June, 1919 
FOREST AND STREAM 
291 
CATCHING A BLACK BEAR 
To the Editor of Forest and Stream : 
N elson, B. C., is located on the 
Kootenay Lake, and backed by what 
they call the “Crusaders” mountains. 
Up to the top of this high-range Billy 
Sturgeon and myself started one early 
fall day, in search of bear. There are 
more bear killed in this district I think, 
than in any other part of this wonder- 
ful British Columbia country. 
We arrived at the top after climbing 
for about four hours, straight up. The 
city of Nelson, which we could now see 
in the distance, looked like a speck. You 
only have to go a few miles distance 
back to get in the wildest country that 
one would care to see. Every year the 
bear come down and raid the neighbor- 
ing ranches for pigs and calves. After 
going back for some miles we found all 
kinds of bear signs and lots of deer 
tracks. The big mule deer are quite 
plentiful here. 
After eating our lunches we started 
back on the top, which we found to be 
quite level. We hadn’t gone more than 
a mile back when we came to a small 
spring. Billy leaned his gun up against 
a tree with mine and we shed our packs 
to get a drink. We were both flat on 
our stomachs when, hearing a crash in 
the underbrush; some fifty yards away, 
we jumped to our feet and saw a small, 
black bear skooting up the mountain 
side. Before we could get to our guns 
the bear was out of sight, and from the 
way he was going he would probably be 
in the next province by nighttime. This 
was the only bear that we saw that day, 
until we were coming back that night. 
When we were about a mile from the out- 
skirts of the town that evening, and 
when we were thinking that our hunt 
was over for the day, we scared up an- 
other small black bear, and this chap 
was anything but wild. He took a casual 
look at us and started towards the town 
on the trot. He seemed so tame that 
we hated to shoot him. “Let’s chase 
him down to Pete Sarvier’s corral,” says 
Billy, so we spread out and kept him 
in front of us. Mr. Bruin would not let 
us get very close to him but kept on 
going towards the town. Soon we came 
to a wire fence that led to Pete’s corral, 
and this he followed till he came to the 
corral. The gate was open and we soon 
had him in and the gate shut. Now the 
fun began. The neighboring ranchers 
came on the run when they heard that 
we had a bear, and brought several 
ropes. We perched on the top of the cor- 
rell and every time Mr. Bear would try 
to climb the fence we would use our 
clubs. Finally one of the men got his 
rope on the bear’s head, but as a bear’s 
neck is so much larger than his head 
he only shook it off with a snarl. The 
bear was now getting very uneasy, and 
would make savage rushes at the sides 
of the fence. Billy now got his rope 
on the bear’s hind foot, and snubbed him 
to one end of the corral. Several of 
the men had to go to his assistance 
as the now infuriated animal was biting 
and clawing at the ropes. We managed 
to get another rope on the bear, which 
was now in an a-v^ul fury, and he soon 
tied himself in a knot. We opened the 
gate and as many men as could get their 
hands on the ropes started to drag him 
out to a shed where we were going to 
keep him till we could get him to town. 
But, when we. got him outside, the bear 
made a supreme effort and shook off one 
of the ropes. This gave him a chance 
to charge the crowd, which scattered in 
all directions. I was standing in front 
of him, and was about to take a picture 
of him with a kodak, when he got loose. 
I snapped the shutter, and made a jump 
for the shed roof only to miss the bear, 
and all I got in the picture was some 
of the crowd. The bear, smelling the 
pigs that were kept in the shed, made a 
dive for it and we had him shut up for 
keeps. Mr. Bruin can now be seen daily 
on his parade around the inside ot a 
twenty-foot pit. The school children 
come often and feed him candy and pea- 
nuts. I had taken several snaps of him 
while he was en route to the corral, but 
only a few of them were any good. 
R. H. Billings, British Columbia. 
FROM SOUTHERN OREGON 
To the Editor of Forest and Stream: 
M y attention has been called to 
your January issue which contains 
an article by John B. Griffin describing 
a bear hunt in southern Oregon in early 
days. There are thousands of people 
here in southern Oregon and northern 
California who can vouch for the truth 
of Mr. Griffin’s stories and testify to 
the fact that his famous bear dog 
“Trailor” possessed almost human intel- 
ligence. 
“Trailer” has long ago gone to his re- 
ward, but his really wonderful achieve- 
ments will be remembered for years to 
come. 
After an interval of some years I had 
the pleasure of meeting Mr. Griffin again 
last fall. Why he is occasionally referred 
to as “old John Griffin” I cannot under- 
stand, for he is still clear of eye and phy- 
sically fit and apparently good for many 
years to come. My summer home is on 
the shore of the Lake of the Woods re- 
ferred to in Mr. Griffin’s article. 
The huckleberries are still plentiful 
there and many bear and deer are killed 
there every season, though, of course. 
they are not so plentiful as in the hunt- 
ing days of John Griffin which he writes 
of. For those who enjoy the outdoor life 
— there is something wrong with the 
man who does not — the mountains, lakes 
and streams of southern Oregon offer 
ideal opportunities. 
The scenery is unsurpassed anywhere. 
We have the purest of water, large game 
and game birds, fish and luscious moun- 
tain huckleberries and wild blackberries 
and an absence of snakes and insect 
pests. Where can one go and beat this 
combination? All this within a four or 
five hours’ automobile ride. In- the days 
of which John Griffin so graphically 
writes he used pack horses to reach the 
hunting groun'^s now accessable to the 
automobile. Within the next few years 
will we make our pilgrimage to these 
same hunting grounds via the airplane? 
Who knows, for the world does move. 
E. V. Carter, Oregon. 
WHO HAS, A^ BULLFROG? 
I WOULD like to get some advice about 
frog raising. Is there any place 
where I could buy big bull frogs for 
breeding purposes? 
It seems that there are so few places 
where one could get information about 
frog raising that I thought I would ask 
you to kindly publish this in your mag- 
azine, as it might elicit a reply from 
some one of your readers who knows the 
frog raising game. 
Mary Szpmanski, 
Blade St., Toledo, O. 
We have received a number of in- 
quiries from Forest and Stream readers 
who are contemplating a canoeing trip 
along the upper reaches of the Connec- 
ticut River, and will appreciate any in- 
formation in regard to the stream from 
those who are acquainted with its. It 
is especially desired to gain information 
in regard to the fishing and camping 
conditions along the river — the number 
and extent of the rapids encounted and 
on any other matter pertinent to the suc- 
cess of such a trip. — [Editors.] 
(several letters are held over) 
The bear, smelling the pigs, made a dive for the shed where they were kept 
