Leo Tolstoy’s epic bear hunt involved a guide using a magpie to locate a bear, the bear walking backwards in the snow (in what they believed to be trickery to throw off the tracks), and one of the greatest authors of all time having a brush with death that would make headline news today.
Leo Tolstoy woke up in, “some sort of hall, all glittering and white with gleaming pillars” – temporarily forgetting that he and his hunting guide had lain down to rest in the night after spending a full day pursuing a bear that had been wounded by another member of the hunting party.
All the other members of the group had given up and returned to the village. Tolstoy and the young hunting guide, “Damian” had stayed on the track. They had spent the full day on snowshoes following the bear through deep snow until they believed they knew for certain where he was bedded. In sheer exhaustion they laid down in the snow and napped until they had energy enough to make the eight-mile trek back to the village to get the remaining members of the hunting party and return.
They arrived in the village late that night and slept again before they arose the next morning and resumed the bear hunt with the rest of the hunting party. What happened on Tolstoy’s epic bear hunt that day would make headline news in a modern era.
“’Now now,’ I thought. ‘He will come suddenly. I shall aim, fire, and he will drop…’”
Leo Tolstoy
The next morning Tolstoy was so tired from tracking the bear late into the previous night that he felt as though he could have slept into the afternoon. But when he saw that his comrade was already dressed and readying his gun, he knew he had to get up and finish the hunt. The guide, Damian, had already gotten up early that morning (apparently on little-to-no sleep) and retraced his and Tolstoy’s tracks from the night before to relocate the bear. He was certain he knew the bear’s location and the hunting team set out with a small army of “beaters” to drive the bear towards Tolstoy and his unnamed comrade, who were expected to do the shooting.
That part went smoothly. The beaters fully encircled the bear and began to close in on it – driving the bear to Tolstoy.
“He’s eating the master!”
Tolstoy aimed and fired, but the bear did not drop. After two misses by Tolstoy and one by his comrade, Tolstoy found himself face to face with a charging bear. Tolstoy managed to get off another shot, and was certain that he had hit the bear, but it didn’t stop. It slammed into Tolstoy- knocking him down. Before Tolstoy could get up the bear was on him – pinning him down with both paws and chomping on Tolstoy’s face. Tolstoy knew that he would die.
“He’s eating the master!”, came the cry of one of the hired beaters as they rushed to Tolstoy’s aide. Someone managed to scare the bear off of Tolstoy – who stood up so numbed by the adrenaline that he didn’t feel the pain of his forehead where the skin was hanging down in pieces. The bear made for the thickets.
The party considered going after it, but Tolstoy’s wounds took precedence and the party returned him to the village where a doctor sewed him up so well with silk thread that the scars were barely visible in his later life.
The bear would not escape forever. It was Damian, Tolstoy’s resilient guide from the initial tracking of the bear, who found and killed it some days later. Upon examination, they discovered that Tolstoy’s shot had broken the bear’s lower jaw and knocked out at least one tooth – possibly saving his own life by rendering the bear unable to bite with full force.
Leo Tolstoy lived to tell the tale and would later give up hunting all together for other reasons. But Tolstoy’s epic bear hunt will forever remain on the short list of incredible encounters with mad bears, and it should be read as written by the great Russian author himself. You can find a digital version online but pick up a physical copy by clicking HERE.
It’s short and affordable. Trust me, you’ll want to reread this tale and pass a copy along to the next generation to read. After all, it’s not every day that someone who is considered by many to be the greatest author of all time gives us a first-hand recounting of getting mauled by a mad bear.