole side and the Santeetla ard Big and
Little SnOWbird creeks on the other"
said Mr. Bell.
| Mr.. J. II. Di!lard and others killed
seven bears last season, some OF which
| weighed close to 500 pounds. This
; year. however, Bruin seems TO have
disappeared from our country, the
chestnut crop was a failure and it is
| generally believed that the Graham
county bears have migrated to the Mis-
sissippi River bottoms; Old hunters
claim that they do that occasionally
| When mast is scarce. But this year is
an exception we usually have plen-
| " of bears.
The Plot bear dog is a growth; he
! has been in the making for many gen.
erations, and is just about as good is
there is in the business. Mr.. Jack Dill
lard of Murphy, my home town, is a
bear hunter, and he keeps a pack OF
! the famous Plott dogs.
'Old man Plot. the originator of this
breed, lived in the Balsam Mountains.
In looks and appearance the dog is like
Il massive eur Of the most repulsive
sort. He will not run anything but
bear and coon, whose scent is some
thing alike. The average one weights
from ninety to 10 pounds, and his body
is knotted with muscle. and his most
striking quality of character is grit,
pure grit of the finest grain. He will
fight to the death. and against great
odds He never gives up even when
overpOwered.
If you meet him in the road he will
give you what belongs to You if he is
not interfered with in any way, but
will take care of himself ii forced to do
SO. There are two ways to deal with
him: let him alone or kill him as quick
as possible If you would strike him
use handspike and back il with every
bit of physical force that you can mus
ter. He is a solemn sort of dog, and
makes but few friends If you tres
pass on his rights you must Kill him.
Jude, old Jude, was typical Plot
bear hound. She was kept by john
Dentor, whose home was on a creek in
wild section of the mountains. She
whelped litter of puppies. 1t required
days of searching to find her little
ones. which had been deposited in a
hollow log in dense thicket of laurel.
Like a lion guarding her young, old
Jude watched her babies and it re-
Quired strategy to get them to the |
house. Denton tried to take the lit
lie fellows while Jude was here, but
he soon saw that it would be more |
dangerous than to undertake to steal |
cubs from a bear. Therefore the next |
time Jude came up for food Denton tied |
her and then fetched the puppies in. |
Yes, sir. cid Jude had call from the
wild
The story of Jude will suffice to show
up the Plot dog in the best light. She
was a fine individual One day when
in her prime she led race after
500 pound bear and held him at bay un-
til hunter came and shot him. This
is the time she came near being killed.
The hunt was on Steel Trap ridge,
hat leads to Snowbird Creek in Ora
ham The dogs struck the trail early
in the morning and ran it until we'll
up in the day, when the bear made a
stand after lively run over the noun
tain knobs and through ooves. The
pace was fast and hard for Bruin; he
could not stand it. Being pressed by
he hounds. he stopped, backed against
1 tree and made ready to fight. At the
paying of the dogs some hunter Slip
ped up within rifle range and fired a
shot into the bear. Old Jude knew we'll
what to do when the bear turned on
Ter. She had the courage to attack
him, but her training was such that
she made it warm and unpleasant for
he grouchy old animal without clos
ng in on him.
While the other dogs charged at his
lead she would approach him from the
rear and nip his hind legs. At this Mr.
Bear would wheel around and snap at
her. but she would not be there She
Knew how to get out of the way. The
easing, biting and harassing was kept
lp and the skirmishing fight made so
asst and furious that it took the breath
,ut of the bear. The dogs are taught to