About the middle of July, 1885, word reached me that there was
considerable sign of bear "rooting" on some high mountain plateaus not
many days' travel by pack-train from my ranch. Taking a pack outfit,
including my fur-lined sleeping-bag, a good mountain man, and a lad of
fifteen to take care of camp and the horses, and enough grub for a few
days, we reached the locality, after a hard climb, about noon on the
18th of July. We made camp at about 8500 feet elevation on the head of
one of the forks of Four Bear Creek, having to pack wood up from below
for making coffee.
We struck out after lunch up the gulch, and after going a few miles
discovered a grizzly rooting among the rocks well up to its head, near
the summit of the range, which is here between 10,000 and 11,000 feet
elevation. A reconnaissance indicated that the only chance to approach
him to windward was by crossing the mountain to the right into the
valley of another fork of Four Bear Creek. Accordingly, we climbed over
the mountain divide and were making along its opposite slope, when just
in our front about a mile off, near the head of the gulch on the right,
was discovered another grizzly rooting. It was agreed that I was to have
the shot, and it became necessary to leave my horse and dogs back with
the men. I took it afoot. A little study of the ground showed that in
order to approach him successfully, it was necessary to descend to the
bottom of the gorge on the right, and to ascend along its bed. This I
proceeded to do. Just before reaching the bed of the gorge I was exposed
to view, and was walking fast or running to get the advantage of its
friendly cover. When within about fifty yards of the bottom, and with my
attention directed to the bear about half a mile away, a large grizzly
forced himself on my attention by rising from his bed in the bottom of
the gulch. Walking slowly away, he commenced ascending diagonally the
opposite and steep side of the gorge. The old rascal during the heat of
the day had dug a resting-place in the cool bed of the branch, was
taking his siesta, and evidently resented being disturbed. From the
sullen way in which he made off, occasionally looking back, I felt he
was going to be ugly. Quicker than it takes to write it, I had two
cartridges in my right hand, which, with the one in the rifle, were
thought sufficient, for at that time the size of the beast was not
realized. The cartridge in the rifle was a 110-270-grain express, and
those in the hand 110-270-grain and 110-340-grain respectively, all
express-balls.
While making these preparations, the bear, going diagonally up the side
of the gulch, had disappeared behind a huge conglomerate boulder that
overhung the stream. Seeing he must soon emerge, I dropped on my right
knee and stood ready to fire at the first favorable opportunity. In a
moment he emerged from behind the boulder, walked up a short distance,
stopped and looked back, exposing his left side to rather more than a
quartering shot. Aim was quickly taken for his heart. A report followed,
and the little express-ball did its work well. It broke two ribs, three
or four large fragments entered the heart, and the balance of the
splinters scattered through the lungs. Making but little noise when
hit,--an ugly sigh,--he, as this species of bear almost always does
under like circumstances, tucked his head between his hind legs, and
rolled down into the gulch, using his fore legs for guides. He came up
with a bounce, was on his feet in a moment and making a rush straight
for me. I had loaded in a jiffy with the other 110-270-grain cartridge,
but waited a moment until he commenced ascending my side of the gulch,
hoping with a good shot to roll him back. Crossing rapidly the bed of
the gulch, he was in a moment ascending toward me, and when within about
thirty yards (he was originally about seventy yards at the first fire) I
fired at his front, hitting at the point of the right shoulder,
shattering the socket-joint and that bone half-way to the elbow. He did
not roll back, but was demoralized and sickened, and had not the sand
to come further, but changing his direction to the left about forty-five
degrees, passed within twenty yards of my right front. I was loaded and
ready for another shot as he passed. He appeared so near done for,
however, that I hesitated to fire, wishing to have some practice on him
for my two young dogs Bob and Snip, which had never seen a live bear.
He, however, seemed, after passing, to mend his licks so fast that I
feared he would give trouble in despatching him, so I ran rapidly after
him, he in the mean time having partially disappeared under the bank;
and when within fifteen or twenty yards he turned at bay, facing me.
Before he could charge, if such was his aim, the 110-340-grain cartridge
was delivered into the side of the neck within the collar-bone, making a
fearful wound, and rolling him down into the gulch, where he soon died.
It was only after my man had come up and the bear had been rolled over
that his dimensions and the danger I escaped by the little ball doing
such execution at the socket-joint were realized. Had it struck an inch
and a half to the left, he would have been on me in a few more jumps;
and though another shot would have been given, I think, unless it had
been a paralyzing shot in the brain or spinal column, he could have so
torn and lacerated me as to make death preferable.
I have been in half a dozen scrapes of more or less danger with these
bears, but have never lost my presence of mind until they were dead, and
the danger passed through realized. I have always determined never to
run, but to face them and fire away, believing that the least sign of
fear gives any animal additional courage.
I had an adventure similar to this with, a she-bear that had been
approached within fifty-seven yards. It was a bright moonlight night,
and her cub was squalling in a beaver-trap by her side. A good shot was
delivered over the heart. Three shots were discharged as she rushed
forward, first by myself, then one from Le Corey, who was backing me,
and then another by myself; and when the "racket" was over, the bear was
lying dead twelve yards from us. All these shots were bull's-eyes and
deadly. In this case I could not have run had the spirit moved me, as
from a serious accident I had been on crutches or my back for
twenty-four days, and hobbled up the mountain in this instance with the
help of a crutch and a stick, Le carrying my rifle.
A familiarity with all the breech-actions of the day, together with an
extended experience with the Sharps system, has convinced me that the
latter system, in safety, facility, and rapidity of manipulation, is not
equaled by any. Take the next best, the double-barreled rifle: only two
shots could have been delivered in the two before-described adventures.
I have never had sufficient confidence in any of the repeating rifles to
use them against dangerous game, when so much better could be had. Their
want of power, their facility for getting out of order at the wrong
time, especially when rapidly manipulated, combined with the fact that
their rapidity of fire is very little greater than a system like the
Sharps, are the considerations that have influenced me. In my opinion
there has not yet been invented a repeating apparatus that is equal,
under all circumstances, to the human hands in connection with a good
breech system.
A better idea of these bears can be had from measurements than from
weight. The bear first alluded to was a very large one (one among three
of the largest ever killed by me), and, judging by one killed and
weighed subsequently, he probably weighed 600 pounds, though not fat.
His length, as he would have stood, was 6 feet 10 inches. Measurements
show that he could have stood erect on his hind feet to the height of 8
feet. His head was 18 inches long by 12 inches wide; his hind foot
11-1/2 inches by 6 inches; fore foot, without the toes, 7 by 6 inches.
His forearm, after being skinned, measured 18 inches around; his skull,
which is preserved, 15-7/8 inches by 9 inches. The tusks projected from
the gums 1-5/8 inches.
With the 45-caliber rifle used, I have killed nearly 40 bears--all, with
the exception of this one, with a 340-grain express-ball. This 270-grain
express bullet was a 44-caliber used for several years on deer from a
44-caliber rifle. It did very good work in this instance, but for a
large bear the heavier ball is preferable. The 270-grain ball flies
remarkably true for its weight.
In the process of skinning the bear, it was found that this was not the
first encounter he had had with mankind. In the muscles of the neck, and
of the right fore leg above the elbow and next to the bone, were found
four rifle-balls, and a large fragment of another ball. The wounds had
healed up, and each ball was inclosed in a sac with the appearance of
having been there several years: one 42-caliber 205-grain lead ball lay
in the muscles of the neck, another of same caliber and weight, two
50-caliber 375-grain lead balls, and the large flattened fragment of a
ball were in the muscles of one fore leg next to the bone. The
42-caliber balls I judged were fired from a '66 model, 44-caliber
Winchester, and as all the balls were little battered and did not
shatter the bone, they must have been fired from a rim-fire cartridge;
all the balls were cannelured.
The bear I was after when this one was stumbled on, took to his heels
and disappeared rapidly over the mountain after the second shot. We went
for the first one seen, but the dogs getting the wind of him, and having
a taste of bear's blood, ignominiously "broke" and stirred him up. We
chased him on horseback and afoot for three quarters of a mile, but did
not get near enough to get in an effectual shot. The dogs, that had
never before chased a live bear, could run alongside of him, but did not
take hold. Probably you or I would have done the same thing under the
circumstances.
Haying-time cut short this hunt. A short time afterward one of my
neighbors complained of the depredations of bears among his thoroughbred
cattle, having recently lost two yearlings. I suggested that if he would
furnish the medicine in the shape of a carcass, a repetition of such
business might be stopped. He agreed, and I at once reconnoitered the
locality and selected a point in the valley of a small mountain stream,
where he promptly had the carcass planted. An almost daily inspection
was made of the medicine, but not until the morning of the seventh day
were there any indications of its being disturbed. Promptly on hand at
five o'clock that evening, I was rather incautiously approaching under
cover of a slight rise of ground and the sage-brush, and had gotten
within 150 yards, when a dark object that to my startled imagination
appeared ten feet high, and proportionately broad, appeared to rise out
of the earth. Recognizing the situation at once, I rose up offhand and
pulled, but the firing-pin failed. This had never before happened under
such circumstances, and only half a dozen times in the rifle's history,
for want of attention to the firing-bolt. The bear gave me time to cock
and fire, but as no answering "bawl" came, the shot was evidently a
miss, resulting from my being "put out" by the previous mishap. He was
rapidly followed to the edge of the willow swamp (about 150 yards),
through which the trail passed, where he was seen, evidently unwilling
to forego his evening meal. He quickly sat up, made me out, and at once
disappeared before a shot could be delivered. I gave him up for the
time, very much discouraged at failing to bag such a large grizzly. He
was evidently a boar, and certainly was not much scared, and from his
size and actions I was satisfied he was the one that had stolen my
neighbor's yearlings. The next evening, August 17, I was on hand early;
but, acting on previous experience, took a different position on his
trail a hundred yards from the medicine. The direction of the wind
forced me to take position with my back to the brush from which the bear
would probably appear. This did not suit me. On first arriving on the
ground, a dark object came rapidly down the mountain-side, about one
mile up the valley, through an opening. This evidently was a bear,
though not apparently as large as my friend of the evening before; and I
felt sure he would make his appearance did he not take the alarm. Lying
down, protected by some sage-brush, I waited patiently until the gray
dusk of approaching twilight, but no bear appeared on the scene.
Can you recall your feelings when, as a boy, you passed through a
graveyard at the hour of dusk, thinking, with the poet,
'T is now the very witching time of night,
When churchyards yawn, and hell itself breathes out
Contagion to this world?
With what superstitious dread you looked cautiously around, expecting a
hobgoblin at any moment to rise out of the ground? How every noise--the
crackling of a twig--startled you? So it is with me when watching on the
trail of this bear at such an hour. When occasion requires it, his
movement is as stealthy and noiseless as a cat's. You hear the rolling
of a boulder up the mountain-side in the timber several hundred yards
away. You know it must be done by some large animal, and you suspect a
bear. Presently the same noise, but closer, and your faculties are all
on the _qui vive_, and you are every moment expecting his appearance.
You wait what, to the excited senses, appears a long time. What has
become of him? It was, perhaps, a false alarm, and you are discouraged;
when, presently, there he stands, apparently right on you, and seemingly
risen out of the ground.
So it was on this occasion, as I lay in the open about thirty feet from
the thicket, in a prone position in the grass, clothed in soiled
buckskin, with three cartridges in left hand and finger on trigger,
ready to rise into a sitting position and deliver fire. Hark! the
crackling of brush almost behind me. It is a moment of intense
interest, for I don't know where he will appear. My attention is kept
constantly to the rear and left rear. No more noise. What has become of
him? It is getting very dark, and maybe it was a mistake. Presently,
there! right on me apparently, but really fifty yards to the left rear,
stands a black mass that must be the bear. I rise cautiously to a
sitting position, and as he stands, looking wistfully up toward the old
horse, I pull away at his side. The report is followed by a suppressed
bawl, and he rolls over. I am loaded in a moment and waiting to see if
he regains his feet. He does not, and it is unnecessary to fire. I walk
up to him with finger on trigger at a ready, but the death-rattle is in
his throat, and another shot is unnecessary. He turns out to be a black
bear with a very black coat, and pretty well furred. He is dressed as
quickly as possible, for it is now dark, and quite six miles to
quarters, over a trailless mountain. A walk of half a mile to my horse
Pike, and then as rapid a ride home as circumstances will admit, wind up
the evening's adventures. I am well satisfied, but know I have not yet
gotten the right one, the "calf-killer."
Rush skins and attends to the hide the next morning, and before sundown
I am again on hand. The old horse is fast disappearing, and it is
desirable to lose no time. Position is taken this time a little nearer
the trail. In coming out from the willow-brush it passes for twenty or
thirty yards through a marsh that is screened, to some extent, by
scattering willows on the near side; and my position enables me to see,
through these willows, a portion of the trail over which the bear will
probably come. Late in the afternoon a storm had passed around the
mountain, and a strong and favorable wind was blowing. Lying prone among
the sage-brush, in a position favorable for observation, with everything
at a ready, I wait patiently. Sundown comes; the mountain to the west
casts its shadows around. It becomes quite dusky: so much so that I
experiment as to whether the fore sight can be seen, otherwise a wad of
white paper must be tied over the front sight. This is as yet
unnecessary. It is now the witching time when this bear likes to prowl
around. The senses are all on the strain as they are directed to the
left rear. Just then a dark moving mass flits by between the willows on
the trail, and soon emerges in full view, but again to disappear in a
slight depression passed by the trail. Heavens, what a monster he seems
in the dim twilight! As soon as he disappears I move rapidly and
noiselessly forward to within about fifty yards of the trail he has to
pass, drop on the right knee, and am ready. He does not come to time,
however, and has evidently stopped to listen; doubtless remembering the
first evening's experience, and being in hearing of last evening's
racket. Has he taken the alarm and gone back? When on the point of going
to the left, peering over, and taking a chance shot on the run, his back
appears over the sage-brush and he is moving confidently forward, having
satisfied himself there is no danger. At the first favorable
opportunity, as he passes through the sage-brush, I deliver fire into
his side, a little too high, and he rolls over, but with such a bawl as
to indicate he is dangerous, did he know from what direction came the
shot. He is soon on his feet, going back on his trail, toward the swamp.
Loading quickly, I run forward to intercept him, and find him, after
stumbling along 40 or 50 yards, in a sitting position near the edge of
the marsh, evidently nearly done for, with his back toward me. A
moment's interval was sufficient to place a ball in the back of his
head; he rolls over, and is soon dead. A hasty examination showed him to
be a large bear, and the handsomest and most symmetrically formed I had
ever killed. He was in just the proper flesh for activity and business,
though not quite as large as the big bear killed on the Big Bear Fork of
Four Bear Creek, heretofore described.
Before proceeding to disembowel him, I did what had always been done
under like circumstances--that is, placed the loaded rifle convenient
for instant use. Something whispered this caution, especially now, as it
was a time when another bear might appear on the trail at any moment.
Keeping my eyes as much as possible at the point on the opposite side of
the marsh, where the trail debouched on to it, I had proceeded to rip
the carcass from the throat to the pelvis, and had my hands already
messed up in a mass of liver, paunch, express-balls, etc., etc., when my
attention was drawn to a dark mass at that point, and in a moment my
rifle was in hand ready for the emergency. By the time I was ready to
fire he had discovered something unusual in his front, and had "sat up"
to make me out. Before doing so, aim had been quickly taken at his
brisket, and at the report he had tumbled over, the ball striking the
left side, fragments penetrating the heart. Judging from his boldness in
stumbling on to me, not more than fifteen minutes after my last shot, I
expected that he would show fight, but instead he made back on his trail
as fast as his condition would allow. From previous experience in just
such circumstances, the necessity was at once recognized of a cautious
but vigorous pursuit, if he was to be secured before hiding in the
brush; and without hesitation I plunged through the marsh, half
knee-deep in mud and water, and entered the narrow trail on the opposite
side. Pursuing it rapidly for thirty or forty yards to where it passed
through a little opening, there, within ten steps of me, was a dark
mass, breathing heavily and lying partially behind a small clump of
willows. Putting a telling shot through the center of the mass, he
appeared to wake up, and gave an exhibition of some of the grandest
ground and lofty tumbling, at one time appearing to stand up on his head
and kicking with his hind feet ten feet straight into the air. As he did
not get upon his feet again, another shot was unnecessary, and he soon
settled down and was dead.
This bear was as large from tip to tip as he of the Big Bear Fork, but
not as fat nor as large-bodied; in fact, not as heavy as the one just
killed. Neither of these bears, I think, needed a second shot, and,
undisturbed, would not have gotten on their feet again. A dense thicket
was near, and they might have scrambled into its cover and have been
lost, so another shot was given. At any rate, darkness was at hand by
the time the carcasses were dressed, and a dense fog was settling over
the mountain that had to be crossed. The exhilaration of spirits from
the killing of two such large bears on the same evening--one of them
the bear that I was after--caused me to forget fatigue and fog, and with
a light heart Pike was mounted and the mountain ascended. A thick fog
soon enveloped us, so that nothing could be seen beyond a hundred feet.
Pike and I soon disagreed as to the direction, but I insisted on my way.
After going a half-mile and getting into some rough ground, it was
evident that I was wrong and completely befogged. The rein was then
given to Pike, and he turned squarely to the left, and, having gone 600
yards over some pretty rough ground, he came to the head of the
game-trail leading down the mountain, and which we had several times
traveled. Pike had his way the balance of the ride, and after passing
across the drainage for two miles we got below the fog, and by ten
o'clock we were once more at home.
As an indication of the labor usually undergone in hunting this bear, it
is stated that seventy-five miles were traveled (one half of which was
in the night) before the first shot, and one hundred and five miles
before killing the three. I have since traveled more than a hundred
miles after a special bear and was repaid by only one shot at long
range, and no bear.
The next day Rush and McDevitt skinned and packed in the hides and fat
of the two grizzlies. The weighing apparatus was taken along, and the
"calf-killer" was found to weigh 405 pounds after being dressed sixteen
hours, the other something less. The black bear was not weighed, but it
is presumed he weighed about the average of this species (175 pounds) in
life.
The rifle employed is the same used for several years, a 45-caliber
Sharps, with which I have killed thirty-eight of these bears, of which
number twenty-two were killed with a single shot each, using 110 grains
C. & H. No. 6, and a 340-grain express-ball. As I have before stated,
the rise of its trajectory is 7.01 inches in 200 yards, an average of
about twenty shots through a trajectory range. Previously I had used a
44-caliber Sharps, with a bottle-neck shell holding 100 to 105 grains of
the same powder with which a good many bears had been killed. No
especial ball has been determined on as best for bear and elk and
sheep. With exceptional opportunities for several years past among all
our big game, together with a careful study of the subject, based on a
dissection of wounds made by different combinations of powder and ball,
I think the 2-7/8 45-caliber shell, with 110 grains strong powder and a
340-grain express-ball such as I use, the most destructive charge in all
American rifles for bear, elk, and sheep. A little lighter ball might
answer, perhaps, but I am not sure. The amount of powder would not be
sufficient for a heavier one for best results. The best results not only
depend on the relative proportion of powder and ball, but also on the
diameter and depth of the hole in the point of ball. If the walls around
the hole are too thin, they will break off too soon, or in too fine
pieces. If the walls are too thick, they may not disintegrate until the
ball's velocity has been so much retarded that the particles will not
have velocity to make their own way, but will follow the channel made by
the butt; so that a good many considerations enter into the problem. The
ball in question, shot directly into a bear, elk, sheep, etc., will,
after passing through the skin, break up, usually tearing a hole through
the ribs, even of a fat animal, through which the unclenched hand can be
passed, the fragments scattering in a cone shape, the larger fragments
penetrating to the opposite ribs. In this way the whole momentum of the
ball is expended on the vitals, the heart and lungs. Hit further back it
breaks up into still smaller fragments, making a terrible wound in the
paunch and entrails that none of those animals can long survive. I have
never known it to fail in breaking the large bones of the largest bear
or elk when coming in contact with them.
For deer and antelope my 40-caliber is found sufficient, using 100
grains of strong powder and a particular express-ball of 270 grains. It
makes about a 6-1/2-inch curve in two hundred yards, and the ball flies
very true. I use also in the 45-caliber the 44-caliber ball before
alluded to, using three thicknesses of patch paper. It flies remarkably
true for its weight, and makes a 6.34-inch curve per 200 yards, with 110
grains C. & H. No. 6. I failed to say at the proper place that the
degree of hardness or per cent. of alloy has a great deal to do with the
execution, as well as accuracy of flight, of the express-ball. When of
pure lead they break up too soon. Nor have I ever known a reasonable
degree of accuracy obtained with any lead ball with a comparatively
large charge, beyond 50 or 75 yards. They are knocked out of proper
shape by the time they leave the muzzle. This want of accuracy has been
observed with the best English express-rifles with light leaden balls. I
find in my experience with the balls of my preference (as above) that
from five per cent. for the heavier ball, to eight per cent. for the
lighter, is best.
A 20-bore double-barreled shot-gun, made by Bland & Sons, of London
(chambered for the Kynoch brass shell), for ducks, the several species
of grouse, jack-rabbits, magpies, skunks, etc., completes my battery. I
value the latter very highly for its "executive ability," combined with
a weight of only six pounds.
I have written much in detail, because I think it is the details that
make the account of hunting trips interesting. I hope its perusal may
interest readers as much as the recalling of its incidents has
interested me.
I have made several mentions of Four Bear Creek. The name was given it
for want of a better one by the United States Land Surveyors, who
happened to be in camp on Hell-Roaring River, near the creek's mouth, on
the night in which I killed four bears, the last about 9.30 o'clock at
night.
_W. D. Pickett._