Ashland tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919, 1916-12-25
A CHRISTMAS BEAR STORY.
Continued from last issue.)
(By John B. Griffin


away over on the Sterling side. |
waited that day until about 2 o'clock
before l started out to hunt him up,
and it was sundown before l got to
where could hear him barking, and
l had to hurry to get there in time
to see the sights before it was too
dark. / made it, however, and found
he was up big pine and had gone
high up, from some cause or other.
The dogs were probably crowding
him pretty close when he struck the
tree, and he wanted to get as far
away from them as possible. / got
around where l could see his head
and took a good rest along side of a
small pine tree, and pulled down a
fine sight, square between the eyes.
At the crack of the gun he came roll
ing out dead as a mackerel. / hur-
ried up and dressed him and got on
my horse and struck out for home,
getting there between 10 and II
o'clock, and it was dark as pitch so
it was not all plain sailing hunting
bears, you see.
The next bear Trailer caught l
found him about o'clock. When l
discovered he was gone / saddled up
my horse and struck out the first
thing in the morning, and it was well
l did, for l rode until 2 O'Clock be-
fore I got to where heard him.
This time / found him away up near
the head of Griffin creek, several
miles from home. When l got to
the tree, sure enough, 1t was bear.
Well, it was only short job to put
him out Of business, as he was only
up a short distance and not very
large tree at that. | shot him in the
head and killed him the first shot,
and he ceme rolling out. When l
came to examine him l found it was
one of the oldest bears I had ever
killed. It's nose and head had turned
perfectly gray and its teeth were all
broken off, and besides that it was
poor, at time of year when it should
have been fat. l let it stay right
there.
One night I woke up about 2
o'clock and heard the dogs. They
were barking furiously, can tell you.
From the sound / could tell they
were west of the house and across
the field, which was about three
quarters of mile wide. l knew
from the way they barked that 1t was
big game, and l could hardly wait
until daylight came; in fact, before
it was light l was up and off. ! had
fifteen shells in the gun, and as l
started off called to my sister and
said, more for joke than anything
else, "If you hear me shoot fifteen
times, bring me some more cart
ridges" l had no more idea of
shooting fifteen times than anything
in the world. Well, l crossed the
field, and when I came to the foot
of the hill. / found they were only
about one-half mile up. There was
a big gulch on my right, and on the
left of the ridge was smaller one.
I kept up this gulch until I got oppo-
site to where they were, and then
turned and bore up towards the tree,
keeping we'll out of sight, as by this
time l ahd them located definitely,
for they were both barking terrificly.
When l got in sight Of the tree the
first thing / saw was a big black
bear, one of the largest l ever saw
or ever killed in my life. The tree
stood in fair, square, open ground,
nearly on top of the ridge, and was
an immense big fir, and he had only
went up a few feet, just enough to
be we'll out of the reach of the dogs.
/ was now within sixty yards, and l
knew positively that if undertook
to get any closer he would see me
and come down, sure as fate. /
studied the matter over a minute or
so and decided to shoot anyhow and
risk fight, as the ground was good.
So l pulled up on him offhand and
pealed away. At the crack of the
gun he reared up and clawed the air
for few seconds and down he came
and the big fight was on, and was
on the steep hillside next to the big
gulch. | realized now that I had
been too hasty and had made bad
shot. I rushed up there as fast as
I could, and they were working him
so fast and furious that he hadn't
made but little headway, and when /
got to where l could see down 1t put
me within twenty-five or thirty steps
of him. They had him going back
wards and forwards and turning so
fast that could not get bead on
a vital part, but I lost no time in
getting the Winchester into action
and commenced to pour the lead into