364 BIG GAME SHOOTING 



true ; not that it matters much to the hunter, as anyone will 

 allow who gets his friend to give him 100 or- 150 yards' start 

 and then tries to ' tree ' in time to escape him. The right tree 

 never grows in the right place, and climbing in a hurry sounds 

 easier than it is. It will be found that most men can run 

 100 yards in less time than they can choose their tree and 

 climb it to such a height that their feet are ten feet above the 

 ground. A bear, too, travels faster even than a frightened 

 man on the flat. If you are charged, the best thing you can 

 do is to stand fast and go on shooting ; and if there are two of 

 you, and both of one mind, and not standing too close together, 

 there should not be much danger ; but better than that is to 

 take pains about your first shot : or go close to your bear and 

 shoot him in the head or neck, as the natives do. If you hit 

 him in either of these places, you can kill him at once with 

 an ordinary Winchester (45-90) ; whilst if you are using a 

 Paradox or a big English Express, a shot ranging forward 

 from behind the shoulder or (with a solid bullet) through the 

 shoulder is good enough. 



Don't shoot at a bear above you unless you are sure of 

 killing him ; a wounded beast will almost always come down 

 hill and may take you on the way ; and don't shoot at a bear 

 in the brush as if you were ' browning ' a covey of partridges ; 

 nor follow a wounded bear into thick covert unless you are 

 well insured, about to be married, or at the end of your ordi- 

 nary resources for supporting your family. 



Opinions vary as to the comparative ferocity and vitality of 

 the different species, but perhaps individuals vary at least as 

 much as species. I have known a black bear take a bullet from 

 an English rifle fired by me point blank into her chest at ten 

 paces, and then turn and gallop uphill for 200 yards before 

 dying ; and I have known a two-year-old black bear take 

 three bullets, scattered indiscriminately over his back by my 

 friend's Paradox (i2-bore), and then turn and charge like a 

 hero. He charged the wrong man, though, and got shot in the 

 head for his impudence. 



