DEN BEARS.
A phase of hunting that I do not remember ever seeing described in
the H-T-T is of tracking bears to their den and killing them there.
The two seasons that this mode of hunting is resorted to by the
Indians is after the first fall of snow and again in February, March
or April, according to the different locality of the country, when
the snow is soft and the days are mild and spring-like. Some very
knowing trailers will follow up signs even before there is snow on
the ground. They watch out for broken branches, shredded birch bark
or other stuff which the bear has torn down to make his bed.
At times, however, the bear will change his mind, even after
considerable work has been done, and move off to some other ridge of
hills and there begin over again in what he has decided a more
favorable situation. It is a much more dangerous job to tackle a
newly denned bear than in the spring when they are stupid from their
long spell of hibernation. Rarely does a lone hunter undertake to
kill a bear in his den. It requires two persons for safety and
convenience of work.
In hunting out a bear's den a knowledge of what is a likely locality
shortens the work very much. There are dens found in freak and
unlooked for places, but as a general rule there are certain
conditions that go towards their selection and one who knows these,
narrows down his area of hunting very considerably.
The dens are, as a rule, on a high elevation with a southern aspect.
This selection is made, no doubt, with the knowledge given by
instinct that it keeps clear longer in the autumn and opens earlier
with the melting snows of spring. In my long experience I have found
bears three times in very unlikely places. One time, when on a long
trail with dispatches, two Indians and myself jumped, one after the
other, from the trunk of a large fallen pine, with our snow shoes,
fair and square onto a very large bear who had in the fall made his
bed at the lea side of this shelter and allowed the winter snows to
fall and bury him.
It was only three weeks later when we were returning by the same
trail that the leading man of the party, when getting to this spot
and looking for an easy place to clamber up onto the giant trunk
noticed a suspiciously frosted little breathing hole in the snow.
Word was passed back that perhaps there was a bear there. As we had
no firearms in the party not even a pistol, the first thing to do was
to cut good stout hardwood poles about five feet long.
A large place was well tramped down with our snow shoes to insure
good solid footing and when all was ready, with our packs and extra
things out of the way, one of the party was detailed to get up on the
tree trunk and with a strong birch lever insert it near where we
located the bear to be and pry him out, the other two to belabor him
with their poles. The man on the log had such a strong leverage that
his first effort broke the bear clear out of the snow and before he
had time to rouse from his stupor he was dead.
The Indians, who were middle-aged men, thought it a great joke that
we should all have tramped on this bear and three weeks later found
and killed him. The skin, of course, was at its primest state, so we
packed it turn and turn about, to the fort, where each received his
share of its value.
Another time I camped almost on the very shore of a small lake with a
youth for my companion. We were to start a yard of moose in the early
morning on a mountain on the opposite shore. In the morning while I
was cooking breakfast, the youth went a few yards away to cut a pole
to hang our extra provisions on that we were leaving at the camp.
He had hardly left the fireplace when I heard him call me. There I
found him gazing intently at a telltale frosted hole in the snow. We
both came to the same conclusion that it was the breathing hole of
some animal and that animal most likely a bear. We decided not to
disturb him until our moose hunt was over, so quietly withdrew from
the vicinity. I may say to close this incident that two days later,
after killing three moose, we dug out the bear sufficiently to locate
his shoulder and shot him in his den.
Another unlocked for place was when landing at a portage very late in
the fall, was to find a half-sized bear had made his bed simply at
the foot of a stump. There was no snow yet on the ground and he woke
sufficiently to gaze on us with a stupid stare. The next minute he
had his quietus.
I always seem to wander away from my subject. Whether it adds or
detracts from the interest of the article I know not, but I assure
the reader it is unintentional, but these long past incidents and
adventures will crop up in my memory and before I think to pull
myself up they are committed to paper. Well, once again!
The most likely places to find a bear denned up are under a ledge of
rocks, under the roots of a partly fallen tree, under an over-hanging
sand bank, or in a rocky crevice in the mountain side. The hunters,
when they have tracked him to or found his den begin by reading all
the visible signs and lay their plans accordingly. If the bed is some
little distance back from the door or opening, they begin by staking
up the doorway so nearly closed that the bear will have considerable
delay in getting out.
If to stake it is impracticable on account of the formation, they
gather rocks or sections of logs and stuff up most of the opening.
Some venturesome hunters will stand a leg at each side of the opening
with their axe poised ready to brain him while he is endeavoring to
make his exit, the man's companion prodding him out from the rear.
Other hunters (the writer amongst them) prefer to remain with his
rifle ready for business at a few yards from the doorway. This is
safer and more reasonable.
Most bears come out into daylight in a more or less dazed state, but
I have known some with the very first introduction of the pole into
the rear premises to come out with a rush, carrying obstructions and
everything before them. At such times unless a man is pretty nervy he
is apt to get "Bear Fever" and he should not be blamed, for the
situation is trying.
When the bear has taken up his quarters far back in a crevice of the
rocks where a pole from the surface can find no opening to be
introduced, then the plan of smoking him out has to be resorted to.
It is done in this way. The stuff to be used, some birch bark to
ignite it on top of which is placed rotten wood or broken up punk if
procurable, is rammed back a distance into the hole. At the end of
the withdrawn pole a lighted twist of bark is pushed back and the
doorway quickly blocked as nearly tight as possible.
The hunter retires at once to a safe distance with his gun ready for
action and awaits events. He does not, as a rule, have to wait long,
for when that smoke becomes unbearable, Mr. Bear comes out in a hurry
and a pretty mad bear at that. It is not advisable to introduce too
much inflammable substance, for it is apt to spoil the fur when the
bear comes thru the fiery ordeal. Rotten popple is next to punk to
make a pungent and unbearable smoke. When such penetrates the bear's
nostrils he is bound to wake up and his one desire is to get fresh
air immediately.
The tracking of a bear even in pretty deep snow takes time, for
unless he knows some one is after him he circles and zigzags about,
which trail requires attention to under run successfully. However,
once he becomes possessed with the knowledge that he is being
pursued, he makes a pretty straight line away from danger. At such a
time a small cur dog is invaluable, for while he will not attack the
bear, by his yelping and barking he delays his progress and at each
pause of the bear the hunter is gaining ground.
To kill a bear that is already denned the dog is better left at home,
for he will be of no use and you run the risk (if he is plucky) of
his being killed in the den. For all kinds of hunting I have found
the small dog much preferable to the one of large size. A small dog
can readily be put in one's game bag and carried up near the game one
is to start. He is lighter and takes up less room in a canoe, the
bones and scraps of the camp are sufficient for his support, he will
run in and nip at the heels of a moose or deer and get out of the way
and repeat his barking, while a big dog would be getting into trouble
and endangering his life.
I have often carried my hunting dog in my game bag up a mountain and
only slipped him when the moose had jumped his bed. The dog being
fresh he very soon had the moose at a standstill. In hunting bear the
small dog has the discretion to keep out of his reach and be
contented with barking and running him around. Whereas the bigger
dogs are fearless and run in on the quarry generally with fatal
results to themselves, for there is no modern pugilist quicker with
his fists than a bear with his paw, and let the bear get but one good
whack at a dog and that dog is no better thereafter than a dead dog.