Holt Collier Was Born a Slave but Became a Legendary Bear Hunter
(Paul Schullery, Outdoor Life) - The pack of bear hounds ran through the thick forest in long, stretching leaps, their motion a combination of frenetic excitement and smooth, conditioned ease. This was what they were bred for, and what they lived for. The leaf canopy was so dense that at times only a half-light, a sort of dusky murk, penetrated to the forest floor where the hounds ran. Their chorus of howls and yowls was all that kept them connected to the hunters who lagged far behind. Horses just couldn’t move through this stuff as fast as dogs could.
Now the sound was muffled from the hunters as the dogs passed around a canebrake wall bordered by a dark bayou. Now the sound was clear as the hounds raced in a long, scattered string through an open glade. But always the sound was telling the hunters what was happening.
The houndsman, the only black man on the hunt, heard much more than the others. His friends and clients knew bear dogs and bear hunting, but this was his pack, and he knew each voice, each inflection, and he knew that, to the extent that the hounds called for any reason besides the exuberance of a hot trail, they called for him.
Then, off in the distance, he heard the…
Love good hunting dog