Finishing a wounded Grizzly with a knife

MiG25

MiG25

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Found an old story of hunting near Canmore by a man named Hector, seems dinner-bell-bears are not a new development.

"As soon as we skinned the goat, we cut the meat and fried it over the fire. We used the willows as a pan and put the meat on. And then we started to tie up the meat for packing. Just about the time we finished putting it on th horse, the horse grew excited. Looking toward the water, we saw a great big grizzly. Th grizzly smelt the horse' tracks and was coming where we were. Then we loaded our guns. As soon as the grizzly saw us, he ran away towards the river. Just then I shot him. He dropped right away. I had killed him at once. Then we took off our cloths, and we had only one knife. Crow-Chest put it in his mouth, a great big knife. Just as we got to the bear, it came back to life. It was facing towards the water. We held both feet of the bear: Crow-Chest on the right hand, and myself on the left. We held both hind feet: the water was up to our shoulders. The bear was a good swimmer. We kept like that, holding him back. We cannot tell how long, because if we had let him go, he would have got the best of us. Crow-Chest took his knife out of his mouth, put it through the bear's ribs. They heard the growling of that bear through the valley. A second time he gave it a thrust. Must have been one hour we worked there in the risky river. And then the bear was dead."
 
I dunno, the key point I think is that the bear was swimming while the 2 men had their feet firmly on the bottom. No one calls BS that Akeley and Cottar killed leopards with their hands.
 
I didn't know they had Lysol back then. A 60lb cat and a 600lb bear are far different things. I highly doubt that two guys were holding a wet, slippery, pissed off swimming grizzly bear by its legs all the while standing naked in cold water slow enough to stand shoulder depth in a most likely slippery freestone river?
 
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j_06 said:
I didn't know they had Lysol back then. A 60lb cat and a 600lb bear are far different things. I highly doubt that two guys were holding a wet, slippery, pissed off swimming grizzly bear by its legs all the while standing naked in cold water slow enough to stand shoulder depth in a most likely slippery freestone river?
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As I read it, the bear fell at the shot and they were preparing to skin it. Maybe it's back legs were paralyzed as a result of the shot. Or, in the videos of polar bears swimming, they seem to trail their hind legs.
 
Artistic licence is as old as the first campfire. Having cut up a few of these, most recently last month, I find it hard to believe Crow-Chest's knife was to thank. If this is real, the bear was spined by the bullet, and finally expired / drowned / fell victim to its wounds. The sad fact is the most likely conclusion, that it's a lovely tall tale and that's all, is likely most accurate. The Indian name doesn't add the authenticity the story writer likely hoped it would.

Corbett finished a brown bear off with an axe to the back of the skull, which I'm more inclined to believe. Crazy things do happen in the bush, though a lot more bull gets generated there than miracles.
 
What in the unholy F**K is the OP trying to say? God damn it, it's like I'm reading a friggen kamlooky post! Get with the program private piledrive, this sh1t is about to get real!

Jay
 
MiG25 said:
Found an old story of hunting near Canmore by a man named Hector, seems dinner-bell-bears are not a new development.

"As soon as we skinned the goat, we cut the meat and fried it over the fire. We used the willows as a pan and put the meat on. And then we started to tie up the meat for packing. Just about the time we finished putting it on th horse, the horse grew excited. Looking toward the water, we saw a great big grizzly. Th grizzly smelt the horse' tracks and was coming where we were. Then we loaded our guns. As soon as the grizzly saw us, he ran away towards the river. Just then I shot him. He dropped right away. I had killed him at once. Then we took off our cloths, and we had only one knife. Crow-Chest put it in his mouth, a great big knife. Just as we got to the bear, it came back to life. It was facing towards the water. We held both feet of the bear: Crow-Chest on the right hand, and myself on the left. We held both hind feet: the water was up to our shoulders. The bear was a good swimmer. We kept like that, holding him back. We cannot tell how long, because if we had let him go, he would have got the best of us. Crow-Chest took his knife out of his mouth, put it through the bear's ribs. They heard the growling of that bear through the valley. A second time he gave it a thrust. Must have been one hour we worked there in the risky river. And then the bear was dead."
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Hector is Mike from Canmore's grandfather.
This event left a lasting impression on young Mikey, who vowed never to be caught short of firearms.
Now you know the backstory as to why MfC has such a huge collection of guns.
 
After watching the Revenant, I will
Hold off on grizzly for the time being. I would never leave my rifle anywhere when checking to see if the bear was dead. I am a white-tail deer hunter and that's where I stop
 
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