Bear Hunting a Popular Sport in Blue Ridge Hills, Nov. 6, 1924

Bear Hunting Is a Popular Sport in the Blue Ridge Hills. . . Lynn Smith of Columbus Says that Bears Are Thick in the High Hills, Guns Oiled and Ready for the Fray—Let’s Go!

Bring on your bears! We have polished up the high-powered meat getter and laid in a stock of soft-nosed ammunition guaranteed to stop anything smaller than an elephant—if placed in the right place.

Lindsey Smith of Columbus came to town the other day and started the bee to buzzing. “Wanta go bear hunting?” asked the Gu.Gu chaser of Insurrection days.

“Do we want to go bear hunting? Do we? Bring on your bear!

That bolt action baby is decorating the den, oiled and primed and ready for trouble. We are waiting for that ‘phone message. And if anybody doubts that there are bears in the high hills of Western North Carolina just see what John Ingle of Beech has to say:

“Bear hunting in Western North Carolina has taken rank as one of the greatest sports, and parties search the hills and valleys almost every day for the black bear that makes their homes in the mountains.”

Mr. Ingle and friend were out bear hunting Friday, when they came upon three cubs, each weighing about 100 pounds. An attempt was made to take one of the cubs alive and this resulted in the young bear calling for help. The hunters had placed their rifles to one side, but upon the approach of the mother bear, a bulky specimen of the forest demon weighing about 450 pounds, they immediately sought their trusty guns.

One of the cubs was killed in the fight that ensued, but the mother bear drew the dogs away from the scene and an all-day chase proved to be to the advantage of the bear.

Ingle organized parties for the bear hunts and declares it to be a profitable business. Several parties will take to the woods on Thanksgiving Day, he said, to hunt for bear.

Bear meat, Mr. Ingle said, brings $1 per pound on the Asheville market, and there is a great demand, especially for the steaks. The skins are also valuable and the fur and hide from a mother bear weighing several hundred pounds is valued at about $200.

From page 4 The Polk County News, Tryon, N.C., Nov. 6, 1924

newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn94058241/1924-11-06/ed-1/seq-4/#words=November+6%2C+1924