Sport: Big Gamester

Ducks and turkeys didn’t satisfy Denver Wright’s killer instincts. TheSt. Louis billfold manufacturer was determined to go after Big Game.

His first attempt was a lion hunt on a nearby island in the Mississippi.He knew that there were lions on the island, because he had bought twofrom a circus and turned them loose there. A fearless Star-Timesreporter, bent on spoiling the Post-Dispatch’s exclusive story, went ona private safari which bagged the lions while Wright and his party wereeating lunch. Three months later, Wright tried again. This time hebought a couple of “old, vicious” lions. They were so moth-eaten theyrefused to leave the camp site when let out of their cages.

Last week Wright went after big game in its natural habitat. With aparty of 21, eight bear-dogs and an observation plane, he ventured toBemidji, Minn, for the first organized bear hunt in Minnesota history.Result of a week’s hunting: one 400-lb. black bear, one 90-lb. cub, onewolf, 50 porcupine quills in one of the dogs. The Bemidji Chamber ofCommerce gave the visiting hunters a bear-steak dinner, slyly providedthem with sleeping quarters in a Boy Scout camp.