DEATH IN THE CANEBRAKES: Hunting Black Bear with the Knife in the Old South (English Edition)

From the 1830s to approximately World War I, readers of outdoor magazines throughout the U. S. and even in Great Britain and Europe thrilled to stories about bear hunting in the Deep South – especially in the bear infested canebrakes of the Delta country of Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas. One aspect of bear hunting in those times seems incredible to modern readers – oftentimes the bear hunter killed his quarry with only a knife! In this 4200 word work, approximately twice the length of a standard magazine article, James T. McCafferty, author of The Bear Hunter: The Life and Times of Robert Eager Bobo in the Canebrake of the Old South, introduces the reader to a few of those intrepid 19th century backwoodsmen and describes the weapons and methods they used. Please be aware that most of what is in this article is also in the full length book, The Bear Hunter. For you who have read The Bear Hunter, there is no need to read this article. For those who have not – return with us now to the dark woods, bayous, swamps, and sloughs of the 19th century lower Mississippi valley, where man, dog, and bear met their rendezvous with Death in the Canebrakes.