It has been a tradition to go camping at Easter time with all of my mother's family for 55+ years and when I was a young girl my Uncle Bill Stringham would recite "Elmer and the Bear" and Aunt Norma (Reynolds, now Christensen) would play her ukulele and we would sing a chorus between each verse. The words he used were a bit different in a few places. He said he got the words from an Anderson who lived in Manti, Utah. (I wondered if he was related to Mike.) Today it is still a favorite at Easter with my children and now my grandchildren will still hear Uncle Bill repeating the words, (although a few more of us have learned it) and Aunt Norma still plays her ukulele and is joined by the guitar, at our campfire sing-alongs. You can compare the word differences:

Elmer Jones awoke at dawn
And put his huntin' britches on
And looked up at his shotgun on the wall.
He made his mind up then and there
To bag himself a hunk of bear.
At hunting he had plenty on the ball.
He milked the cow and slopped the hog,
Kissed his wife and called the dog,
Picked up his gun and started on his quest.
He crossed the creek and hit the trees,
Threw back his head and sniffed the breeze,
Let out a yell and pounded on his chest.

CHORUS: Here comes Elmer. Elmer's got his gun.
Here comes Elmer. Better run, bear, run.

Well, he hunted all the morning through,
And not a bear came into view,
And Elmer's mind was on the kitchen range;
For he was sick as sick could be
Of lamb and chicken fricassee.
He craved a hunk of bear meat for a change.
Poor Elmer's mind was in a fog.
He paused to sit down on a log,
And tried to get his faculties in the groove.
He heard a noise, and standing there
Beside him was a grizzly bear.
He figured it was time to make his move. CHORUS

He grabbed his gun and turned around,
But missed. The bear just stood his ground,
And Elmer said, "It's either me or thou."
That gun just wouldn't go.
He knew that someone had to go.
He said, "Farewell, I'm leaving as of now."
Now Elmer's shoulders sprouted wings.
His feet developed inner springs.
To linger longer he was disinclined.
He flew so fast through muck and mire,
His ankles set his socks afire,
And still that bear kept coming on behind. CHORUS

A deer with antlers eight feet wide
Got in the way of Elmer's stride,
As both of them went heading through the brush,
And Elmer said, "Now listen, son:
If that's as fast as you can run,
Move over, 'cause I'm really in a rush."
That bear kept gaining inch by inch,
And finally reached out for the clinch
Just as Elmer spied the fence around his place.
He jumped the fence and landed hard,
Leaped sixty feet across the yard,
And slammed the kitchen door in bruin's face. CHORUS

Well, the bear was trying to get inside,
And Elmer sought a place to hide,
And Mrs. Jones began to pull her hair.
She said, "This fuss has got to stop.
Why don't you let the matter drop?"
He said, "Why don't you tell that to the bear?"
She said, "Now listen, goon.
How come you think you're Daniel Boone,
Whose appetite on bear meat used to thrive?"
He said, "I'm sure you're well aware
That Dan'el always killed his bear,
But, honey, I done brought this baby home alive!" CHORUS