BEAR STORIES 95 



end of my paddle dropped from the bar to the 

 bottom of the canoe. The bear gave a start and 

 got on all fours, looking at us. Just at that mo- 

 ment I fired one shot, and as he started on the 

 run up the incline I let go the other barrel. He 

 was not surprised enough to drop off the ]og, but 

 the view of the manner in which he crashed into 

 the woods was something to remember. Had this 

 been in the kodak days the opportunity for a fine 

 shot could not have been better. 



I suppose most of my readers have heard of 

 bears, " playing possum" shamming death, 

 when fired upon or wounded. This was some- 

 thing I found very hard to believe, probably be- 

 cause I had never given one much of a chance to 

 sham. I know, however, of two cases, where ap- 

 parently they did so act. The first occurred near 

 Mingan. A half-breed named Bellefleur was out 

 after a large bear that had been seen in the 

 berry patches in the direction of Long Point. He 

 was accompanied by his son, a boy of fourteen. 

 After watching for some time they saw the bear 

 feeding, and creeping up into the shelter of 

 the bush, they both got within easy range. Belle- 

 fleur, sr., fired his shot and the bear dropped. 

 Carefully re-loading his gun he went up to the 

 animal and poked it in the body to make sure it 

 was really dead. The bear did not move. The 

 hunter laid down his gun and pulled out his 

 sheath knife to gut and bleed him. Just as he 





