Jan. 6,. 1912.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
7 
Edgar’s Bears 
By FRANK W. BICKNELL 
viewing the ruins. A three-mile walk brought 
us to the bayou, and we found it covered with 
half an inch of ice. Only at the riffles could we 
cast until nearly noon when the sun had thawed 
the western half. From then on we had some 
unique bait-casting. Standing on the west bank 
we cast toward the edge of the ice, and Randle 
was the first to yell. You know the kind of a 
yell I mean; it sounds like nothing else and is 
never employed for any other purpose. Al¬ 
though a quarter of a mile away one may hear 
it and know the other fellow has caught one. 
I am not selfish, and my heart beats faster when 
I hear that yell. I know then that I have a 
chance. My turn came next; a small-mouth ten 
and a half inches long. We alternated until I 
had five and Randle four, the largest fifteen 
inches long. That was enough, but we would 
have caught more had the ice not prevented 
casting during the forenoon. I used a home¬ 
made wooden minnow painted a bright yellow 
with a single hook on each side and one tail 
hook, fastened with a device all my own, wh ch 
is not patented. The water was very clear, and 
when we stood on the bank every movement 
of the fish could be seen from the time it ap¬ 
peared out of the deep blue until it made the 
fatal error of trying to kill a piece of painted 
cedar. All the bass we caught were extremely 
undershot, and as they lay on the dead syca¬ 
more leaves with dorsal fin belligerently erect, 
a moment before receiving the death blow, I was 
forcibly reminded of my bull terrier, Rowdy, 
when his ire was roused. 
I think you will be interested in the wooden 
minnow mentioned. I find it far superior to the 
manufactured article, especially in regard to the 
hooks. Three treble hooks are barbarous and 
admittedly unsportsmanlike, which feature, as a 
concession to those who disagree or do not care, 
we will term the least. Everyone that uses them 
knows they exercise a magnetic influence over 
old logs, limbs and even rocks. Cast one with¬ 
in two' feet of a sunken log and the latter will 
roll from its muddy bed toward the hooks. Re¬ 
duce the hooks to three in all and many times 
one may feel the minnow sliding over obstruc¬ 
tions instead of remaining fast. I have not 
found that the chances for landing the fish are 
reduced. I have found, however, that because 
but one hook is struck, the fish has greater free¬ 
dom of natural movement, and more action is 
had during the fight. A manufactured minnow 
may be converted into a three-in-all. Break off 
two hooks from the treble, leaving the one 
which is soldered, or the one the point of which 
curves directly toward the open eye. Remove 
the screw hook from its metal well and use in¬ 
stead a round or flat head brass screw, putting 
it through the eye of the now single hook and 
screwing it down tight. The screw head will 
force the eye into the well in such manner that 
the shank of the hook will form an acute angle 
with the body of the minnow, presenting itself 
obtrusively to the fish. To reduce to a minimum 
snagging on obstacles under the minnow, rake 
the side hooks slightly upward. Put on the tail 
hook, barb pointing upward, and its shank will 
then glide smoothly over rock or log. I have 
a scheme better -than this for the minnows I 
make myself, and if some manufacturer does 
not provide the article by the time your present 
supply of reconstructed ones are exhausted, I 
shall tell it to you. 
T he hardiness and self-reliance of the Blue 
Ridge Mountain boy were never better 
tried or proved than in the case of Edgar 
Burleson in his first bear fight. Edgar was thir¬ 
teen years old then, son of the most famous 
bear hunter of this region, IMitchell Burleson. 
Everyone for many miles around knows “Mitch,'’ 
and so do the visitors who have followed him 
and his older son," Commodore, as guides on 
successful bear hunts. These Burlesons are spare 
of flesh, built like a race horse, for speed and 
endurance, especially endurance. They succeed 
where others fail, because they are able to fol¬ 
low the hounds on their wild chase after bear, 
up and down mountains, over cliffs and ridges, 
across tangled hollows, through brush, briers 
and down timber at a pace that soon puts all 
but the very hardest-muscled and most deter¬ 
mined hunters out of the game. On such hunts 
the visitor, who can no more keep up with these 
men than he cou’d fly with his arms, is stationed 
on some likely runway where the bear is ex¬ 
pected to pass. They tell a story here about an 
Ohio man who was given a good stand and told 
to stay there till someone came after him, so 
he would not get lost. He was on a rock in the 
sunshine, and after waiting some time, fell 
asleep. Some sound awoke him, and looking 
about he saw five bears across the hollow, not 
150 yards away. Seizing his rifle, he began to 
pump its contents in the direction of the bears, 
and while he hit one of them, as blood on the 
trail showed, the bu’let did not land in the right 
place. “What wouldn’t I give for such a chance 
as that!’’ is the exclamation of every man who 
hears the story. 
These races sometimes last two or three days, 
but here again the Burleson hunt is usually ahead 
of others because they maintain a pack of hounds 
that soon brings Brother Ephraim to close quar¬ 
ters and holds him till the hunters catch up and 
put an end to the fight. Indifferent bear hounds 
EDGAR, UNCLE ADEE, AND THE CUBS. 
