Bear Hunting in the Far West

Manawatu Herald, Volume III, 31 January 1890, Page 2

Bear Hunting in the Far West

As Old Guide'i Stob-y Qp „^bv in-

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*' One« oat on the liadga iwrofme to the peak on which lay the snow. It was almdat <rattk*lj j andi. I had to cut place* ii it fenny bndiMAnd feet. With our rifles slung over our backs ire worked slewly up and then along the *id«. ; . Tt* »now wai hard

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nd crusted, and as smooth as glass. They came from every direction anl oompletely down the scent the elk

t could look down the glassy surface below me to where it stopped on the edge of the precipice. I began spitting blood, and once felt faint and thought I should fall, but still we worked on. My knife was too slow, aud I called on Pete, who was just behind me, to pass me forward his hatchet. Inch by inch and foot by foot we worked up, and at last cou'd see around the drift to whore the band of goats were. They wee just where we had seen them before beginning our ascent. Fully two huudrod yard's intervened between me and the nearest goat, and Pete wanted a shot also^ I began making a flat place in the snow on which we could both lie in and fire. It took nearly half an hour of hard work, and I waa mortally afraid every moment that the goats would see us and make off. Two or three times they scented us, and moved about uneasily, as if they knew something was wrong. Had not the young kids refused to come down and stop their gambols, the herd would, surely have stampeded. But the little Icids knew no dangor,and the elder ones stayed bravely with them. " At last our firing shelter was completed, and Pete crawled up Tbesido mo. Lying straight on the snow I singled out a young buck,, and Pete took a doe, just to the left of mine. I was to give the word, and we were to fire together. Trembling almost" with excitement my njtißoels became rigid as iron. Pete was cool and cam, as if only shooting at a tame cow. " Are you ready, Pete ?' I asked. "Yes,' he replied. "Steady! Fire !' I shouted. " The two rifles exploded as one piece and I strained mv eyes to see the result. All; th« herd seemed '-'to st'irr, but at the second leap my buck fell and rolled over and over down the c i f I*. He went clear down qsit of sight, while Pete's doe leaped onward and upward. <! Missed,' said the Mexican, with a look of disgust on his swarthy face? " Never mind Pete, ' I cried, highly elated. 'I g-.t mine, and one will do fo^both. 1 -. " Ye'^ 'eai^ Pfcte, * ' buji yours" is not mine, I missed.' "Who ever heard of two mountain goats being killed on the same day from tho samo band ? ' I asked determined to console the old fellow for his misfortune. " True,' he replied ; • but I should have hit. It was a raie good opportunity to kill one.' " i could hirdly wait to get down I was so so anxious to see my game, and two or throe times Pete called out to me to be careful or I wou'd fall. Slowly we crept down the Peak until we found ourselves where we had started out. 'Ihen we hunted for a place to descend into the canyon, and at last we found one. It was over j an hour befo. ew^ reach e 1 the bottom, and I hastened \o look for n.y game. Wo found him tying on a ledge o?rodfo fc >(nd he was a boauti ful- youtig 'fellow, nearly two years old, His wool wag as whitens snow and he had a fine pair of horns. The tip of one was slight'y broken by the fall ovev theiptkj--, but otherwise he w.\s a* perfect specimen of the rarest game to be found by the sportsman on this green earth. The wool of these goat.-?, us you know, has defied the knowledge of the scientists and nalnrilists for years and cannot bo classified. Itismuch finer than the wool of the Cashmere once thought the finest in (he world. " Taking the fentrals out of my buck, I shouldered him and Pete carried the g»ms. So proud was 1 of my game that he did not feel heavy, though his carcass must have weighed over eighty pounds. It waa long after dark when I reached' the cabin, and great was the rejoicing of old Camp over our .success •in tha day's hnnt. He had supper all ready for us, and after filling ourselves up on deer meat we lit our pipes. " Next day," continued o'd Steene "before we began our hunt we determined to have some fun with the bears. We had seen lots of signs, so we knew the country was full of them Cams; J^te, -and I went ont aud killed n young elk and cut him up into quarters. Then each of us took a quarter and dragged it, "We made a long detour each coming back to the cabin by a different route. AIV tbe trails ended under a big tree near ?he cabin. We piled the quarters up about forty feet from the tree and sprinkled them with honey. Then we made a (rail of lionev from tho ciircaso to th« tree, under a big limb twenty feet abovn our heads Next we bored a hola into the tree five or six inches deep and stuffe-1 it full of honey. F om-the hoi- dowu the ti-eo wo mad; a trail to tho one leading from the elk. Pete climbed in* th« *reo and r»s(eugd the rope fr< the limb about a foot from the tree. Tliftn we got a big stone, weighing thirty or forty pounds, and tied it s"cu;oly to the lower end of the ropo. arranging it so as to hVng just in front of the hole in the tree and in a m^-istiro to cover it This ! n•. v,. ,-, tirod to our ca' in in •»• .•..<„].,, " Pretty soon we hoard the baying of tin coyotes, and we ; mew they had found the trail. v . .. TO- BK.ONTI'X- ,:i).