Wade Hampton

[damYankee]

Why? James Anthony hunted down Old Mose. Could Hampton not have done the same in his prime? Hampton was a man of great strength and stamina in his youth. He also could afford the best in horses, dogs, and guns.

There were other legendary killer grizzlies in the west besides Old Mose. And southern bear hunter Ben Lilly was the demise of several of them. Lilly was said to have killed six bears with a knife, two of them grizzlies. I don't know how to confirm that, but if you know the history of Ben Lilly it certainly has the ring of truth whereas a number like "thirty or forty" does not.

Hunter William Wright killed a lot of grizzlies in the Bitterroot Mountains in the 19th Century and thought the grizzly was a noble animal but that it had an undeserved reputation for being hard to kill. Wright said in his experience a grizzly was no more tenacious in hanging on to life than any other animal and that he had never seen a grizzly that could soak up the amount of punishment that a Rocky Mountain goat could take and still keep moving.

I reckon Wade Hampton would have acquitted himself well if he had hunted grizzlies.

Old Mose wasn't killed with a knife was he?
It took two 30 40 Krags to bring him down. Smokeless powder centerfire bolt action magazine feed bolt action repeaters, not knives.
That is Wades reputation, killing bears with a knife. When Old Mose finally was killed after being hunted for decades, there were old wounds found on his face and skull from black poweder weapons,which meant someone was close enough to shoot that bear point blank, the bear survived.
But I digress, killing eastern brown bears is not the same as killing grizzlies, and killing a grizzly with a blade is highly unlikely.

 

[1NCCAV]

damYankee, we are not really talking about the same thing. I'm advocating that Hampton was a great bear hunter, as good or better than any other bear hunter in American history, and that Hampton could have adapted to western hunting conditions and would have been successful at hunting grizzly bears, just like Ben Lilly, who also started his bear hunting career in the southern swamps. You seem to be focused on your belief that Hampton would not have been able to kill a grizzly with a knife.

Wade Hampton was a great horseman, houndsman, and hunter in spite of having killed one bear with a knife, not because of it.

But as far as knives go, grizzlies have been killed with knives on occasion. In fact, a man named Ed Wiseman killed the last known grizzly in Colorado in 1979 by stabbing it with an arrow. Wiseman, a bow hunter and guide, was jumped at close range and stabbed the bear to death. Look it up.

http://www.thegazette.com/2014/01/1...neBreakingNews+(TheGazette.com+Breaking+News)

 

[damYankee]

damYankee, we are not really talking about the same thing. I'm advocating that Hampton was a great bear hunter, as good or better than any other bear hunter in American history, and that Hampton could have adapted to western hunting conditions and would have been successful at hunting grizzly bears, just like Ben Lilly, who also started his bear hunting career in the southern swamps. You seem to be focused on your belief that Hampton would not have been able to kill a grizzly with a knife.

Wade Hampton was a great horseman, houndsman, and hunter in spite of having killed one bear with a knife, not because of it.

But as far as knives go, grizzlies have been killed with knives on occasion. In fact, a man named Ed Wiseman killed the last known grizzly in Colorado in 1979 by stabbing it with an arrow. Wiseman, a bow hunter and guide, was jumped at close range and stabbed the bear to death. Look it up.

http://www.thegazette.com/2014/01/1...neBreakingNews+(TheGazette.com+Breaking+News)

I did not intend to sidetrack the thread, only to post my vote for the griz.
My sense of humor is sometimes misunderstood on forums, Wade Hampton would have been a legendary figure without the bear hunter tag, but legends are created for public consumption.

 

[civilken]

how do these tall tales get started really 40 bears any bears with a knife. Did I tell you the time I knocked out and elephant.

 

[civilken]

if I'm going to joke about something I think it's important to admit when I am wrong. I went to the Internet last night and low and behold there was the general did kill over 80 bear .