3o8 The Wilderness Hunter. 



last with unconquerable ferocity. The short distance at 

 which the bear can be seen through the underbrush, the 

 fury of his charge, and his tenacity of life make it neces- 

 sary for the hunter on such occasions to have steady 

 nerves and a fairly quick and accurate aim. It is always 

 well to have two men in following a wounded bear under 

 such conditions. This is not necessary, however, and a 

 good hunter, rather than lose his quarry, will, under ordi- 

 nary circumstances, follow and attack it no matter how 

 tangled the fastness in which it has sought refuge ; but 

 he must act warily and with the utmost caution and reso- 

 lution, if he wishes to escape a terrible and probably fatal 

 mauling. An experienced hunter is rarely rash, and never 

 heedless ; he will not, when alone, follow a wounded bear 

 into a thicket, if by the exercise of patience, skill, and 

 knowledge of the game's habits he can avoid the neces- 

 sity ; but it is idle to talk of the feat as something which 

 ought in no case to be attempted. While danger ought 

 never to be needlessly incurred, it is yet true that the 

 keenest zest in sport comes from its presence, and from 

 the consequent exercise of the qualities necessary to over- 

 come it. The most thrilling moments of an Amerian 

 hunter's life are those in which, with every sense on the 

 alert, and with nerves strung to the highest point, he is 

 following alone into the heart of its forest fastness the 

 fresh and bloody footprints of an angered grisly ; and no 

 other triumph of American hunting can compare with the 

 victory to be thus gained. 



These big bears will not ordinarily charge from a dis- 

 tance of over a hundred yards ; but there are exceptions 



