Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-02-07
HUNTING BEARS IN ALASKA.
Some of the Biggest of the Bruin Fam
lily Found in Far North.

lily Found in Far North.
There is good bear hunting on the
Alaskan peninsula. I got seven griz-
zlies one afternoon, all Of them within
a quarter Of a mile and not over half
an hours time. The smallest Of them
was a three-year-old and 1 should
say they averaged 1000 pounds. 1t
took thirteen cartridges to bring the
seven down."
Grant c. Chase, hunter and pros
pector, who for eleven years has spent
most of his time in the Alaskan wilds,
crossed his knees in reminiscent fash
ion at the Sherman House this morn
ing and told few bear stories on the
eve of returning to his favorite
haunts.
Then for corroboration there is the
testimony of Mrs. Chase, who for sew
eral years has shared her husbands
life and who has kept diary wherein
is faithfully recorded the number of
bear, caribou, sea otter and other fur
bearers brought down daily and care
full measurments Of the biggest skins.
"I suppose 1 have killed 500 or 900
bears altogether" continued Mr.,
Chase. "Of course, a good deal Of my
time has been given to some copper
properties 1 am interested in or the
number might have been much larg-
er. At one time and another 1 have
hunted bear pretty much all through
the Rockies, but there isn't another
place to equal the Alaskan peninsula.
big? Well, I'll tell you. Those
bears up there are the largest in the
world A full grown male weighs
from 1000 to $500 pounds. The skin
Of the largest fellow I ever killed
measured thirteen feet four inches
long and thirteen feet three inches
spread from toenail to toenail. can
lift as much as the average man, but
I'm telling it straight when l say that
with Mrs. Chase to help me I couldn't
turn that fellow over on his back to
skin him.
Twenty feet is the nearest bear,
bent on mischief, ever got to meEAn
old female whose cub / had brought
down, came for me one day and she
was mad She was sixty or seventy
yards distant and in a bunch Of alder
when l took my first shot at her. She
got up and came out in the clearing
and then she saw me and came for
me in earnest. 1 worked my gun pref
ty rapidly and the shots took effect.
She was about six PAGES away when
she dropped.
Mrs. Chase and I got a scare once,
though, in rather a ludicrous way.
I had three camps in a lonely region
where for three years Mrs. Chase new
er saw a white woman. 1 had put
up 'bavraias,' or houses, of drift wood
the only kind available. We were 60
ing from one camp to another when l
brought down q bear.
I'VE were in no hurry, so we stop
ped, built a fire and had some lunch
After lunch-.about an hour after the
shooting-we went down into a gulch
where the bear was lying. Mrs. Chase
was carrying an aluminium teapot. 1
got her to help me turn the bear over
and 1 was about to remove his hide
when the big fellow suddenly came to
life.
"You should have seen Mrs. Chase
go up that hillside. The best Of it
was, in spite of her haste, she took
jumped about twenty feet myself. If
that bear had been in shape to do
damage there might have been some
trouble--but he wasn't. AS a general
thing there isn't much adventure-it's
too easy."-Chicago Post.