May, 1921 
FOREST AND STREAM 
199 
method of getting into a tree of large 
diameter, and devoid of lower limbs, as 
that adopted by Conover. And Steve 
Elkins writes me that he has seen sev- 
eral bears lodge in trees, after having 
been killed, and that he has “had lots 
of trouble getting them out.” The hunt- 
ing story is, indeed, the original old, old 
story. The terrific shock produced by 
a heavy bullet from a modern rifle is 
step in their old tracks when traveling. 
These paths sometimes extend through 
the thickets, from one channel or slough 
to another. These thickets are a dense 
growth of alder and willow, the branch- 
es of which are inclined in every con- 
ceivable direction by the weight of the 
snows and the force of the winds. Pro- 
gress through such jungles is slow, tire- 
some, and noisy, and into such refuges, 
diligently and carefully, but luck seemed 
against me. Tell-tale foot-prints would 
tell me that a bear had passed just 
ahead of me, or just after me. We fol- 
lowed tracks only a few hours old at 
most; again, we found where a bear had 
stepped on the tracks made by us only 
a few hours previously; and yet we 
could not come up to the bear. There 
was sufficient light to shoot by until ten 
o’clock; and, often, we did not return 
to our tent until after that hour. Fre- 
quently, when we went to sleep as late 
as eleven the birds were singing their 
twilight songs. 
There is more of the element of 
chance in hunting the grizzly than in 
hunting any other American big game. 
Other animals have a fixed place of 
abode. The grizzly has none. Moun- 
tain sheep are on the tops of broad, 
rocky mountains from which difficult 
places are accessible to them when there 
is danger; goats are on steep mountain 
sides, or among the cliffs; the moose are 
about the muskegs ; the caribou are 
upon the mossy barrens; but the grizzly 
is first and last a nomad. Sometimes 
high on the mountains, sometimes at the 
lower levels, at other times along the 
streams, in thickets, or in large open 
timber. In fact, he has no abode; he 
is a mere wanderer controlled only by 
the direction of the shifting winds. 
To secure a grizzly is largely a mat- 
ter of good luck. But it is well to bear 
in mind that hard work and eternal vig- 
ilance frequently produce this good luck. 
The majesty of Eagle Crag Mountain 
The home of a trapper on the Clearwater 
shown by the fact that we did not see 
even the slightest movement of the bear 
after the shot, nor did we know that the 
first shot had killed him. 
When Conover surprised the bear the 
usual thing happened; the bear jumped 
onto the tree and climbed high enough 
to enable him to see over the tops of the 
brush and thereby discover the cause of 
his alarm. Well knowing that the bear 
might remain on the tree but a few 
moments, Conover at once jumped onto 
a log, shouting at the bear, and pound- 
ing the log with the axe. Such hostile 
demonstrations caused the bear to con- 
tinue up the tree. His every attempt to 
descend was met with vigorous pound- 
ings of the axe and vociferous shoutings. 
In this way Conover not only treed 
the bear but also kept him treed. The 
bear was fairly outwitted by Conover. 
It is well to remember that unless 
forced to it by close pursuit a black 
bear does not remain long on a tree to 
which he has jumped when startled. 
T HE valley of the Clearwater consists 
of the main channel of the stream, 
of secondary channels, of old beds 
in which there is no water, of sloughs 
containing stagnant water, of open sand 
and boulder bars, of dense thickets, of 
muskegs, and of extensive beaver ponds. 
Along the edges of the sloughs and 
secondary channels are well worn bear 
paths, which these animals use during 
the summer months in quest of the 
spawning salmon that come up from 
the sea. Bear paths are lines of well 
established footprints, for they always 
or to the mountain sides, the bears retire 
during the day; for here they are quite 
safe. Hunting bears means walking 
slowly along the timber fringes that line 
the bars, wading through shallow 
sloughs, crossing the thicket from 
slough to slough, or bar to bar, and ca- 
noeing along the deeper channels and 
sloughs. 
I spent eleven days hunting in this 
manner. Occasionally, there was an en- 
couraging sign, and I continued to hunt 
Although I reached the hunting field 
early, the grizzlies had evidently already 
forsaken the river bars for the inacces- 
sible mountain sides. 
If one watches the salmon creeks 
during the summer and early fall he is 
quite certain of getting a grizzly. A 
bear killed at such time is no hunter’s 
trophy, however; for the skin is not 
worth removing from the carcass. 
British Columbia wisely prohibits the 
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