American Big Game in its Haunts 



much interest the great ungainly creature as she 

 kept nibbling the young grass and digging up 

 roots. At times she would seem to be heading 

 in our direction, and then again would turn and 

 slowly feed away. Suddenly something seemed to 

 alarm her, for she made a dash of some fifty yards 

 down the valley, and then, seeming to recover her 

 composure, began to feed again, all the while 

 working nearer and nearer. The bear was now 

 well down in the bottom of the valley, which was 

 at this point covered with alders and intersected by 

 a small stream. There were open patches in the 

 underbrush, and it was my intention to shoot when 

 she passed through one of these, for the ground 

 was covered with over a foot of snow, which would 

 offer a very tempting background. 



While all this was passing quickly through my 

 mind, she suddenly made another bolt down the 

 valley, and, when directly opposite our position, 

 turned at right angles, crossed the brook, and came 

 straight through the alders into the open, not eighty 

 yards away from us. As she made her appearance 

 I could not help being greatly impressed by the 

 massive head and high shoulders on which stood 

 the pronounced tuft of hair. I had most care- 

 fully seen to my sights long before, for I knew how 

 much would probably depend on my first shot. It 



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