The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1910-04-14
HUNTING BEAR WITH SPEARS.
One of the Methods of Killing Bruin in
Northern Europe.

During the last few years | have had
the satisfaction of killing a fair num-
Der of bears. the biggest and perhaps
Europe, and have studied the ways of
these animals both in Sweden and in
Finnish and Russian Karelia, where |
have come across thirty-six bears alto
gether, and have myself killed or caught
twenty-three, including six young ones.
My Russian and Finnish bear hunting
has always taken place il winter, but
it has been done in various ways. The
one which has afforded me the greatest
amount of enjoyment is hunting the
bear on skis. and l will first relate my
experiences in that direction.
L have twice hunted the Dear with
the spear; on one occasion the lair
was in a Doggy country, ana we soon
found the entrance, outside which l
took up my position, armed with my
spear, which is a strong ash pole rather
more than 6 feet long, with a steel point
of about II inches; in order to pro-
tect it against the teeth of the bear
the lower part of the pole is covered
with copper. The moment the bear ap-
peared l tried to hit him in the throat,
but he parted with his paw and my
spear miscarried. The bear came fur
Their out and l managed to thrust my
Z 11IO LIZ AhSGLs hO SUI 4dAA
Gus and bit viciousiy at the copper coat
ing, at the same time trying to knock
the spear out of my hand with his paw.
He used his teeth with such force that
they almost penetrated the copper, and
higher up the pole he tore out great
splinters Of wood. 1t took me all my time
to hold my own against him, but by
degrees he tired and lay down at the
entrance to the lair. | drew out the spear
to let the blood flow more freely, but
the pear still had strength enough left
to snap at the point of the spear with
such violence that he made some big
marks in the metal with his teeth. My
friend now came up n gave him the
coup de grace with his spear. The Gght
lasted about five minutes.
To tackle a bear with a spear in the
summer time when the ground is bare
is a serious business, although | have
as 1.-THE as a cat and uses his paws with
surprising rapidity and force. Even in
winter, when snow somewhat hinders his
movements, one needs a cool head and
81 strong arm.
A well-known Norwegian bear hunter,
commenting upon the use of the spear
when bear hunting, either when rousing
a bear from his lair or when in pursuit
of a wounded bear, recommends in the
ldClCl CdoG that liz -E~sA ShOoU
carried that it trail on the ground with
the bottom end and the point held a lit
tie behind ones body. When the bear
rushes at the hunter the latter steps back
one step and the bear spits itself on the
spear, which with it's other end finds sup
port on the ground.
1t is more especially in northern Nor
way that the spear is used at bear hunts,
and such spears are often handed down
from father to son through several gen.
erations, the same spear often having
been the death of many a bear. Its
adroitness and now that both magazine
rifle and revolver are used in bear hunt
ing the use of the spear is less frequent
than formerly. A member of the recent
Danish Literary Greenland expedition
relates how the polar Eskimo hunts the
ice bear with a spear, considering it be-
low the dignity of a bear hunter to use
firearms.