Hundreds may thus be killed
with comparatively little danger; yet even under these circumstances
they will often charge, and sometimes make their charge good. The spice
of danger, especially to a man armed with a good repeating rifle,
is only enough to add zest to the chase, and the chief triumph is in
outwitting the wary quarry and getting within range. Ordinarily the only
excitement is in the stalk, the bear doing nothing more than keep a keen
look-out and manifest the utmost anxiety to get away. As is but natural,
accidents occasionally occur; yet they are usually due more to some
failure in man or weapon than to the prowess of the bear. A good hunter
whom I once knew, at a time when he was living in Butte, received fatal
injuries from a bear he attacked in open woodland. The beast charged
after the first shot, but slackened its pace on coming almost up to the
man. The latter's gun jambed, and as he was endeavoring to work it he
kept stepping slowly back, facing the bear which followed a few yards
distant, snarling and threatening.
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