VIII 

 GRIZZLY GOURMETS 



THERE is an old saying that the way to a man's 

 heart is through his stomach. This, in another 

 sense, is equally true of bears; and more grizzly hunters 

 have won their chance to drive their bullets home by study- 

 ing their victim's appetite than by any other method. It 

 follows that some of the easiest hunting grounds in the 

 north-west used to be along the streams where the salmon 

 ran, for the grizzly is a great fisherman. It is true that in 

 the fishing season his pelt is valueless, as at that time of 

 year he has no fur and but very little hair, but the man 

 who has come out to get a grizzly is apt to look upon this 

 circumstance as, indeed, a misfortune, but one to be 

 taken philosophically. 



In the streams tributary to the Clearwater River in 

 Idaho there are two or three runs of salmon. One, of 

 what are locally known as the red, or Columbia River 

 salmon, takes place in the early spring, at the time of high 

 and muddy water. It does not, on this account, attract so 

 much attention from the bears. But later on, between the 

 middle of August and the middle of September, what are 

 known as the dog salmon make their way up all the little 

 streams. At that time the water is clear and low; the 



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