Memories of a Bear Hunter 



of horn on curve, 28^ inches; circumference at 

 base, 1 6 inches; circumference at half its length, 

 15 inches; spread of horns from tip to tip, 21 

 inches. The horns made a few inches more than 

 one turn, and we estimated that he would weigh 

 nearly 400 pounds. 



On the way down the hill to get the horses, 

 Catlin pointed out a groundhog sitting at the root 

 of a tree about thirty yards distant. Being desir- 

 ous to see if he resembled the eastern animal, I 

 shot him. Going to pick him up, I discovered just 

 below me the other wounded ram. He was a 

 three-year-old, with a perfect set of horns, not 

 battered, as in the old one. 



The next day Catlin went to Martin & Myer's 

 ranch and a storm threatened all day. The next 

 day it was raining, turning to snow at night, and 

 on the morning of April 21, ten or twelve inches 

 of snow lay on the ground. It was soft and melt- 

 ing, and ceased about midday. The following 

 day we set out to look for signs along the base of 

 the mountains, and found two bear trails coming 

 down. One of them led to an elk bait, which I 

 determined to watch for the bear, since his tracks 

 showed him to be a large one. Unfortunately, the 

 bait was in the open prairie, without any cover 

 near it. If I watched on the ground near enough 



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