On the other hand, Dr. James C. Merrill, U.
S. A., who has had about as much experience with bears as I have had,
informs me that he has been charged with the utmost determination three
times. In each case the attack was delivered before the bear was wounded
or even shot at, the animal being roused by the approach of the hunter
from his day bed, and charging headlong at them from a distance of
twenty or thirty paces. All three bears were killed before they could
do any damage. There was a very remarkable incident connected with the
killing of one of them. It occurred in the northern spurs of the Bighorn
range. Dr. Merrill, in company with an old hunter, had climbed down
into a deep, narrow canyon. The bottom was threaded with well-beaten elk
trails. While following one of these the two men turned a corner of the
canyon and were instantly charged by an old she-grisly, so close that
it was only by good luck that one of the hurried shots disabled her and
caused her to tumble over a cut bank where she was easily finished.
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