X 



COUGAR HUNTING IN SONORA 



BETWEEN four and five o'clock in the after- 

 noon I sighted with the glasses a large brown 

 bear about halfway up the slope. He was under 

 a juniper tree, apparently feeding on the falling 

 berries. At times he rose up on his haunches, 

 pulling the berries down so as to obtain his fav- 

 orite fruit. Marking the spot carefully and the 

 direction of the wind, I pulled off my coat and 

 sweater, as the climb was a long, hard one. Then 

 with all the care I possessed I commenced my 

 stalk, making a long circle so as to steal up wind. 

 I moved on as rapidly as necessary caution per- 

 mitted. In something like a half hour I found 

 myself approaching the tree exactly from the 

 same direction the bear had come, as I could 

 plainly see his tracks and was practically follow- 

 ing in his footprints. Now, expecting the bear 

 to come into view any moment, I doubled my cau- 

 tion and hardly dared to take a long breath, even 



taking the care to cock my rifle some hundred 



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