SOME EARLY EXPERIENCES. 



43 



were and that if we should go closer the bear might break out of 

 trie trap and escape. 



With all my urging I could not get Hill closer so I told him 

 to be sure that he shot the bear in the head and not in the body. 

 I discovered that Hill was very nervous and told him to take all 

 the time necessary to make a sure shot. When the gun cracked 

 I saw a twig fall that the gun had cut off fully three feet above 

 the bear's head. I urged Hill a few yards closer when he tried 

 again with no better results than the first shot. After making 

 the third shot Hill said he guessed that I had better shoot the 

 bear as he thought something had gone wrong with the sights on 

 his gun. It was raining hard so I killed the bear and took the 

 entrails out, set the trap again and left the bear lying on the 

 ground. As it was a small bear we concluded to take the bear to 

 camp whole. 



We hurried on to the next trap which was about a mile 

 farther down the stream. When we got to where the trap was 

 set it was gone, but the way things were torn up we could see 

 that we had a bear this time that was no small one. 



The bear had worked down the stream, first climbing the hill 

 on one side of the stream until it became entangled in a jam of 

 brush or old logs, then back down the hill and up on the other 

 side until it became discouraged, when it would try the other side 

 again. The bear was continuously getting the clog fast under the 

 roots of trees or against old logs when it would gnaw the brush 

 and. tear them out by the roots. It was also noticed where he 

 would rake the bark on the trees in trying to climb them, in hopes 

 of escaping the drag that was following him. The bear would 

 gnaw and tear old logs to pieces whenever the clog became fast 

 against them. 



This was all very interesting and exciting to Hill and he said 

 he would give Benson the laugh when we got to camp. Hill had 

 'made me promise not to tell Benson how he had shot three times 

 at the bear's head and missed it. 



The bear had worked his way down the stream nearly a mile 

 from where the trap was set, when we came upon him and shot 

 him at once. Hill declaring that it was getting too near night and 



