The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1909-12-18

Yet examination showed fresh bear
tracks on the old trail almost evs..y
morning. and / felt ii safe 70 assume
that something was making them. So.
for a whole week lay in that clufnp
Of frs. Then | began tn think about
giving up: but, knowing that the ami
NAL must show himself in time / kept
taking nn n fresh stock Of patience
and dragging myself again and again
up to the little ciump Of frs.
at last there came a rain. II be-
gan in the night and kept up until
about / o'clock In the afternoon of the
following day. and rained SO hard that
I did not venture out in the morning.
In the afternoon II Was SO wet that
! hesitated about going. but finally.
thinking that this might be just the
time the old bear would select to go
berrying, decided to risk IT. And
as luck would have ii. when reached
the frs and took a look at the hill
side. there sat an old grizzy about
hundred yards above the brink OF the
canyon and 300 yards from me. busiiy
engaged in pulling down branches and
eating berries.
iiiHHeuidttfs pSSdH tut SNEAK Oh
my life. | did not even at first, think
Of walking. | simply got down on
the ground and 'snaked' IL. / worked
below the bear. 50 that If he ran he
would have to come my way ar 60 up
the open hillside and thus afford me
additional shots III I failed with the
first. But / had no intention of fall
ing. / worked along slowly. 50 that
st,. l,aI ..,.sY. 1t.Nr
up the hill before I finally got within
reasonable range. and even then l kept
on until / was within 60 yards before
finally making up my mind to risk a
shot.
Il then crawled behind bunch of
bushes and. without getting up. looked
the ground over TO see what the
chances were of the bears getting
back into the canyon in case I failed
to drop him. Dawn there in the can
son where had watched SO long and 50
yainly stood the largest bear 1t had
ever been my good fortune to set eyes
upon. began to think tho woods were
full Of them. and backing silently into
one Of the small ravincs. worked
down the Hill toward the big fellow,
and as got better view or him ]
hb'N oHiA liioSt
had thought nothing about the size of
the first bear. had been disappointed
- often that anything went. But now
that had set my eyes on this big
one / thought him entitled To prcce-
dcncc.
Yet | wanted both, and / thought
I saw my way to getting them. The
first bear seemed to have struck boz
.S.l.
slowly. The big fellow. on the other
hand. was down where the bushes
We're pretty well stripped and seemed
to be working uphill fairly fast. l
therefore dropped out of sight. wormed
my way doNnhill bit farther. waited
till the two bears We're abou, hum
drcd yards apart. and then crept to
the top Of Il slight ridge and found
myself 40 yards from the big one and
60 from the other. l figured on killing
the large bear ut the first shot and 1
then turning on the other before he
relied on the second bear standing |
up To take a look before making for !
the canyon. and thereby giving me the |
few seconds thar l would need. s'ss=t
II was shooting a singie-shot 45-loo |
that weighed 1. pounds. l had Sc |
lected this gun because ! could al |
ways depend ON il. | used the full |
charge of powder. and s~ase sluxs /
that would weigh 600 grains of soft |
lead. One of these placed in the GEN.
ter of a grizzly's shoulder never failed |
to decide matters
Il took sitting position that ar |
forded me a rieht-hand quartering |
shot at the big fellow and IA left-hand /
auartering shot AT the other. and that |
would enable me TO act very quickly |
l intended To take my time and TO
trust 10 luck and rapid work for the |
second. felt that with one cartridge !,
I'm my rifle. three others on the ground I
and two more between the fingers of /
my right hand. the old sinsle-shot
could be depended upon.
when all these things were ar
ranged 10 my liking, waited for n
side shot IT the large bear. | did not /
have long To wait. and | never looked |
through sights more carefully than
when drawing that bead. There was
only two square inches of bear visible
MAS the spot | wanted. and once the |
shot Was delivered l wasted no time
in ascortaining the result, but ut once
turned To the other bear. He acted |
exactly as | had expected. He turned /
side on tn me 10 see what bealam |
had broken Loose. caught him /
In the shoulder and he wiitcd :
in his tracks as the other had done. |