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Post by King Kodiak on Dec 13, 2020 10:42:25 GMT -5
He was yeah. I just read the first 10 pages. Unfortunately he killed many bears at first so it sounds contradictory, but he later used his knowledge to try to save them.
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Post by brobear on Dec 13, 2020 10:51:48 GMT -5
James Oliver Curwood, William H. Wright, Theodore Roosevelt, and the list goes on. Back before much was said in the public about animal abuse or wildlife preservation, and at a time when most families ate at least some wild meat, most men were hunters; at least part-time. Some of those hunters grew in wisdom and changed their ways.
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Post by King Kodiak on Dec 13, 2020 11:59:12 GMT -5
THE GRIZZLY BEAR BY HUNTER AND NATURALIST WILLIAM H. WRIGHTFrom the Foreword—The Grizzly Bear by William H. Wright, first published in 1909, is one of the best all-around books ever written on the subject. It is both highly informative and entertaining. . . . Wright began as a bear-hunter, and an extraordinarily successful one. He pitted his own strength, endurance, ingenuity, skill, knowledge, and craftiness against that of the grizzlies. . . . His most remarkable achievement as a hunter was killing five grizzlies with five shots, which he called "the greatest bag of grizzlies that I have ever made single-handed." . . . His book shows a hunter becoming a naturalist: Wright first studied the grizzly in order to hunt him, then he came to hunt him in order to study him.
The Grizzly Bear treats the early history of the grizzly as recorded by the white man and the life and escapades of James Capen ["Grizzly"] Adams, and most important it recounts the true-life experiences of Wright himself. Although I have spent some eighteen years studying the grizzly, eight of them intensively, there are few points on which I would take issue with the accuracy of Wright's observations o his interpretations of what he saw—Frank C. Craighead, Jr.
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Post by King Kodiak on Dec 13, 2020 12:09:13 GMT -5
In the beggining, i studied the grizzly in order to hunt him. I marked his haunts and his habits, i took notice of his likes and dislikes. I learned his indifferences ans his fears. I spied upon the perfection of his senses and the limitations of his instincts, simply that i might the better slay him. For many a year, and in many fastness of the hills, i pitted my shrewdness against his, ane my wariness against his, and my endurance against his. And many a time i came out winner in the game, and many a time i owned myself a loser. And then at last my interest in my opponent grew to overshadow my interest in the game. I had studied the grizzly to hunt him. I came to hunt him in order to study him. I laid aside my rifle. It is twelve years since i have killed a grizzly.
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Post by King Kodiak on Dec 13, 2020 12:29:06 GMT -5
This is the early history section, so Wright was just quoting The Lewis and Clark expedition.
There is no chance of killing them by a single shot unless the ball goes through the brain, and this is very difficult on account of two large muscles which cover the side of the forehead and the sharp projection of the centre of the frontal bone, which is also "thick"
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Post by OldGreenGrolar on Dec 13, 2020 19:35:16 GMT -5
Tough grizzly bear.
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Post by OldGreenGrolar on Dec 13, 2020 20:32:28 GMT -5
At least he grew a heart for the bears.
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Post by King Kodiak on Dec 14, 2020 0:06:00 GMT -5
Naturalist George Ord, who formally described and named the grizzly "Ursus horribilis Ord" said this:
" This animal is the monarch of the country which he inhabits. The African lion or the tiger of Bengal are not more terrible or fierce"
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Post by brobear on Dec 14, 2020 5:08:10 GMT -5
Quote: "This animal is the monarch of the country which he inhabits. The African lion or the tiger of Bengal are not more terrible or fierce". *Two things seldom mentioned. ( 1 ) These stories as told even by reputable explorers and the expert naturalists of their time are not so far off. Those explorers entered the Old West with those long-barreled, black powder muzzle-loaders which were adequate for anything east of the Mississippi. But these rifles were not adequate for killing a grizzly. Not enough caliber to send a soft lead ball through the bulk of the great bear. ( 2 ) It wasn't until years after the invention of the breech-load rifle in 1848 that the grizzly even began to develop any fear of man. There were no factories, so each rifle was made by hand individually. Consider that the Civil War took place during the 1860s and the majority of soldiers on both sides were armed with muzzle-loaders. *Also note, as pointed out by Doug Peacock, the most predatory bears are always the most aggressive bears. The most carnivorous grizzly, the one who likes to hunt and kill for his dinner, is the one most likely to show aggression. For countless decades these aggressive bears have been culled from the grizzly population. When I first read this, it caused me to consider the bulldog. I'm not talking about the pitbull terrior. I'm talking about the bulldog ( English ) such as Uga, the Georgia Bulldog's mascot. Back during the early 1800s ( and previously ) those dogs were so fierce, it was illegal to take one into most cities, even with a muzzle. But, the modern kennel clubs weeded out all of the aggressive dogs to produce a friendly non-aggressive dog. ( smaller too ).
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Post by OldGreenGrolar on Dec 14, 2020 6:37:32 GMT -5
Reply 4. The barren ground grizzly is more aggressive than the tiger and lion. A large male polar bear would intimidate a tiger and lion and even a smilodon populator in my opinion.
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Post by King Kodiak on Dec 14, 2020 22:58:30 GMT -5
Quote from Grizzly Adams:
The grizzly he says, is "the monarch of American beasts, and, in many respects, the most formidable animal in the world to be encountered. In comparison to the lion of Africa and the tiger of Asia, though these may exhibit more activity and bloodthirstiness, the grizzly is not second in courage, and excels them in power. Like the regions which he inhabits, there is a vastness in his strength which makes him a fit companion for the monster trees and rocks of the sierras, and places him, if not the first, at least in the first rank of all quadrupeds."
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Post by OldGreenGrolar on Dec 16, 2020 0:56:02 GMT -5
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Post by King Kodiak on Dec 17, 2020 11:38:30 GMT -5
1909: A THOUSAND-POUNDER, HALF AS BROAD AS HE WAS LONG.
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Post by OldGreenGrolar on Dec 17, 2020 17:56:24 GMT -5
Reply 7: My analysis. I agree that the grizzly is more powerful than a tiger and lion but it is not the most formidable animal in the world. Maybe he is indirectly saying it is the most formidable land predator he has ever encountered or the most powerful animal pound to pound.
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Post by OldGreenGrolar on Dec 17, 2020 17:57:01 GMT -5
Reply 8: That grizzly must have a really wide chest girth.
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Post by King Kodiak on Dec 17, 2020 18:03:04 GMT -5
Reply 7: My analysis. I agree that the grizzly is more powerful than a tiger and lion but it is not the most formidable animal in the world. Maybe he is indirectly saying it is the most formidable land predator he has ever encountered or the most powerful animal pound to pound. He said the grizzly is the most formidable animal "to be encountered" , in the next sentence he is comparing it to lions and tigers. I think he meant that encountering a lion or a tiger is nothing like encountering a grizzly.
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Post by tom on Dec 17, 2020 18:30:56 GMT -5
It's possible that he meant "most formidable predator to be encountered" that would have been a little more accurate. I don't think there's anything more formidable than a Bull Tusker African Elephant. One of those old boys when they're in musth is like a runaway DA Caterpillar.
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Post by King Kodiak on Dec 17, 2020 22:46:59 GMT -5
1909: GRIZZLIES FEEDING
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Post by King Kodiak on Dec 18, 2020 22:19:39 GMT -5
But no amout of labor seems to daunt them. I have seen many such holes that were from eight to ten feet deep and twelve or fifteen feet long, where one or more grizzlies had thus dug for a nest of marmots.
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Post by King Kodiak on Dec 24, 2020 11:54:12 GMT -5
1909: HIS SUSPICIONS AROUSED:
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