Trail and Camp-Fire 



same time the hunter is obliged to gauge his 

 plans by the intelligence of the most, and not 

 the least, wary. He must, therefore, be always 

 able to inspect his bait, to see whether it has 

 been touched, without leaving a trail which 

 will be crossed by the bear when returning. 



The greatest danger to success, however, is 

 that your game will actually scent you while 

 you are waiting for it. It is not always flat- 

 tering to a gentleman's feelings to observe the 

 rapidity with which a beast, which has only 

 been pleased and attracted by the overpower- 

 ing stench of the carcass beside you, will be 

 put to headlong flight by the faintest whiff of 

 you. But one can count with the utmost 

 positiveness on that result. 



The problem of avoiding this is complicated 

 by two uncertainties — that of the direction 

 from which the bear will come, and that of the 

 direction from which the wind will blow at the 

 time when he comes. So far as possible these 

 two uncertainties must be eliminated before- 

 hand. The first must be carefully studied out 

 from the facts of each case — such as the direc- 

 tion of the nearest dense cover and water, and 

 the general lay of the land. By placing one's 



bait rather high up in a mountainous country 



248 



