TRACKS AND TRACKING 



If the thicket is not too large the wind-hunting 

 method before described will, no doubt, often 

 give satisfaction ; but as a rule the thickets which 

 the bears make their spring habitat are of too 

 great an extent. The surest and easiest way to 

 get him is to persuade some other fellow to follow 

 the trail while you intercept and shoot the bear 

 when he leaves the thicket. Knowledge of 

 Bruin's cunning then furnishes the means to 

 decide where he will pass, since, as a rule, he will 

 sneak off under the densest cover and try to reach 

 another thicket under shelter of bushes, rocks and 

 the like. Anyone, not altogether a tyro in the 

 woods, can easily decide from the lay of the 

 country where to wait for His Bear ship. When 

 the place is selected, one should be sure that there 

 is an absolutely clear opening at least a couple 

 of feet wide. A bear is bulky and clumsy-look- 

 ing enough, but he is able to pass without offer- 

 ing a chance for a shot at places where another 

 animal could hardly escape an average hunter's 

 lead. I am by no means slow with my trigger 

 finger, but before I learned to appreciate this 

 fact I was chagrined on several occasions by hav- 



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