Most of his hunting for bear was done in northern Mississippi, where one of his plantations was situated, near Greenville.

During the half century that he hunted, on and off, in this neighborhood, he knew of two instances where hunters were fatally wounded in the chase of the black bear.

Both of the men were inexperienced, one being a raftsman who came down the river, and the other a man from Vicksburg.

He was not able to learn the particulars in the last case, but the raftsman came too close to a bear that was at bay, and it broke through the dogs, rushed at and overthrew him, then lying on him, it bit him deeply in the thigh, through the femoral artery, so that he speedily bled to death.
But a black bear is not usually a formidable opponent, and though he will sometimes charge home he is much more apt to bluster and bully than actually to come to close quarters.

I myself have but once seen a man who had been hurt by one of these bears.