Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/401545
S P O R T I N G C L A S S I C S 5 2 redeemed herself by striking scent in less than an hour. The great track was just hours old so we released the dogs without ceremony. Two hours later they were chopping hard at a tree, near the top of which perched a bear of maybe 60 pounds. I was heartsick, knowing what was to come. "I know you've been hoping for a big one, and I really want to catch the bear that made those tracks. Boo-Boo here just got in the way. Let's leave him and try again tomorrow." Not believing what I'd heard, I immediately offered to stand a steak dinner that night. The next morning was a repeat. Same hood ornament and finally the big track. Off went the dogs. When the tracking antenna pointed to where they'd stopped, some of the wind came out of my sail. It was a long way down and no roads were there to make it easier. The scramble to the tree took a very long time, and I didn't have to look up to know what the dogs had caught. The dejected look on the houndman's face told it all. "He'll only go about a hundred pounds, but you gotta take this one. I've never pulled my dogs before yesterday and I've already decided I'll never do it again." I understood and got ready to take the shot. Back then I mostly hunted with a Freedom Arms pistol in .454 Casull. This particular pistol had received some extra attention at the factory, including a carefully tuned trigger that broke at the slightest caress. After finding a clear shooting lane through the branches, I sighted on the bear's chest and was just beginning to touch the trigger when I heard "Stop!" Moments later a hound puppy I'd never seen ran up to the tree and began telling the world that he was about to kill his first bear. "That's my friend's pup," the houndsman offered. "He isn't supposed to be up here today, but