WATCHING A BEAR BAIT
"Hello, Hugh," said Jack, as they walked up to the lodge; "we found
the moose."
"Well, you've done pretty well," said Hugh. "I thought maybe he'd
go so far, even if you'd hurt him bad, that you wouldn't find him
at all."
"No," said Jack, "we found him easily enough. He didn't go very far
beyond where I had to leave the trail last night. But it is just as
you said; the meat is spoiled; he's no good to eat.
"His horns are not very big, but Joe suggested that we should come
back here and get our horses and a pack horse, and go up and bring
in the head and horns."
"Why, sure," said Hugh; "why not do that? I expect you'd like to
take it home, seeing it's the first moose you ever killed."
"Yes," said Jack, "I should like it."
"Now, I'll tell you what you do," said Hugh. "Do you remember how I
cut off that sheep's head?"
"Why, yes," said Jack, "I remember that you cut it off close down
to the shoulders, but I don't remember just how you cut the skin."
"Well," said Hugh, "look here now; I'll show you," and sitting down
on the ground he drew a little diagram with the stick, explaining
to Jack that he should stick the knife into the moose's head
immediately behind the horns, split the skin down on the nape of
the neck to the shoulders, then make a cut at right angles to the
first one, running down outside of one shoulder, across under the
chest, and up outside of the other shoulder. Then, by skinning
away from the top of the neck, the hide of the whole neck could be
drawn forward; the head cut from the neck where the first vertebrae
joins the skull; and afterward, by cutting the skin from where
the neck-cut began between the horns, out on each side to each
horn and around its base, the whole skin of head and neck could be
taken off, and the skull cleaned, with the horns attached to it.
Afterwards in mounting, the skin could again be stretched over the
skull, so that the head could be hung on the wall.
It did not take the boys long to saddle up their riding horses and
a pack animal, and when they were on horseback the distance to the
moose was not great. When they reached it they tied their horses,
and walked up to the carcass to begin the skinning. But before they
did anything, Joe said, "Hold on, Jack! look a-here! There's been
a bear here since we've been gone;" and sure enough, the tracks of
a middle-sized bear were seen about the carcass, and the hole made
by Joe's knife was wet around the edges, as if some animal had been
licking it. Jack looked all around, but of course nothing living
was to be seen now.
"Now, I tell you what," said Joe; "let's get this head off, and
go away, and I wouldn't be surprised if we could come back here
to-morrow and get a shot at a bear. You know, Hugh said we
weren't going to move for two or three days, and if that's so, why
shouldn't we come back here and watch."
"It isn't a very good place for that, is it?" said Jack, "right
in here among the timber; we'd have to be close to the moose, and
likely enough a bear would see us or smell us, before we could see
it."
"That's so," said Joe; "it's a pretty poor place, but before we go
we'll look around and see if we can find any way to hide." The boys
were somewhat excited at this prospect, and at once set to work to
skin the moose head. A long slit was made down through the thick
hair on the nape of the neck, back to the shoulders, and then a
cross cut down to the moose's chest; then both the boys, getting
hold of the head, tried to turn it over, but they were not strong
enough to do that. Then they tried to lift the moose's head up in
the air, in order to get under it, and to make the cross cut on
the other side close to the ground. They did not succeed very well
in this either; but finally, after raising the head as high as
they could, Joe got a stick and propped it in this position. Then,
getting a longer stick they tugged, strained, and kept raising
the head higher and higher, until finally the fore part of the
shoulder was pretty well exposed. They made the cross cut, but for
six or eight inches it was quite ragged. However, they succeeded in
completing the cut, and then worked more rapidly, and before very
long had the skin off the whole neck and turned so far toward the
head that the back of the skull could be seen. Then, Joe cutting
down close to the skull so as to sever the ligament of the neck,
they twisted the skull, disjointed the neck, and after that it was
a mere matter of cutting through the flesh. After the head had been
cut off it was pretty heavy, much more than one boy could lift,
besides being unwieldy and hard to handle.
They dragged the head a little way from the moose, and then stood
looking at it, for both were a little tired.
"Now, look here, Jack," said Joe, "what's the use of packing all
this stuff back to camp; why not finish the job here, and take the
skull back pretty clean?"
"Yes," said Jack, "it's a pretty long job, but we've got to do it
either here or at the camp, and we might as well do it here. I
guess we'd better use our jackknives to cut around these horns."
Sitting down on the ground they did the work of making the crosscut
to the horns, and then they cut round the horns, close up against
the burr. The hide was thick and tough, and the blades of the
knives were small; but, on the other hand, the knives were sharp,
and before very long they had completed this. Then they both worked
at skinning the hide down over the head, cutting through the
gristle of the ears, and going very carefully about the eyes; and
at last, after midday, the skin of the head was free from the skull
and was dragged off to one side.
"There," said Joe, "that's a good job, and now we'll cut off all
the meat we can from the skull, and pack the horse, and go back to
camp. I'm getting hungry. I don't believe this tongue is spoiled;
we may as well take that with us." The remaining work was not
long, and lashing the skull on the pack saddle, they set out for
camp.
Hugh hailed them, when they got in, with an expression of surprise,
saying, "Why, you done the whole job, didn't you? I supposed I'd
have an afternoon's work over that head, skinning it out, and
cleaning the skull."
"Well," said Jack, "Joe suggested that we should not make two bites
of the cherry, so we did the work right there. But, say Hugh, a
bear had been 'round that moose, between the time we left it and
the time we got back, and Joe says maybe we can get a shot at him.
What do you think?"
"Why, I don't know," said Hugh; "maybe you could. What sort of a
place is it to wait?"
"Not very good," said Jack; "it's right in the thick timber, and
there's no hill, and no hiding-place anywhere nearby. We looked
when we were coming away. But I tell you what I think, Hugh; I
believe we could go back there, and get up into a tree, and watch
from there; then the bear won't be likely to smell us, and maybe
we'll be able to get a good shot."
"Yes, that's so," said Hugh; "but there's one bad thing about
getting up into a tree: it's awful noisy, and if you move much, the
bear's pretty sure to hear you. When did you calculate to watch?"
"Why, I don't know," said Jack; "we were going to ask you. It
ought to be either early in the morning or late in the evening, I
suppose. That's the time bears come out, isn't it?"
"Yes," said Hugh, "that's the time; but in here where they're not
much hunted, I suppose maybe they'd feed any time of day.
"I tell you what I believe I'd do," he continued, "we're going
to stop here for a day or two more and see if that horse's foot
will get better, and suppose you don't do anything now until along
about the middle of the day to-morrow; then you can ride up there
and see if the bears have been working at the carcass, and if they
have, why you can wait there until about dark, and if you don't
get a shot you can go back again the next day, right early in the
morning."
"Well, let's do that then," said Jack.
"Now," said Hugh, "take your moose-head down to the creek and put
it in there to soak and drain, and then this afternoon you can take
the brains out and sort of scrape the skull, and after it soaks
there for a couple of days it'll be in good shape to dry right up."
The next day, a little before noon, they set out to inspect the
bait. As they started out to catch their horses, Hugh told them to
drive in old Baldy as well, and that he would ride up there with
them and see how the prospect looked.
When they reached the moose they found a great hole torn in its
side, and from the tracks around about, it seemed that several
bears had been feeding there. The day, though bright at sunrise,
had now become overcast and dull, and the air felt like rain or
snow. Hugh surveyed the ground about the moose with some care, and
finally said to the boys:
"I don't see anything for you to do except to climb up into a
couple of these trees; and if I were you I'd watch this afternoon,
and if you don't get a shot, quit pretty early, at least before it
gets plumb dark, come back to camp, and then try it again early in
the morning. I'll take your horses down here a half a mile, and tie
them in that little open park that we passed, where they can feed,
but where they'll be far enough away so as not to scare the game.
If you don't get a shot, try to get to your horses before it's
right dark, and then you can get back to camp all right."
Hugh waited until the boys had climbed the two trees, one a little
distance to the north of the moose, the other about as far to the
south of the carcass. He told them to cut away all the twigs that
were close to them and would rustle if they moved, and advised them
that they must keep absolutely still, "for" he said, "there is no
animal so shy as a bear, and none that's more careful in coming
up to a bait. If a bear comes, don't try to shoot at it too soon,
let it come on until it gets right close to you; then shoot as
carefully as you know how, and try to kill it dead, for I don't
want you to wound a bear, and then go following it through the
thick timber and the brush; that's dangerous, and I think foolish."
The hours, after Hugh departed, seemed pretty long to the boys
as they sat on their perches. They could not see each other, and
of course could not talk. Both were occupied in looking over the
ground that they could cover with their eyes, and in listening for
any noise. The weather grew colder, and toward the middle of the
afternoon flakes of snow began to sift down through the tree-tops.
Then they stopped; then began again. There was snow enough to see
as it fell, but not enough to show upon the ground.
Joe was glad when he saw the snow, for he believed it would bring
the bears out soon; but Jack did not know this, and thought only
of the discomfort of the cold. A little breeze was blowing from the
south, and that gave Joe the unpleasant benefit of the odor of the
decaying moose meat; but he thought little of that, and sat there
and watched. For a long time nothing was seen. Then suddenly, from
behind a dead log, fifty or sixty yards from Joe, he saw the head
of a black bear rise, and the animal stood there screwing its nose
in all directions and snuffing the wind. It remained there for a
long time, and then the head drew back and disappeared. Joe's rifle
was loaded and cocked. He had fixed himself in as good a position
as possible for shooting, and he waited. For a long time nothing
happened, and then suddenly the bear appeared, stepping out from
behind a tree quite close to him,--not more than thirty or forty
yards away--and stood there, looking at first toward the moose, and
then slowly turning its head and looking in all directions. It was
a black bear, not very large, and yet not by any means a cub. Joe
thought the best thing he could do was to shoot it. It stood nearly
facing him, and when it turned its head away to the right, he aimed
for its chest, just to the right of the bear's left shoulder, and
pulled the trigger. The animal gave half a dozen bounds, and then
commenced to jump into the air and come down again, and to roll
over, and turn somersaults; while Joe kept his eyes rolling in all
directions, to see whether there were any others.
The bear's position had been such that Jack had not seen it at all.
He was cramped and stiff, cold, tired and hungry by this time; but
at the shot he forgot all his discomforts, and sat watching to
see what should happen. For a moment he saw and heard nothing, and
then, off to his left, he heard a stick break, once or twice, as if
some heavy animal were stepping on it, and then all became silent
again. Presently Joe appeared, walking by the moose, and came and
stood under the tree in which Jack sat. "Well, Jack," he said,
"I've got a bear, and I don't suppose any more will come now. We
may as well go over and skin it, and go back to camp."
"How big is it, Joe?" said Jack.
"Well," said Joe, "it's small. It looked pretty big to me when I
first saw it looking out through the trees; but when I shot it, and
saw it lying on the ground, it didn't seem very big."
Jack scrambled down from the tree, and the two boys went over
to the bear. It was not large, but, on the other hand, it was
better than no bear at all, and its coat was quite good: not long,
but full, and black and glossy, and quite worth having. Jack
congratulated Joe, and they set to work to skin the bear.
Joe's shot had been a good one; he had hit exactly in the right
place, and the ball had cut the great artery of the heart, and the
lungs, so that the bear died almost at once.
The work of skinning the animal took some little time, but it was
not nearly dark when Joe, with the skin on his back, and Jack, with
one of the hams in his hand, started to go to the horses. The other
ham they hung up in a tree. The horses took them speedily to the
camp, and they greatly enjoyed their dinner that night. Both boys
were tired and were glad to turn in at an early hour.
The next day the whole camp arose late. Hugh reported that the
horse's leg was better, and that he thought they might as well move
on the next day. "Now," he said, "do you boys want to go up and
watch for bear again to-night?"
"I don't know, Hugh," said Jack; "what do you think the chances
are? Will any of them come back after one being killed last night?"
"Yes," said Hugh, "I think maybe they might. Of course you can't
tell. Maybe they might come back now, or perhaps they'll leave the
bait alone for three or four nights, and then come back."
"Well," said Jack, "I'd like to get a shot; but it's paying pretty
dear for it to have to sit up in a tree for five or six hours, and
pretty nearly freeze to death. I like to be doing something. I
wouldn't mind trailing a bear or a deer or a sheep for half a day,
but this sitting on a thin branch in the cold, and waiting for a
bear to come to you, isn't what it's cracked up to be."
"No," said Hugh, "you're right there. I don't think much of it.
However, we might get on our horses about midday, and go up and see
whether any bears came last night after you left. The carcass'll
show that plain enough."
When they looked at the carcass they found that a number of
bears had evidently been there; and not only had they eaten a
considerable part of the moose, but they had also partly eaten the
bear that Joe had killed the night before.
"Well," said Hugh, "this seems to be a regular bear playground!
I've a good mind to come up here myself to-night, and sit in one
of these trees, and see if I can't get a shot. It's quite a while
since I've killed a bear, and I sort of need a bear-skin to spread
on my bed. What do you say boys, shall we all watch here to-night?"
"Yes, Hugh, let's do that; that'll be great fun,--to see who gets
the shot, or whether any bears come."
"Well," said Hugh, "I'm no way certain they'll come; they're awful
keen-nosed, and if they should smell that we've been around here
during the day, they won't show themselves. Now, I'll tell you what
we might do: suppose we go off down to where we're going to leave
the horses, and stop there for two or three hours,--nothing will
come here very much before sundown,--and then about three o'clock
we'll come up here, and you two boys can ride your horses right
under the trees you're going to get into, and just climb into them
without touching the ground at all; and I'll take the horses back
and come up afoot, and get up into my tree. In that way there'll be
only one set of tracks for the bears to smell."
Accordingly, about three o'clock they rode back; the boys climbed
from their horses directly into the tree; and then Hugh, taking the
bridle reins, led the horses back and picketed them in the park.
Then he returned, and choosing a tree about half way between the
boys, clambered up into it, and they all sat there, patient and
still.
The boys watched and waited as carefully as the day before; but
nothing happened until, just before sundown, the heavy report of
Hugh's gun rang out on the silent air, and a moment later they
heard the branches crackle as he clambered down from the tree.
"All right, boys," he called out: "come along."
The boys descended from their branches, and joining Hugh, they
all went forward a little way, to a small open spot where a brown
bear lay stretched on the ground, with the blood flowing from its
nostrils.
"This fellow," said Hugh, "has been fussing 'round in sight for
about twenty minutes. He wanted to come awful bad, and yet he was
awful scared to. I thought one time that maybe he was going around
Jack's way, and so I didn't bother with him; but presently he came
back and commenced to go right toward the bait, making little runs
forward and then little runs backward, but always getting closer,
until finally I made up my mind that I'd have to kill him. Now,
Joe," Hugh continued, "you help me skin him, and, Jack, you go and
fetch the horses."
Not long after Jack had returned, the skin was off the bear, rolled
up and tied behind Hugh's saddle, and they returned to camp.