The Elbert County tribune., 1919-07-18
At Sixty-Five He Leads All Uncle
Sans Professional
Trappers.
SAVES sTOckMEN HUGE SUM
In the Last Six Years "OId Ben" Has
Killed 1867 Mountain Lions and 65
Bears, Including severa.
Grizzlies.

Washington, d. C.-Uncle Sam em-
ploys approximately three hundred
professional hunters and trappers to
exterminate predatory animals In the
range country. Among these, the
champion lion hunter is "Old Man Ben
Lilly" who at sixty-five years OF age
still leads all the rest He remains
nctive. as daring and as certain in
drawing a bead" as any OF his asso-
ciates. some OF whom are young enough
to be his grandchildren. Lilly is
giant for work. He is able daily to
tire out two or three sets of dogs In
rounding up some range "varmint."
According to the bureau of biological
survey. under which this externlination
work Is done, Old Man Lilly In the last
six years has killed 1877 mountain lions
and GO bears, including several griz-
zlies. The official account. just issued
concludes: "Mr. Lilly Is unassuming
and disincllncd to talk about his expe-
riences, and on that account no ac-
curate record Is available concerning
his total number of scalps, but It is
very large"
Mr.. Lilly attributes his physical
prcwess and activity to his outdoor
life and to the fact that he never used
tobacco or intoxlcants of any kind. He
furthermore has followed a fixed rule
Of never hunting on Sunday. This rule
has given many wild animals being
pursued new lease of life through
haf al ~ thaI
on the Sabbath. On one occasion,
however. he tracked huge mountain
lion for weeks through three states
and finally cornered him. His hounds
were beaten of and the beast attacked
Lilly. His rifle was knocked from his
hand. Armed only with 4-inch pock-
ct knife, he battled for some time until
one desperate plunge Of this weapon
at the animals heart reached 1t just
as the hunter became so exhausted
that he fell beside the dead lion.
The records assert that Mr.. Lilly
knows the range country so well and
Is SO familiar with the routes. habits
and haunts of the lions that OCCASION
ally he kills three within half an hour.
He knows just where to set traps in
the canyons and coves, while he is able
to pick out the most advantageous
spots to lie In ambush awaiting the
approach of prowling beasts. Born Of
good family enjoying prosperity. Lilly
In his teens responded to the call Of
the wild and became freelance hunt
er. Loaded with 60-pound pack, he
broke his way through the Louisiana
canebrakes in search of game from
bears to wildcats. AS rule, every
time his rifle cracked some animal
dropped. and his fame as sure shot
has spread throughout Louisiana. Tex
us. Arizona, New Mexico and northern
Mexico. He was one of the guides
selected to accompany the late Colonel
Roosevelt in his hunt in Louisiana
which made the Teddy Bear" famous
His circle Of friends among western
ranchcrs Is extensive and appreciative.
saves stockmen Huge Sum.
On the accepted basis that wolf
kills $1,000 worth Of stock year,
bear and mountain lion $500 each, and
that coyote and bobcat each do $50
worth of damage, Lilly has saved the
western stockmen substantial
amount. Altogether these predatory
animal hunters have killed 70.713 such
beasts In the last three years. The
direct saving thereby is estimated at
nearly $5,500,000 a year to the stock
men of the Rocky Mountain section.
The total kill consisted of 60,473 coy
otes, 1904 bobcats, 1S9 wolves, POI
mountain lions and 1877 bears. The
pelts of these animals sold for approx
imately 100000, which was used by