330 
FOREST AND STREAM 
July, 1919 
T he primary object of the entire 
game is to find your fish. By this 
I mean locating where the bass are 
feeding; then approach the place quietly; 
there is really no need of creeping up on 
a bass, as the general run of anglers 
seem to think, as though he were some 
sensitive cowardly person; just ap- 
proach with a little care, no unnecessary 
racket and drop your bait where you 
have seen him feeding or where your 
acquaintance with such matters leads 
you to believe him to be. 
Let the bait come in, if the cast should 
happen to be a good distance out, swim- 
ming about in its natural way, only 
keep up the slack line with the reel; 
then when it has reached the length of 
the rod from where you stand, lift the 
bait gently and very slowly toward the 
surface, to within a few inches, so you 
can see the minnow, see that he is active 
then ease it down and swing in a circuit- 
ous manner about the vicinity. If old 
Mr. Bass happens to be about that part 
of the country and looking for a hand- 
out, its a safe bet that there will be 
trouble brewing for that particular min- 
now. 
When the bass takes a minnow he 
signals the fact by a strong tug or two 
at the line, and swims about with the 
bait, usually in a series of circles. This 
is oftentimes the action of the bait, if 
it should happen to be an extra vigor- 
ous one attempting to escape from the 
menacing black shadow near him. Some- 
times, though, the fish will take the bait 
with a rush and run for a sheltered spot 
to feed. The first mentioned character- 
istic is usually his way of starting the 
battle. After he has played the bait 
in this manner a few seconds the line 
will be noticed to start steadily away — 
then give him a free spool, in fact help 
him along. 
Strip off a quantity of the line and 
feed it to him so that there will be no 
hinderance to jerk the bait from his 
mouth, for remepiber, he has not swal- 
lowed the bait at all ; he only has it 
grasped in his mouth sideways and the 
least opposition to his progress on the 
part of the rod holder will result in dis- 
lodging the minnow from its place in his 
mouth, breaking its back possibly or crip- 
pling it so badly that the bass will have 
nothing more to do with it. Therefore I 
insist that nothing be allowed to retard 
his run; after he has reached some good 
shelter, among a clutter of rocks, under 
logs or brush or an overhanging bank 
the wise old gentleman will stop, turn 
the bait in his mouth and start gorging 
it. At this period which I have just de- 
scribed there are no doubt more bass lost 
than at any other stage of the game. It 
calls for a steady hand and a keen idea 
Bringing him to the net 
of the old battler’s very eccentric habits. 
When he stops to turn the minnow, 
preparatory to gorging it, hold the rod 
perfectly still; anything in the nature 
of a strike will ruin the whole affair. 
At this period take up all the slack 
gently and press the thumb firmly 
against the spool; it will only be a sec- 
ond or so before the kick comes in the 
nature of a couple of sharp jerks. That 
is when he feels the prick of the hook — 
then strike! 
A word or two in regard to the strike 
might not come in amiss here. It does 
not mean an attempt to smash the rod 
tip, this thing of striking a fish. The 
primary motive in striking with the rod 
on a fish is to set the hook firmly into 
him before he has a chance to spew it 
out when he feels the barb. A slight 
turn of the wrist, with the thumb held 
firmly on the spool, is all that is neces- 
sary to hook your fish good and solid. 
Almost without exception every bass that 
gives me the chance to follow out this 
rule is hooked deep in the gullet. 
There are exceptions, of course, to this 
system which I have described. Certain 
localities, especially in the small streams 
where there usually exist a great vari- 
ety of danger zones, will not permit of 
the privileges mentioned. Old log piles 
show their warning outposts beneath the 
surface. Brush and weed strips are 
about and the angler must disregard the 
temptations of giving a wise old bass 
his wishes. 
Under these conditions the entire plan 
must be changed and reformed to meet 
the emergency, and that upon very short 
notice. A firm rod will sometimes turn 
the stunt if the bass happens to be a 
good one and a determined minded sort; 
a firm rod, but remember an unexpected 
or premature shock will dislodge the 
bait. If you work it right, in a case of 
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 368 ) 
AFTER BEAR WITH BOW AND ARROW 
A REVERSION TO THE HUNTING IMPLEMENT OF OLD DAYS, WHEN MEN DREW 
BOWS ON SAVAGE GAME. BRINGS SUCCESS TO VENTURESOME HUNTERS OF TODAY 
K illing a bear with a bow and ar- 
row is a very old sport. It ranks 
in antiquity next to killing one 
w'ilh a club. However, it is not in fash- 
ion at present. We are likely to forget 
that such a thing can be done if some 
one doesn’t do it once in a while and 
tell about it. 
This is a true story. There wouldn’t 
be any fun in lying about it. It seems 
more improbable just to tell the truth. 
The first requisite in bear hunting 
seems to be the bear, and the next is a 
bunch of good bear dogs. So we looked 
up the man who owned the dogs that 
re used to hunt the bear. 
Up in Humboldt County, California, 
nore bears are killed than most people 
know about, and Tom Murphy does a 
good part of the killing. He got his 
first bear when he was fourteen years 
old, and he has shot from eight to 
By SAXTON POPE 
eighteen bear every winter for the past 
thirty years. Tom has the finest pack 
of bear hounds in this neck of the 
woods. They have been in the family 
for years and never hunt anything but 
panther and bears. At present there 
are five dogs in the pack. With one ex- 
ception, they are fox hounds with a 
touch of bloodhound. They came orig- 
inally from the State of Kentucky, and 
they are about the most intelligent dogs 
that I ever saw. When these dogs strike 
a cold track of a bear, they dance about 
and yelp in a most bewitching manner. 
When they hit a hot track, on the run, 
you can hear their music for miles. 
Just to hear them bay rouses up some 
pretty old and powerful thrills in a 
hunter’s breast, and when the bear 
comes crashing through the brush down 
the canyon, breathing like a quarter 
horse, with the dogs in running, it sure- 
ly is a great and glorious sight to behold. 
Bruin is the king of the forest and 
does not get out of the way of any beast, 
but he greatly fears a dog. The great 
majority of the bears killed in this 
country are treed by dogs before they 
are shot. Murphy thinks he has killed 
over three hundred bears, and he only 
got three of these without dogs. Very 
few other hunters in these parts ever 
see a bear, much less kill one. If you 
have not got dogs, you get no bears. 
A rthur young and I have been 
shooting the long bow for the past 
four years, and have killed every 
sort of game from ground squirrels up 
to deer, and now we thought we would 
like to try our hand on bears. Murphy 
was taken with the idea, but was a little 
skeptical. The wise old boys around the 
ranch laughed and joshed us. They had 
