Dr. Billings Bear with a Shotgun, Daily Racing Form, 1919-09-12

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DR. BILLINGS BEAR WITH A SHOTGUN Dr. Frank Billings of Chicago, accompanied by Roger Sullivan, C. K. G. Billings and Walter Gregory of the same city, have been spending some weeks hunting in Idaho at the summer ranch of A. S. Trade, at Rea, and a few days since Judge Daniel Trude. a son of A. S., received the following letter from his father giving the details of the occurrence when Dr. Billings succeeded in killing a cinnamon bear with his shotgun. The letter from A. S. Trude is appended: "My Dear Son Daniel: Your mother has this day written you the current news, but I will add thereto an exciting and novel occurrence of the killing of a cinnamon bear from the front seat of an automobile with a shotgun. The feat was accomplished by Dr. Frank Billings last evening. "He, with myself and chauffeur, Bon Jennings, was hunting grouse, or any other game we might come across, on the range near the mountains to the west of the ranch, when suddenly a bear jumped from a big bunch of sagebrush right in front of the car and ran in a direct line down the wagon trail. Dr. Frank sat in-the front seat, with ids big shotgun ready for anything that might fly or run, and, readily grasping the situation, held his gun over the open windshied waiting for a chance to get in a good shot. "At first the bear gained on us, though we tore along as fast as Ben could make the car go, but after a while we gained on the bear, when the doctor, after taking careful aim at the neck of the fleeing Miimal. fired a full charge into its neck just back of the head. This caused it to fall and partly roll over, but it immediately recovered and resumed its journey, bear fashion, down the trail, with the auto at full s;ieed in pursuit, jumping over the badger holes and ruts and with the doctor getting in a shot as often as he could get his gun to bear on. some vital spot of the bears anatomy. "I sat in a seat in the rear, hanging on and shouting to the doctor to shoot it again, which he did in the most skillful manner by landing a full charge of shot just back of the bears shoulder. This caused it to drop, and die almost in its tracks. "We brought the dead bear home and Ben skinned it. and the doctor will take the hide home witli him. "By returned soldiers I have been informed of the difficulties of accurate shooting from a tank iu full tilt over rolling and broken ground, but I never appreciated it until I saw the doctor try to get his gun to bear at the bear while the auto rolled from side to side and jolted up and down over about a half mile distance at full speed until tlus bear was finally killed." American Field.


Persistent Link: https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1910s/drf1919091201/drf1919091201_8_6
Local Identifier: drf1919091201_8_6
Library of Congress Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/unk82075800