Feb. 10, 1887.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



47 



When one does turn upon the hunter some effective work 

 on the defensive is to be done, and done quickly, or the 

 bear will prove victor, wounding his pursuer if indeed not 

 killing him, though the latter result is very rare. 



A short time ago Mr. Lilly was compelled to show his 

 back to bruin and pick lip his heels in no absurd haste. 

 The animal was a tremendous one and in a previous fight 

 had killed one of his most valuable dogs. This probably 

 led the hunter to be a shade rash in venturing too close. 

 Eleven .44 Winchester balls had been fired in rapid suc- 

 cession, when the bear turned furiously upon his antago- 

 nist. At this juncture the magazine of the rifle became 

 empty, and the knife was resorted to. This was a large 

 and heavy implement, weighing 2 or 81bs. A lick with 

 this cut an ugly gash diagonally across the nose of the 

 bear, which howled with pain. L.'s activity and swift- 

 ness in pursuit of a bear is somet hing of a marvel to those 

 who have seen him in tbe chase on foot, but bis powers 

 as a runner had not been taxed to their utmost until he 

 was put to retreat. At this time he admits having exe- 

 cuted some movements cntirelv superior to all former 

 efforts. The rifle, the faithful rifle, that had never failed 

 him before, was empty; the knife had only served to ag- 

 gravate the beast and make him more furious; and any- 

 way its use required a contest at entirely too close quar- 

 ters. In L.'s mind there was no question as to what should 

 be done. It was night, and nothing but flight. 



The pursuit for a short distance was so hot that L. 

 sprang behind the first large tree he covdd reach, but by 

 this time the wounds of the bear had so weakened him 

 that when the trco had been reached, he reeled and 

 started off in another direction. L. promptly reloaded 

 from his pocket this time and gave the animal a ball that 

 killed him. L. was alone on this hunt, and it is conceded 

 by lumselt' as well as Ma jor Hamberlin, to whom he gave 

 a 'graphic account of the affair, that had the contest taken 

 place in the cane, or a dense thicket, as is usual, instead 

 of ia a tolerably open place, the bear would have killed 

 him without giving him sufficient time for even a brief 

 prayer. 



It was with no little pleasure that some three weeks 

 ago, during the holidays, on going to Major H.'s on busi- 

 ness, I found that a big bear hunt had been planned, and 

 I was invited to join the party. Coon Bayou was said to 

 be fairly alive with bears, and we were dead certain to 

 get one up early in the day. An early start was to be had, 

 and all necessary preparations were made in advance. 

 As the locality was one of dense undergrowth, tangled 

 and tied together with many varieties of vines, the pur- 

 suit of game was very difficult, and the chances of secur- 

 ing it depended largely on the number of hunters, so quite 

 a number had been invited, and it was expected that 

 bruin would be worried somewhat on the morrow. As 

 this was to be my first hunt for bear, I was much inter 

 ested in everything pertaining to it. It was suggested by 

 the Major that I was as likely to kill a bear as any one oJ 

 the party, owing to the denscness of the thickets prevent- 

 ing the experienced hunters from riding fast. I was nol 

 altogether certain that I wanted to kill a bear, though I 

 was fullv resolved to go into the woods and see whether 

 the spirit moved me to do so. About then I thought 61 

 my legal friend Miller, of Princeton, Ind., who some 

 years ago was a guest of a couple of natives in Arkansas, 

 who took him out on a bear hunt. The bear being put up 

 was vigorously chased by the dogs, and finally brought to 

 bay in a dense cane brake. The hunters galloped through 

 the open swamp to the edge of the cane and dismounted. 

 There was considerable racket going on not very far in the 

 brake. One of the natives proposed to hold the horses, 

 but Miller promply and emphatically said he would hold 

 the horses, and he did hold them, much to amusement of 

 the Arkansas gentlemen, who had organized the hunt for 

 Miller's especial benefit. 



C. O. Willis, of Vicksburg, was expected up on the 

 night train. Foote, Sheriff of Sharkey county and one of 

 the finest shots in the State, was to be down from Rolling 

 Fork on the early morning train. Mr. Smith, a good bear 

 hunter, of Mayersvillc, would be with Foote, and Lilly- 

 would be there. Well, WiUis failed to put in an appear- 

 ance. About 3 o'clock in the night, every one at Major 

 H.'s was awakened by the blowing of horns and the yelp- 

 ing of dogs. This commotion was created by the colored 

 servants of Foote and Smith, who had brought ^heir 

 "bosses' " dogs and horses. Breakfast was had early, and 

 not long thereafter Major H., myself and the two servants 

 were in line riding over to the railroad station of Onward, 

 about a mile away. Here I made my first fizzle as a bear 

 hunter, A horn had been given me, and my efforts to 

 blow it were practically failures, creating some merri- 

 ment at my expense. At the station I got rid of the horn 

 by giving it to Smith, who weighs 2751bs., and can blow 

 a 'hoi*n that can be heard all over Sharkey county. Swift, 

 the storekeeper at the station, also joined us. He was a 

 tenderfoot along with me. Lilly had not yet shown him- 

 self, but it was predicted that when the dogs opened he 

 would be soon heard from, and this proved to be the case. 

 We fiied off from the station, an interesting spectacle. 

 First Major H., next Smith, then Foote, Swift, the Scribe, 

 first darky, second darky, and scattered about on the 

 sides, front and rear, the fourteen dogs. Horns were 

 blown, dogs yelped, the hunters talked and laughed, and 

 even the steeds seemed to partake of the animation of the 

 party. 



We rode out of the field, down into the clearing and 

 beyond into the woods. A wagon road served us a while, 

 then a path and finally we took to the brush and vines, 

 leading a devious route in a general easterly direction. 

 It took no little dodging and winding about to get to Coon 

 Bayou. A few shins were scraped, hats knocked off and 

 faces and hands scratched, but when we reached the 

 bayou the party was in fair shape. Here a brief council 

 wag held. The Major was to remain on the southwest of 

 the bayou with the dogs, Foote, Smith and one servant 

 would cross, while Swift and I concluded to dismount 

 and take our chances along the bank of the bayou on foot, 

 leaving our horses with colored boy No. 2. 



In crossing the bayou we found it a little boggy. Foote 

 and even Smith got over comfortably on their horses, but 

 the black boy who was riding a mule bogged. This ne- 

 cessitated a dismount and a slight wetting, which, how- 

 ever, was not considered to amount to anything on a bear 

 hunt. 



It was not long— perhaps twenty minutes — after Major 

 H. had disappeared among the vines, when the energetic 

 yelps of the hounds told that a warm trail had been 

 cented. A pack came to the bayou about 300yds, above 



and crossed. They went off in a northeast direction and 

 soon gave tongue with so much animation that even an 

 amateur was satisfied that bruin had been aroused. An- 

 other pack led off southeast, but with much less spirit. 

 After listening to the dogs a while it was a plain case to 

 Swift and me that there was no blood for us before either 

 of the packs; so I walked down a hundred yards or so to 

 where he stood to condole with him. Just previous to 

 this Lilly had hastily ridden up, taking in the situation 

 and spurring his pony in hot haste across the bayou, 

 taken out after the northeastern bear. The vines were 

 seen to open up across the bayou and let him hi, then to 

 close up and shut him out from view, and that was the 

 last seen of Mm for several hours. Swift and I were not 

 in for blood, as I have said, but it was because the bear 

 had dodged us. We were there to do our part and could 

 have clone it had he only shown up. 



Not long after Major H. rode up, dismounted and sat 

 down by us. He corroborated our theory that two bears 

 were up, a northeaster and a southeaster. The south- 

 easter had "lit out" for foreign parts; the northeaster he 

 thought might be brought to bag. Was not Foote over 

 there? Was not Smith the vinebreaker over there ? had 

 not Lilly, with blood in his eye, gone there, and was not 

 Foote's servant over there with his gun loaded to the 

 muzzle? And shots had been heard in that quarter, 

 though they might have been made by others. But 

 hark! what Is that? Listen! We listened. We continued 

 to listen. We listened for ten minutes. A baying could 

 be distinctly heard in the distance, continuing apparently 

 in the same place. The Scribe draws a compass and 

 locates the sound a little east of north. " That dog (call- 

 ing his name) has a bear,'' says Major H. Swift proposes 

 to the writer to go to it. "How far is it?" "About 1$ 

 miles." says Major H. Being that distance the writer 

 sanctions the journey. Swift and he proceed down the 

 bayou 150yds. to a log where they cross, leaving Major 

 H. sitting'on the bank. Here they made what they con- 

 ceive to have been a narrow escape. Ten minutes after 

 they crossed over a large bear is seen by the Major to 

 cross on the same log in an opposite direction. Just to 

 think of the bear having been ten minutes earlier or us 

 ten minutes later! The bayou is not very wide, but there 

 is plenty of open space about there for quite a little 

 scone. As in the case of McPherson and Blencrhasset, 

 who was entitled to the right of way? By Blixen! some- 

 body would have had to take to the water, and it was a 

 cold day too, or there might have been more than a scene, 

 possibly a catastrophe. The Scribe is really glad he is 

 here to write this letter to dear old Forest and Siream. 



Well, the twain proceed toward the If mile distant 

 bear. Swift (who is not swift) gets tired and wants to 

 rest. The writer consents. They rest. They go on , and 

 soon, very soon, Swift gets tired again. They rest again. 

 They proceed and rest again. Swift is great on resting, 

 and his companion is clever and waits for him — under 

 protest. They journey on, and the notes of the dog are 

 much more distinct and stdl in the same place, a little 

 east of north. Swift thinks that is fine music and wants 

 to listen to it a while; and they listen. S. suggests that 

 probably it is a turkey treed. The journey is resumed 

 with vigor. A dog that is with them leaves and joins 

 the other dog. The barking is something furious and 

 "tolerable" close. Too much rumpus for a -turkey. Swift 

 is very tired, and proposes that the writer go on to 

 encourage the dogs and wait for him, and give liim the 

 first shot. Writer is willing to give S. first shot, but 

 would like to have S. hurry up and take it, but S. sinks 

 down on a log to rest. The Writer progresses, but the 

 vines prevent rapid progress. It can't be more than t>0 or 

 75yds. away now. Jupiter ! those dogs are cutting up 

 furiously. Wonder which one of those two thickets they 

 are in? ' Guess it's the nearest one. Let's study a minute 

 to see how the bear ought to be shot. Yes. Just behind 

 the fore shoulder, a little below the middle. That'll fix 

 him. Hope he can be got at on the side. Hard to kill a 

 bear from the front. "Swift; oh, Swift !" No answer. 

 Bang. Ten seconds, during which only the dogs are 

 heard. Bang and crash. Swift yells to the writer 

 whether he heard him fall. The intervening space of 

 GOyds. is rushed over by the H mile trampers and a third 

 party opens up to view. It is Foote with an expression 

 of satisfaction on his face. He has killed the bear. Swift 

 and the writer are much put out. Had they had any idea 

 that Foote Avas in that part of the woods the bear would 

 have been killed a quarter of an hour ago. The writer 

 especialiy regrets now that he dilly-dalleyed resting and 

 waiting with S. S. be hanged ! 



Thx-ee long, resonant notes are blown by F. After a bit 

 they are repeated. It is the call to the other hunters that 

 the game is killed. F. blovs a horn splendidly. Guess 

 he feels good any way. He blows again and again. In 

 fifteen or twenty minutes Smith and the negro ride up. 

 Foote and Smith proceed to abuse each other about another 

 bear, the first one put up by the dogs — a very large one. 

 Foote was expecting every moment a more favorable 

 opportunity, had even raised his gun to shoot when Smith, 

 corning up on the side, bad turned the animal. Smith 

 was also maneuvering for a shot, had a good chance, but 

 thought to get a better when Foote turned the animal. 

 This led Smith to some hasty movements for a shot, when 

 his spm, catching on some vines, threw him backward on 

 a log in such a way that he could not quickly get up. 

 About the same time the negro had taken a shot through 

 the vines at a distance from the bear of about twenty-five 

 feet. The bear turned again, came close to Smith, still 

 tied up, took a good scare at him and lumbered off in 

 great haste, leaving the trio in possession of an empty 

 swamp. It was certainly a ridiculous figure Smith had 

 just cut with his 2751bs. of corpulency tied up in the vines, 

 flat on his back, while a huge bear cavortedT around with 

 six or seven dogs in full play. Such a moment as that 

 for triumphant work comes to most sportsmen never at 

 all. It was a moment of supreme excitement even to this 

 experienced hunter, who enjoys the enviable reputation 

 of having killed his bear in many a close contest. But he 

 was decidedly beaten this time and there Avas no help for 

 it. As a retribution he desired that Foote give him a 

 good kicking, saying the punishment Avould really feel 

 good to him. 



As the two men talked of the failure to stop this bear, 

 it occurred to a man up a tree that some awkward work 

 had been done. It seems that Lilly's system should have 

 been adopted on this bear, viz. , to fill him up with lead. 

 No matter which part is presented it is rapidly stuffed 

 with a repeater. No better opportunity is waited for, and 

 all opportunities made the best of. Swift and the Scribe 



ought to have been there; they would havo fixed him in 

 hot haste and put these cool-headed hunters to shame. 



This ended the hunt. The party in at tbe death of the 

 little bear (for it was a small one) determined to get out 

 of the woods. An attempt was made to load the bear on 

 the servant's mule, but an emphatic objection was made 

 by hia muleship in the shape of a vigorous and promiscu- 

 ous kick at the entire party, missing all but the luckless 

 negro who was holding the biitlle in imagined security 

 at his head. Just how the negro was hit is not knoAvn. 

 It was a feat ©f no little dexterity for even a mule, and is 

 supposed to have been the result of an old grudge. At 

 all events the mule did not want to carry that bear and 

 he didn't carry it. The negro had thrown down the reins 

 when the mule took to his heels remarkably fast for that 

 vine-tangled region, with his head toward his home at 

 Rolling Fork, tAvelve or fifteen miles distant, and he was 

 not seen nor heard fTorn during that nor the next day. 

 Tire bear was securely tied behind the saddle of Mr. 

 Smith's horse, which seemed familiar with the proceed- 

 ing. The negro, of course, had to walk back to Major 

 H.'s, who, along with Smith and Foote, took the most 

 direct route, while Swift and the writer took, as they 

 thought, the nearest way to Coon Bayou, where they had 

 crossed, but they missed the direction a few degrees, 

 passed to the east of a big bend in the bayou and went 

 fully two miles out of the Avay. S. continued to complain 

 of fatigue, but got along much faster than he had done in 

 going over to the bear. The bayou was reached a long 

 way below the horses, but the journey back was enlivened 

 by the notes of a horn up the bayou which continued at 

 intervals to send forth its blasts. It proved to be blown 

 by Lilly, who had gone to our riding animals and Availed 

 for us to show us the way out of the woods. 



The party were all in at Major H.'s by dusk. In com- 

 paring notes it was ascertained that four bears had been 

 put up during the day, three of them having been seen. 

 Lilly had given chase to the one Foote, Smith and the 

 negro had scrambled after, but being behind had failed 

 to overtake it. A shot, yelling, and the silencing of the 

 dogs told him that the bear had been killed not far ahead, 

 but thinking that some of our party had done the work, 

 he turned to give chase to another bear that Avas up. It 

 Avas not until the party had collected that it was ascer- 

 tained that an outsider hearing the dogs had gone to them 

 and killed the game before Lilly had come up; and it was 

 too late then to get in a claim for the meat. In cases of 

 this kind it is customary for the party doing the killing 

 to promptly notify the party owning the dogs by blowing 

 the horn or otherwise, Avhen the game is usually divided 

 among all parties concerned. 



The error that had been made during the day, as 

 brought out by the conversation at night, was mainly in 

 permitting the dogs to be divided, there not being a suffi- 

 cient number of dogs with either of the large bears to 

 stop him. One clog only had been hurt during the chase; 

 a bear had cut a gash two or three inches long on one 

 hip. 



The meat was divided, and the skin falling to Foote, 

 Avho had done the killing, was given to Swift for his 

 valor in his magnificent effort to be on hand to do the 

 killing himself. It was a fitting reward richly earned. 



It Avas not the least interesting of this chase to sit over 

 a Avarm country fire of blazing logs and listen to a re- 

 hearsal of the day's events, Avhich dogs were after this 

 bear and which after that, which had shown courage, and 

 which had gone off on a trivial trail of coon or possum ; 

 hoAv a certain bear might have been secured; ho\v the 

 party should be placed at the next hunt, etc. The ludi- 

 crous situation of Smith Avas not a little laughed over, 

 especially by Foote, Avho appeared to be getting even with 

 Smith in settlement of some old score, such as having 

 on a former hunt shot a bear in the foot, or something of 

 the kind. 



I shall long remember this hunt as a pleasant affair, 

 though I shall continue to regret that I stopped so often 

 to rest Mr. Swift. I might as well have drawn blood on 

 that little bear as not, and Foote being an old hunter 

 would not have missed it from his score. If the Major 

 and Mr. Lilly propose to continue to slay bear in that 

 region, I shall try and happen in on them on business 

 again some time, just when they have organized for a big 

 hunt. They are both men who are companionable to the 

 fullest extent, in the woods as Avell as out of them. To 

 any man fond of hunting it is Avorth a long journey to 

 spend a day with them after game. W. L. P. 



Vicksburg, Miss. 



An Old Trick. — A correspondent sends this note of 

 how a tenderfoot was tricked "sniping" game, Avhichhas 

 been repeated seA-eral thousand times since the world 

 began. Bunco steerers find ready Auctims in city streets 

 and the "bag game" of the woods will never cease from 

 lack of verdant material to work it on : "Five of us were 

 camping in the Adirondacks. L. was green. F. asked 

 him if he would like to go out Avith him and trap a feAv 

 partridges. They set out Avith a pack basket, blanket 

 and some corn meal. F. placed the basket with its mouth 

 alcng the ground and sprinkled the ground near by with 

 the meal, and told L. to get behind the basket. F. then 

 placed the basket OA r er both, so as to completely cover every- 

 thing, but the mouth of the basket, and giving L. instruc- 

 tions to keep quiet, and in case a partridge should walk 

 in, to throw the blanket over the mouth, left him to the 

 gnats, and started to beat the bush, being careful to beat 

 in the direction of camp. There he told the others about 

 it, and we all had a good laugh. L., poor fellow, Avaited 

 under the blanket for nearly half an hour, when F. re- 

 turned, saying he could not scare up any game, and 

 asked the 'basket man' if be had heard any. L. was 

 pretty sure that he had, for he heard a sort of quick step 

 and a cluck, but none had come near enough to catch." 



Hammond, 111., Jan. 20, 1887. 



Z7. S. Cartridge Co., Lowell, Mass.: 



Dear Sirs— To-day I made a test of shells and settled in my 

 mind a long disputed fact in regard to the amount of times the 

 U. S. shells could be reloaded. I took five shells from a box of 100, 

 and shot them as fast as I could get them reloaded. The following 

 is the result: First shell, 9 times; second, 1 1 times; third, 10 times; 

 fourth, 13 times; fifth, 9 times. I could have loaded and fired some 

 of them again, hut the above result settled the questiou of their 

 reloading qualities in my mind. I am sure all hunters and shoot- 

 ers ought to know of the good qualities of this shell, and I give 

 you liberty to publish this, and will further say I am not in any 

 way interested in any shell company, and give this letter for the 

 benefit of all sportsmen. I am sure we are all seeking for the best, 

 and if I can assist any one to find the best I will gladly do so, and 

 this is my reason for sending your company this letter. Wishing 

 you every success, I am, yours truly, 



*** (Signed;, L. S, Carter, 



