276 HUNTING SPORTS OF THE WEST. 



really seen; and the hunter, while thus following "the 

 trail," calculates the very sex, weight, and age with 

 certainty. Thus it is that he will neglect or choose a 

 trail ; one because it is poor, and another because it is 

 small, another because it is with cubs, and another be- 

 cause it is fat, identifying the very trail as the bear 

 itself; and herein, perhaps, lies the distinction between 

 the sportsman and the huntsman. The hunter follows 

 his object by his own knowledge and instinct, while the 

 sportsman employs the instinct of domesticated animals 

 to assist his pursuits. 



The different methods to destroy the Grizzly Bear, by 

 those who hunt them, are as numerous as the bears that 

 are killed. They are not animals which permit of a 

 system in hunting them; and it is for this reason they 

 are so dangerous and difficult to destroy. The experi- 

 ence of one hunt may cost a limb or a life in the next 

 one, if used as a criterion ; and fatal, indeed, is the 

 mistake, if it comes to grappling with an animal whose 

 gigantic strength enables him to lift a horse in his huge 

 arms, and bear it away as a prize. There is one terrible 

 exception to this rule ; one habit of the animal may be 

 certainly calculated on, but a daring heart only can take 

 advantage of it. 



The Grizzly Bear, like the tiger and lion, have their 

 caves in which they live ; but they use them principally 

 as a safe lodging-plaee when the cold of winter renders 

 them torpid and disposed to sleep. To these caves they 

 retire late in the fall, and they seldom venture out until 

 the warmth of spring. Sometimes two occupy one cave, 

 but this is not often the case, as the unsociability df the 



