r— 5* ' HUNT ma THEODORE ROOSEVELT , ——————_—__——————— ——— ■ ■ ■ *—' : ■ [Copyright, 1893, by G. P. Putnam's Sons. Published under arrangement with G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York and Londor.. J y"Y out In the late fall or jgfl g early spring, It Is often JJ?! H possible to follow a bear's trail in the snow; having come upon It either bj «3®Vs2o», I chanc# or hard hunting,' or else having fount! where It leads from some carcass on which the beast has been feeding. In the pursuit one must exercise great caution, as at such times the hunter is easily seen a long way off, and game is always especially watchful for any foe that may follow its trail. Once I killed a grisly in this manner. It was early in the fall, but snow lay ( A slight whittle brought him to a stand. on the ground, while the gray weather boded a storm. My camp was in a bleak, wind-swept valley, high among the mountains which form the divide between the head-waters of the Salmon and Clarke's Fork of the Columbia. At dawn I rose and shook myself free of the buffalo robe, coated with hoar frost. The ashes of the fire were life less: in the dim morning the air was bitter cold. I did not linger a moment, but snatched up my rifle, pulled on my fur cap and gloves, and strode off up a side ravine; as I walked 1 ate some inouthfuls of venison, left over from supper. Two hours of toil up the steep moun tain brought me to the top of a spur. The sun bad risen, but was hidden be hind ri. bank of sullen clouds. On the divide I halted, and gazed out over a vast landscape, Inconceivably wild and dismal. For two hours I walked on wards across the ridges and valleys. Then among some scattered spruces, where the snow lay to the depth of half a foot, i suddenly came on the fresh, broad trail of a grisly. The brute was evidently roaming restlessly about in search of a winter den, but willing, in passing, to pick up any food that lay bandy. At once I took the trail, travelling above and to one side, and keeping a sharp look-out ahead. The bear was going across wind, and this made my task easy. I walked rapidly, though cautiously. At last, peering cautiously over a ridge crowned with broken rocks, I saw my quarry, a big, burly bear, with silvered fur. lie had halted on an opeti hlll-slde, and was busily digging up tiie caches of some rock gophers or squirrels. He seemed absorbed in his work, and the sta!!. was easy. Slip ping quietly i nek. Iran towards the end of the spur. and In ten minutes struck a : vine, of which one branch ran past within seventy yards of where the bear was working. Tn this ravine Was a rather lose growth of stunted evergreen. . Hi jxoort cover, al though in one < r two places I had to lie down and raw! through the snow. When I reached the point for which I was aiming, the bear had just finished rooting, and was starting off. A slight whistle brought him to a standstill, and I drew a bead behind his shoulder and low down, resting the rifle across the crooked branch of a dwarf spruce. At the crack lie ran off at speed, mak ing no sound, but the thick spatter of blood splashes, showing clear on the| white snow, betrayed the mortal na-j ture of the wound. For some minutes) I followed the trail; and then, topping a ridge, I saw the dark bulk lying motionless In a snow drift at the foot' of a low rock-wall down which ho had) tumbled. One day while camped near the Bit.-) ter Root Mountains In Montana I found that a bear had been feeding on the! carcass of a moose which lay some five] miles from the little open glade in' which my tent was pitched, and T' made up my mind to try to get a shot 1 at it that afternoon. I stayed in camp! till about three o'clock, lying lazily back on the bed of sweet-smelling ever green boughs, watching the pack p nles as they stood tinder the pines < the edge of the open, stamping no and then, and switching their tails The air was still, the sky a glorious blue; at that hour in the afternoon even the September sun was hot. When the shadows began to length en, I shouldered my rifle and plunged Into the woods. At first my route lay along a mountain side; then for half a mile over a windfall, the dead timber piled about in crazy confusion. After that I went up the bottom of a valley by a little brook, the ground beint carpeted with a sponge of soaked moss. At the head of this brook was a pone covered with water lilies; and a scram ble through a rocky pass took me into a high, wet valley, where the thick growth of spruce was broken by occa sional strips of meadow. In this valley the moose carcass lay, well at the up per end. In moccasined feet 1 trod softly through the soundless woods. Under the (lark branches It was already dusk, and the air had the cool chill of even ing. As I neared the clump where the body lay I walked with redoubled cau tion, watching and listening with strained alertness. Then I beard a twig snap; and my blood leaped, for I knew the bear was at his supper. In another moment 1 saw his shaggy brown form. He was working with all his awkward giant strength, trying ti bury tlie carcass, twisting it to on< side and the other with wotiderfu ease. One he got angry and suddenly gavt it a tremendous cuff with his paw; In his bearing he had something half bit morous, half devilish. I crept up with in forty yards; but for several minutes he would not keep his bead still. Then something attracted his attention in the forest, and he stood motionless looking towards it, broadside to me. with his fore-paws planted on the car cass. This gave me my chance. I drew a very tine bead between his eye and ear, and pulled trigger. lie drop ped like a steer when struck with a pole-axe. If there is a good hiding-place handy it Is better to lie In wait at the car cass. One day on the head-waters of the Madison. I found that a bear was coming to an elk I had shot some days before; and I at once determined to ambush the beast when he came back that evening. The carcass lay in the middle of a valley a quarter of a mile broad. The bottom of this valley was covered by an open forest of tall pines; a thick jungle of smaller ever greens marked where the mountains rose on either hand. There were a number of large rocks scattered here and there, one, of very convenient shape, being only some seventy oi eighty yard., from the carcass. Up this I clambered. It bid me perfectly, and on its top was a carpet of soft pine needles, on which I could lie at my ease. Hour after hour passed by. Everj slight noise made my pulses throb an 1 lay motionless on the rock gazing intently into the gathering gloom. 1 began to fear that it would grow toe dark to shoot before the grisly came. Suddenly and without warning, tin great bear stepped out of the bushes and trod across the pine needles with such swift and silent footsteps that its bulk seemed unreal. It was very can tlous, continually halting to peer around; and once it stood up on its hind legs and looked long down the valley towards the red west. As ii reached the carcass I put a bullet be tween its shoulders. It rolled over, while the woods resounded with its savage roaring. Immediately it strug gled to its feet and staggered off; and fell again to the next shot, squalling and yelling. Twice this was repeated the brute being one of those bears whieh greet every wound with a great outcry, and sometimes seem to lost their feet when hit—although thej will occasionally fight as savagely as their more silent brethren. In tills ease the wounds were mortal, and the bear died before reaching the edge ol the thicket. I spent much ol' the fall of ISSf hunting on the head-waters of th< Salmon and Snake in Idaho and along the Montana boundary line from tin I!ig Hole Basin and the head of tIH Wisdom Itiver to the neighborhood oi Ued Hock Pass and to the north and west of Henry's Lake. During the lasi fortnight my companion was the ole mountain man, named Griffeth oi Gritiin—l cannot tell which, as he was always called either "Hank" oi "Griff." He was a crabbedly honest old fellow, and a very skilful hunter; but he was worn out with age and rheumatism, and his temper had failed even faster than his bodily strength. He showed me a greater variety of game than I had ever seen before in so short a time nor did I ever before or after make so successful a hunt. Isut he was an exceedingly disagreeable companion on account of his surly, j moody ways. I generally had to get i up first, to kindle the fire and make : ready breakfast, and be was very quar- j relsome. Finally, during my absence j from camp one day, while not very fai , from Red Rock ;>ass he found my i CAMERON COUNTY PRESS, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 1908 whiskey-flask, which I kept purely for emergencies, and drank all the con tents. When 1 came back he wan lity in which a doer may bo found; and tile stll! hm:t ,v r Instead of laboriously waikinu along a trail will do far bettor to mew ly follow it until, from Its freshness anil direction, he feels confident that the deer is in some particular space of ground, and then hunt through it, guid lug himself l>.v his knowledge of the deer's habits and by the character o! the land. Tracks are of most use li showing whether deer are plenty 01 scarce, whether they have been in th< place recently or not. Generally, sign* of deer are infinitely more plentlfu than the animals themselves—althougl in regions where tracking Is especialij difficult deer are often jumped with out any sign having been seen at all. Although still-hunting on foot is or the whole the best way to get deer yet there are many places where fron the nature of the land the sport can lx followed quite as well on horseback than which there is 110 more pleasani kind of hunting. The best shot I evei made in my life—a shot into which however, I am afraid the element ol chance entered much more largelj than the element of skill—was made while hunting black-tail 011 horseback We were at that time making quit* a long trip with the wagon, and wen going up the fork of a plains river it Western Montana. As v.e were out of food, those two of our number wh( usually undertook to keep the camj supplied wiili game determined t< make .1 lutnt off back of the river aftei black-tail: for though there were some white-tail in the more densely timbered river botto,. , v.*» had been unable tf get any. ii w: -i arranged that ttaf wagon should goon a few mils, am then halt for the night, as it was a! ready the middle of the afternoor when we started out. The countn resembled in c! iracter other parts ol the cattle plains, but it was absolutelj bare of trees except along the bod ol the river. The rolling hills slopet steeply off into lons valleys and deer ravines. They were sparsely coveret with coarse grass, and also with ai irregular growth of tall sage-brush which In some places gathered intc dense thickets. A beginner woult have thought the country entirely tot barren of cover to hold deer, but t very little experience teaches one thai deer will be found in thickets of suel short and sparse growth that it seems as if they could hide nothing; and what is more, that they will often skulk round in such thickets without being discovered. And a black-tail Is a bold, free animal, liking togo out in comparatively open country, where lie must trust to his own powers, and nol to any concealment, to protect him from danger. Where the hilly country joined tin alluvial river bottom, it broke off shorl into steep bluffs, up which none but :i Western pony coukl have climbed. II is really wonderful to see what places a pony can get over, and the Indiffer ence with which it regards tumbles, 111 getting up from the bottom we went Into a wash-out, and tiieu led our po liies along a clay ledge, from which wc turned off and went straight up a very steep sandy bluff. My companion was ahead; just as h<> turned off the ledge, and as I was right underneath liim, his horse, in plunging to try to get tip the sand bluff, overbalanced itself, and, after standing erect on its hind legs foi a second, came over backward. The second's pause while it stood bolt up right, gave nie time to make a frantic leap out of the way with my pony, which scrambled after me, and we both clung with bands and hoofs to the side of the bank, while the other horse took two as complete somersaults as I ever saw, and landed with a crash at the bottom of Ihe wash-out, l'eet upper most. I thought; it was done for, but not a bit. After a moment or two it struggled to its legs, shook itself, and looked round in rather a shame-faced way, apparently not In the least the worse for the fall. We now got my pony up to the top by vigorous pulling, and then went down for the other, which at tirst strongly objected to making another trial, but, after much coaxing and a good deal of abuse, took a start and went up without trouble. For some time after reaching the top of the bluffs we rode along without seeing anything. When it was possi ble, we kopt one on each side of a creek, avoiding the tops of the ridges, because while on them a horseman can bo seen at a very long distance, and going with particular caution when ever we went round a spur or came up over a crest. The country stretched away like 1111 endless, billowy sea of dull-brown soil and barren sage-brush, the valleys making long parallel fur rows, and every thing having a look of dreary sameness. At length, as wo came out 011 a rounded ridge, three black-tail bucks started up from a lot of sage-brush some two hundred yards away and be low us, and made off down hill. Ii was a very long shot, especially to try running, but. as game seemed scarce and cartridges were plenty, 1 leaped off the horse, and. kneeling, tired. The bullet went low, striking in line at the feet of the hindmost. 1 was very high next time, making a wild shot above and ahead of them, whirh had the ef fect of turning them, a-.d they went off r . md a shoulder of a bluff, being l> t'i'i time down in the valley. II:r - ing plenty of time I elevated the sights (a thing I hardly ever do) to four hun dred yards and waited for their re appearance. Meanwhile they had evi dently gotten over their fright, for pretty soon one walked out from the other side of the bluff, and came to a standstill, broadside toward me. Ho yran too far off for me to see his horns. As I was raising the rifle another step ped out and began to walk towards the first. I thought I might as well have Is much of a targpt as possible to shoot lit, and waited for the second buck to come out farther, which he did im mediately and stood still Just along side of the first. I aimed above his shoulders and pulled the trigger. Over went the two bucks! And when I lushed down to where they lay I found I had pulled a little to one side, and the bullet had broken the backs of both. While my companion was dress ing them I went back and paced off the distance. It was just four hundred anil thirty-one long paces; over four hundred yards. Both were large bucks and very fat, with the velvet hanging in shreds from their antlers, for it was late In August. The day was waning and we had a long ride back to the wagon, each with a buck behind his saddle. When we came back to the river valley It was pitch dark, and It was rather ticklish work for our heav ily laden horses to pick their way down the steep bluffs and over the rapid stream; nor were we sorry when we saw ahead under a bluff the gleam of the camp fire, as it was reflected back from tlie canvas-topped prairie schoon ( His IcrjH hardly xn much ax twitched. er, that for the time being represented home to lis. This was much the best shot I ever made; and it is just such a shot as any one will occasionally make if lie takes a good many chances and tires often at ranges where the odds are greatly againsr his hitting. I suppose | I had fired a dozen times at. animals ! four or live hundred yards off, and i now, by the doctrine of chances, I hap- I pened to hit: but I would have been | very foolish it* I had thought for a | moment that i had learned how to hit at over four hundred yards. 1 have yet to see the hunter who can hit j with any regularity at that distance, when he has to judge it for himself; though I have seen plenty who could make such a long range hit now and then. And I have noticed that such a hunter, in talking over his experi ence. was certain soon to forget the numerous misses he made, and to say, and even to actually think, that his oc casional hits represented his average shooting. One of the finest black-tail bucks 1 ever shot was killed by lying out in a rather unusual place. I was hunting mountain-sheep, in a stretch of very high and broken country, and about mid-day, crept cautiously up to the edge of a great gorge, whose sheer walls went straight down several hun dred feet. Peeping over the brink of the chasm I saw a buck, lying out 011 a ledge so narrow as to barely hold him, right on the face of the cliff wall opposite, some distance below, and about seventy yards diagonally across from me. lie lay with his legs half stretched out, and his head turned so as to give me an exact center-shot at his forehead: the bullet going in be tween his eyes, so that his legs hardly so much as twitched when he received it. It was toilsome and almost dan gerous work climbing out to where he lay; I have never known any other individual, even of this bold and ad venturous species of deer, to take its noonday siesta inn place so barren of all cover and so difficult of access even to the most sure-footed climber. This buck was as fat as a prize sheep, and heavier than any other I have ever killed: while his antlers also were, with two exceptions, the best I ever got. Three men sat down at a restaurant table. "I»ri::g me a very rare steak," said one. "I want, a rare steak, too," said the second man, "but I want it very rare, .lust have the side soared a little, and let the blood run out of it." Then the thjrfd man said. "ltring me'a rare steak from an animal which h - !-ot been Killed, bui just crippled."