64 THE BLACK BEAR OF PENNSYLVANIA 



Of course, I'd rather tell it to you than write, for that 

 would' be easier. There are several men around here 

 who had more experience than I had with bears, but 

 I shall humbly send you my story. I have had lots 

 of experience "in following bears, but never had the 

 best of luck in getting many. They always follow or 

 go on the worst places on the mountains ; that is, 

 they go on the rockiest, steepest, brushiest and ugliest 

 places they can find and jump off logs, tops of rocks 

 to fool the dogs or persons following them. 



"My first experience was in the Kahl, or Watergap 

 (about South Central Sugar Valley) when I was 

 single and still in my 'teens. We were hunting foxes 

 and saw the bear and shot him diagonally 'through, 

 breaking three ribs on one side and two on the other, 

 piercing the liver, then the dogs followed. We treed 

 him on nine different trees before we got him. He 

 would jump from the trees or try <to fall on the dogs 

 before we got close enough to shoot with our poor, 

 old-fashioned guns of that time. I had one of the 

 primitive Spencer guns. At one place he jumped 

 about forty feet and we thought that would kill him, 

 but he jumped up and struck the dog and nearly killed 

 him; finally the dog worried him and we got close 

 enough to shoot him in the head. He was a black 

 bear weighing about 250 pound's. I have been several 

 times in dens but never found bears in them. 



"Another bear we got was in the Second Gap below 

 Mc'Call's in White Deer Valley. We got that one 

 while hunting deer and had no trouble, for a good 



