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Bear Traits 



necessity of care in the choice of position, for 

 other reasons than the shyness of the bears. 

 It is not a pleasant hunt for me to recall, for 

 it contained the best and most misused oppor- 

 tunity I ever had. 



I was camping in northwestern Montana, 

 in a country whose magnificent mountains and 

 glaciers had for three years caused me to dis- 

 card bear-hunting for the superior pleasures of 

 mountaineering. My wife and I were alone, 

 except for our man Fox and his eighteen-year- 

 old boy. Toward the end of our trip an 

 Indian friend, who had joined us for a few 

 days' visit, rather unnecessarily killed a fine 

 old mountain goat. The meat was, of course, 

 rank and uneatable, and as we had seen bear 

 signs five or six miles down the valley, at the 

 head of which we were camped, in order not 

 to waste it, I asked Fox to pack the carcass 

 down there, and arrange a bear bait. He had 

 never hunted bears with bait, but I explained 

 to him the method I have just described, and 

 asked him if possible to arrange the bait so as 

 to conform to it. He was gone all day, and 

 on his return in the evening said that he had 

 found a place where he was certain the bait 

 would be visited, but that he was not quite 



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