Hunting the Grisly, 3 21 



It occasionally happens that a cunning old grisly 

 will lie so close that the hunter almost steps on him ; and 

 he then rises suddenly with a loud, coughing growl and 

 strikes down or seizes the man before the latter can fire 

 off his rifle. More rarely a bear which is both vicious 

 and crafty deliberately permits the hunter to approach 

 fairly near to, or perhaps pass by, its hiding-place, and 

 then suddenly charges him with such rapidity that he 

 has barely time for the most hurried shot. The danger 

 in such a case is of course great. 



Ordinarily, however, even in the brush, the bear's 

 object is to slink away, not to fight, and very many are 

 killed even under the most unfavorable circumstances 

 without accident. If an unwounded bear thinks itself un- 

 observed it is not apt to attack ; and in thick cover it is 

 really astonishing to see how one of these large animals 

 can hide, and how closely it will lie when there is danger. 

 About twelve miles below my ranch there are some large 

 river bottoms and creek bottoms covered with a matted 

 mass of cottonwood, box-alders, bullberry bushes, rose- 

 bushes, ash, wild plums, and other bushes. These bot- 

 toms have harbored bears ever since I first saw them ; 

 but though, often in company with a large party, I have 

 repeatedly beaten through them, and though we must at 

 times have been very near indeed to the game, we never 

 so much as heard it run. 



When bears are shot, as they usually must be, in open 

 timber or on the bare mountain, the risk is very much 

 less. Hundreds may thus be killed with comparatively 

 little danger ; yet even under these circumstances they 



