Memories of a Bear Hunter 



shot. I crept up to within twenty or twenty-five 

 yards with the rifle ready. Suddenly, without 

 warning, he sprang to the left, made one or two 

 jumps and stopped broadside to me, looking 

 directly at me. This sudden action disconcerted 

 me and I fired so hastily as to miss him, perhaps 

 a fortunate occurrence, for had he been hit, even 

 fatally, he would have rushed directly at me. Still, 

 as I was on the uphill side, I think he could have 

 been managed. 



For an instant after the report of the rifle he 

 stopped, and then bounded off to the crossing of 

 the river about a hundred and fifty yards distant. 

 As he ran, he was given a good shot behind the 

 short ribs, which rolled him over, but he jumped 

 up and soon reached the timber, closely followed 

 by Nip. The dog brought him to bay, and I 

 followed at my best pace. When I reached the 

 river the bear had crossed, followed by the dog, 

 which again brought him to bay in the open 

 timber. By this time, however, it had become so 

 dark in this canon that the bear could not be 

 distinguished so that I could shoot at him. Close 

 to the river on that side was an abrupt bluff, and 

 as the actions of the bear and dog indicated that 

 they were moving to the left, I determined to cross 

 the stream below and endeavor to intercept them. 



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