roots, or otherwise procuring their food on the bare hill sides and
table-lands, it is of course comparatively easy to see them; and it is
under such circumstances that this kind of hunting is most successful.
Once seen, the actual stalk may take two or three hours, the nature
of the ground and the direction of the wind often necessitating a long
circuit; perhaps a gully, a rock, or a fallen log offers a chance for an
approach to within two hundred yards, and although the hunter will, if
possible, get much closer than this, yet even at such a distance a bear
is a large enough mark to warrant taking a shot.

Usually the berry grounds do not offer such favorable opportunities, as
they often lie in thick timber, or are covered so densely with bushes as
to obstruct the view; and they are rarely commanded by a favorable
spot from which to spy. On the other hand, as already said, bears
occasionally forget all their watchfulness while devouring fruit, and
make such a noise rending and tearing the bushes that, if once found, a
man can creep upon them unobserved.



CHAPTER IV.--HUNTING THE GRISLY.

If out in the late fall or early spring, it is often possible to follow
a bear's trail in the snow; having come upon it either by chance or hard
hunting, or else having found 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.