Composite photograph showing how big-game trophies are displayed in private homes. In the early part of the 20th Century, hunters tried to emulate this type of decor in which their manly hunting prowess was demonstrated with heads and skins of dead, large and small wild animals displayed in their homes.
A good candidate for the hunter from the Lykens Valley with the largest trophy room was William Buchanan Meetch (1845-1919). Meetch was born in Halifax Township, taught school in Williamstown for 9 years, and spent much of his life in Millersburg. Late in life he moved to Harrisburg where he died. In his obituary, which appeared in the Harrisburg Telegraph, September 3, 1919, the following can be found:
From Mexico to Northern Canada and Alaska and from Maine to the Rocky Mountains, Mr. Meetch has gone in for big game, having shot in every state of the Union, and his house is liberally decorated with skins and heads of animals that fell victim to his clear eye and steady hand….
As a political leader and hunter, Mr. Meetch demonstrated repeated unusual physical courage…. He was the possessor of one of the largest Alaskan bear skins on record and his trophies of the hunt, it is understood, may eventually find their way into the State Museum….
In the same newspaper there was an article using Meetch’s own words, giving some of his “thrilling experiences in the open,” while seeking out and killing animals to prove his manhood.
MEETCH DIARY TELLS HUNTS FOR BIG GAME
Many Thrilling Experiences in the Open Notes by One of City’s Noted Sportsmen
During his big game hunts the late William B. Meetch… kept a diary and many of the entries throw light on his love of adventure in the open. His son, Harry W. Meetch, accompanied his father on most of these outings in the great hunting areas of the North American continent and could tell many an interesting story of the happenings in Alaska,, the Rocky Mountains, Mexico and the Canadian moose region.
A Telegraph representative was permitted to-day to glance over some of the entries in the several pocket diaries which Mr. Meetch left among his personal effects. These entries include tests of his guns – the range, trajectory of ball and other details, all showing the care with which the dead hunter prepared for his search for the grizzly, the moose, the Alaskan bear and the other big trophies which later bear witness to his prowess.
One entry refers to a hunt on the western edge of the Black Hills in 1908 when the Big Horn Mountains were covered with snow. In May, 1908, the entries show that he was in Alaska, where he had some unpleasant experiences and brought down several big specimens of the Alaskan bear. The diaries are punctuated here and there with interesting comment on guides, the topography of the country, the places visited, the weather conditions and characteristics of the country and customs of the people. Those who knew Mr. Meetch can appreciate the thoroughness of his studies on every question and the entries in these personal diaries constitute an interesting narrative of his many big game hunts.
Smell of the Woods
There were times when the hunters were confronted with serious problems. Here is an extract from one of the entries:
“Many years experience has convinced me that the man who carries a gun for pleasure is almost always a gentleman at heart regardless of the elegance of his language or the length of his purse. There are exception, of course, but they are rare. What is the reason? I can’t give any; I never met anyone who could; it is so written; it is in the rushing river or the ceaseless pulse of the ocean; it is in the bigness of the prairie and the grandeur of the mountains; it gets into the blood and it always stays there; it gives a man kinship with nature; teaches him to revel in her beauties and makes him unafraid even of her solitudes.”
He tells in one of his diaries of his encounter with a big Alaskan bear on a high mountain range and how after a long chase Bruin frequently lying down in the snow the hunters got into a favorable position and finally killed him. This chase was under conditions which tested the endurance of Mr. Meetch and his party, the hunters being almost exhausted through sinking deep into the snow as they followed the big bear in his efforts to escape.
“Bear and men advanced in lines which approached each other, until we were within about 150 yards, coming almost directly toward us. Then I opened the ball. This was a little after 10:30 p. m. on a cloudy night and no moon. Once I looked up to see how much darker it would likely be and saw only one star, We were on the open snow in a country where it never gets very dark during the short summer nights.”
At this point the entry refers to the testing of the sights on the guns and he continues:
“The chase had lasted more than three-and-a-half hours; we had climbed about 1,000 feet in the deep, soft snow with the sharp Behring Sea wind in our faces, cumbered with heavy rifles, ammunition, field glasses, long rubber boots and such clothing as a man would of necessity be obliges to take when there was likelihood of his being obliged to remain out on the mountain in the snow over night. The snow was soft and deep and I was pretty well done up by the exhausting climb. The bear was coming down hill almost directly toward us, always a bad feature at close quarters, and it was surely a time to do our very best to stop him, disable him, get him down, for the tremendous vitality of this great brute will enable him even after having been mortally wounded, to travel several times the intervening space which separated us from him, and one blow from his huge paw, armed with its cruel claws, would either leave a hunter in very bad shape at midnight far from warmth and proper care or perhaps more mercifully send him in the twinkling of an eye to the happy hunting grounds over the great divide.”
Many Shots Needed
Here the diary contains a diagram of the bear and the hunters at the opening of hostilities.
“The bear was moving slowing down the hill bearing toward our left… which was very fortunate, as it did not place us directly in his path. I held the white ivory head sight fair on his shoulder and fired. He broke down and as he raised up I fired again at his shoulder. He humped up at the shot and Bales said ‘you’ve got him,’ but he made a lungee forward and Bales commenced firing. I got one other shot before I had to stop shooting as my line of fire was getting too close to Bales, but he emptied his rifle (five shots) as the huge dark body went leaping, stumbling down the mountainside for a distance of about 75 yards when he went down once more and unable to regain his feet, commenced to roll, disappearing over the brow of the hill. He had passed within 20 years of Bales and within 25 yards of me. After reloading our rifles we hurried after him only to see the wide path in the snow which marked his course. We followed and found that he had fallen over some rocks and had slightly bedded himself by the fall in the hard snow below the ledge.
“When we skinned him the next day we found that three balls had struck him in the shoulder within the space which would be covered by an ordinary saucer, one in the throat too low down to do much damage, and one on the front of the hip.”
The entry concludes with the efforts of the hunters to get the huge carcass down the mountainside and it was midnight when the party started for camp which was reached at 2 o’clock in the morning. They turned in just as daylight was lighting up the hills, crawling into their sleeping bags for a little rest. Then follows the story of the skinning of the great bear, which required three hours of steady work.
Severely Plain Diet
The notes of Mr. Meetch are of more than usual interest because of his intelligent comment upon the storm and snow and sleet and the hardships which are endured in the chase after the Alaskan bear. The labor of getting the enormous hide of their first big trophy back to camp was almost exhausting. Says Mr. Meetch:
“Rolled up and ties as it was, dragged by the end, it made a roll of yearly 1 1/2 feet thick and about 11 feet long.”
Mr. Meetch’s entry as to the size of the bear shows the length as he lay on his belly hunched up in the snow, 7 feet three inched, and length as he lay on his side, 8 feet 10 inches. The width of the front aw was 8 inches and the length of the hind paw 13 inches. The circumference of the neck behind the ears, the steel tape drawn tightly was 4 feet 4 inches. The width between the ears was 12 inches. Other details of the measurement show the the bear to have been one of the largest on record. His coat was perfect and the guide declared him a fine specimen in every way.
Some of the writer’s comments on the average guide and camp cook are interesting as throwing light upon their peculiar characteristics, especially regarding their improvidence and disregard of ordinary precaution in preserving food and necessary wood for fires. On this particular point the diary reads:
“Their appetites crave what tastes best for them and is most easily prepared and they live on what happens to be left and the trouble is that the sportsmen suffers as well as the guides; more so even because the sportsmen may not be accustomed to starvation rations or even the severely plain diet which frequently marks the end of the trip.”
The foregoing extracts from Mr. Meetch’s pocket diaries are similar to many others and show the man whose friends laid him at rest to-day to have been a discriminating naturalist as well as an enthusiastic hunter. He frequently discusses the flora of the country through which he chased the big game and tells of many interesting experiences under all sorts of conditions and circumstances.
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News story obtained from Newspapers.com. Composite photograph created from parts of web images used by taxidermists in advertising their services to create trophy rooms.
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