The Great Hoquiam Bear Hunt
A group of local hunters brings home a bear, but nobody can agree on who actually landed the shot.
Friday morning C. W. Parnell, Al. Brauer, L. W. Herrick, C. H. Phelps, and Byles the hunter went out the Hoquiam trail and the dogs ran a bear out by Phelps who let drive on sight. In a short while the dogs had the game up a tree and the nimrods drew straws to see who should shoot. Who did shoot is not a known fact to those present, as Brauer, Herrick, and Phelps gave Parnell all the honor, and he as stoutly protests that he did not fire a shot during the entire morning. The Herald has been informed confidentially that Herrick and Boyles fired simultaneously and that the bear fell with only one bullet through that part which was exposed to the hunters; and a hole through his back, the result of Phelps' shot. Accept whichever version you choose, anyway, the boys got the bear which was a female about two years old, weighing between 165 and 200 pounds.
“Accept whichever version you choose, anyway, the boys got the bear.”
The camaraderie of the hunt and the humorous dispute over who claimed the prize is a timeless local ritual, contrasting sharply with the modern recreational use of the Hoquiam area.
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