The riders follow the hounds through the canebrakes, and also try to make cutoffs and station themselves at open points where they think the bear will pass, so that they may get a shot at him.

The weapons used are rifles, shotguns, and occasionally revolvers.
Sometimes, however, the hunter uses the knife.

General Wade Hampton, who has probably killed more black bears than any other man living in the United States, frequently used the knife, slaying thirty or forty with this weapon.

His plan was, when he found that the dogs had the bear at bay, to walk up close and cheer them on.

They would instantly seize the bear in a body, and he would then rush in and stab it behind the shoulder, reaching over so as to inflict the wound on the opposite side from that where he stood.