This
was probably largely owing to the nature of the country in which they
hunted, a vast tangled mass of forest and craggy mountain; but it was
also due to the utter inability of the dogs to stop the quarry from
breaking bay when it wished. Several times a grisly was bayed, but
always in some inaccessible spot which it took hard climbing to reach,
and the dogs were never able to hold the beast until the hunters came
up.
Still a well-trained pack of large hounds which were both bold and
cunning could doubtless bay even a grisly. Such dogs are the big
half-breed hounds sometimes used in the Alleghanies of West Virginia,
which are trained not merely to nip a bear, but to grip him by the hock
as he runs and either throw him or twirl him round. A grisly could not
disregard a wary and powerful hound capable of performing this trick,
even though he paid small heed to mere barking and occasional nipping.
Nor do I doubt that it would be possible to get together a pack of many
large, fierce dogs, trained to dash straight at the head and hold on
like a vise, which could fairly master a grisly and, though unable, of
course, to kill him, would worry him breathless and hold him down so
that he could be slain with ease.
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