Origins: Goin' on a Bear Hunt

Subject: ADD: Goin' on a Bear Hunt
From: Joe Offer
Date: 02 Jul 25 - 12:46 PM

There is another thread on a bawdy version of this song, Lyr Add: We Are Warriors - Rugby Chant - Song(?), but I'd get in real trouble if I sent Cub Scouts to that thread...

I posted the lyrics back in 2015 on a generic Girl Scout songs thread, but I couldn't find it when I was looking for it a few days ago. I think this song deserves its own thread.

Thread #11100   Message #3695200
Posted By: Joe Offer
19-Mar-15 - 03:02 AM
Thread Name: Old Girl Scout Songs
Subject: ADD: Going on a Bear Hunt

I think the bear song requested is Goin' on a Bear Hunt. I've never heard two people sing this the same. Heck, I don't think I've ever sung it the same way twice myself. Once you have the general idea, make it up as you go along.
-Joe-

GOING ON A BEAR HUNT

(Leader)
We're going on a bear hunt!
(Group)
We're going on a bear hunt!
We're gonna catch a big one!
We're gonna catch a big one!
I'm not afraid!
I'm not afraid!
Are you?
Are you?
Not me!
Not me!
Here comes the gate
" " (Group Echos)
Now we're on a bear hunt " "
We're gonna catch a big one " "
I'm not afraid " "
Are you? " " Not me! " "
We're coming to a tall mountain " "
It sure is high " "
It sure is wide " "
Let's climb up it " "
Well, there's nothing over there " "
Nothing over there " "
Nothing back there " "
Hey! Wait! I think I see something
Quick! Everybody run down!

We're going on a bear hunt!
We're going on a bear hunt!
We're gonna catch a big one!
We're gonna catch a big one!
I'm not afraid!
I'm not afraid!
Are you?
Are you?
Not me!
Not me!
We're going thru the tall grass " "
We're going thru the short grass " "
Hey! Look! There's a little tree " "
Well, let's shinny on up it
Whoa! It gets a little skinny up here at the top
See anything over that way? " "
Anything over that way?, Uh, oh!,
Oh, no! Whoa! Agh! let's get down!

We're going on a bear hunt!
We're going on a bear hunt!
We're gonna catch a big one!
We're gonna catch a big one!
I'm not afraid!
I'm not afraid!
Are you?
Are you?
Not me!
Not me!
Oh, no! " "
It's a big puddle of mud " "
Can't go around it " "
Gotta go right thru it " "
Yeuk! " "
Well, let's go.
Squish, Sqwish, Blaaahh.

We're going on a bear hunt!
We're going on a bear hunt!
We're gonna catch a big one!
We're gonna catch a big one!
I'm not afraid!
I'm not afraid!
Are you?
Are you?
Not me!
Not me!
We're coming to a wide river " "
And there's no bridge going over it " "
No tunnel going under it " "
It's just plain old water " "
And we're gonna have to swim " "
All right, dive in!
Start swimming
Do the back stroke
Do the side stroke
Do the doggie paddle
Try the little cat paddle
OK Jump out, shake yourself off

We're going on a bear hunt!
We're going on a bear hunt!
We're gonna catch a big one!
We're gonna catch a big one!
I'm not afraid!
I'm not afraid!
Are you?
Are you?
Not me!
Not me!
Shhh, it's a cave " "
Looks like the kind of cave that B-bears live in " "
I don't know if I want to go in there
You think we oughta go in?
Are you nuts?
There's probably a bear in there
All right I'll go in, You stay here,
And if I find a bear, I'll come out and get you
And we'll all go in and grab him together
Now, quiet, don't make a sound while I'm in that cave,
Cuz if you wake him up, I'll be in trouble
Bears are awful ornery when they first wake up, you know
OK, I'm going on in
Oooo, It's dark in here
It's really dark in here
I can't see a thing
Agh, there's spiders webs
Ooo, what was that???
What's this??.... it's soft, uh oh,it's kind of fuzzy
Ahg!!!!!!!!! Run! Everybody run!!
I saw a bear!!!!
Jump in the water! Swim fast!!
Do the backstroke!
The sidestroke, the doggie paddle
Jump out of the water
Run through the mud!
Forget the tree!!
Go through the tall grass
The short grass
Quick! Go up the mountain
Down the other side
Go thru the gate
Into the house, under the bed
Under the pillow
Hide!!!!!
Uh, it's awful quiet around here
I'm not afraid
I'm not afraid
Are you?
Are you?

3/18/2015 The Bear Hunt Words & Lyrics
http://www.timmyabell.com/music/lyrics/ol/bearhunt.htm 2/4

...and another...

Goin' On a Lion Hunt
Audience echoes each line and sets up clap/lap-slapping rhythm.
Goin' on a lion hunt.
Goin to catch a big one.
I'm not afraid.
Look, what's up ahead?
Mud!
Can't go over it.
Can't go under it.
Can't go around it.
Gotta go through it. [Make sloshing sounds and move hands as if slogging.]

Following verses:
Sticks. [Snap fingers.]
Tree. [Make gestures climbing up and down.]
Gate. [Make gate-opening gestures.]
River. [Make swimming gestures.]
Cave. [Go in it and find lion. Reverse all motions quickly to get home.

http://www.scoutsongs.com/lyrics/going-on-a-lion-hunt.html

---

And there is a Traditional Ballad Index entry on this song:

Bear Hunt

DESCRIPTION: "Going on a bear hunt Wanna come along?" "Coming to the short grass, Can’t go around it, Can’t go under it, Gotta go through it." "Coming to the tall grass, Can't go around..." Eventually they find a bear in a cave -- and run
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 2014 (Averill-CampSongsFolkSongs)
KEYWORDS: animal humorous campsong
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Averill-CampSongsFolkSongs, pp. 240, 324, "Bear Hunt" (notes only)
Delamar-ChildrensCountingOutRhymes, pp. 38-39, "The Bear Hunt" (1 text)
NOTES [41 words]: In the mudcat.org thread "Old Girl Scout Songs," Joe Offer comments, "I've never heard two people sing this the same. Heck, I don't think I've ever sung it the same way twice myself. Once you have the general idea, make it up as you go along." - RBW
Last updated in version 6.4
File: ACSF240B

---

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List

Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography

The Ballad Index Copyright 2025 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.

Subject: RE: Origins: Goin' on a Bear Hunt
From: clueless don
Date: 02 Jul 25 - 01:48 PM

I seem to remember hearing this song on one of my daughter's music tapes (possibly from the "Wee Sing" folks.) When I try to replay it "in my mind's ear", I recall the "Goin' on a bear hunt", "I'm not afraid" parts, but I also remember the adventurers encountering various obstacles, and singing (in some order)

Can't go under it [can't go under it]
Can't go over it [can't go over it]
Can't go around it [can't go around it]
Guess we'll go through it!

An amalgam of the two versions you posted.

Subject: RE: Origins: Goin' on a Bear Hunt
From: Jack Horntip
Date: 02 Jul 25 - 01:49 PM

Sorry Joe. I honestly didn't know of the non-rugby versions of
"We Are Warriors" chant. The versions in my collection were a
curiosity and were collected c2007 from youtube. I saw a thread
discussing the Boney song and it brought to mind "We are Warriors".

A quote I saw somewhere: "A folksong is a song that everyone else sings wrong.".

Subject: RE: Origins: Goin' on a Bear Hunt
From: Joe Offer
Date: 02 Jul 25 - 02:05 PM

Oh, no reason to apologize, Jack. I just couldn't send Den Mothers to that thread. ;-)

Subject: RE: Origins: Goin' on a Bear Hunt
From: Jack Horntip
Date: 02 Jul 25 - 02:22 PM

Joe, where & when did you learn your version ?

Subject: RE: Origins: Goin' on a Bear Hunt
From: Joe Offer
Date: 02 Jul 25 - 03:18 PM

I learned it from Scoutmaster Dave Ishikawa of Sacramento. For several years in the 1980s, he was the Director and I was the Program Director for Cub Scout Day Camp in Rancho Cordova CA. He was the Scoutmaster of the most legendary Boy Scout troop in the Golden Empire Council in Sacramento.

Subject: RE: Origins: Goin' on a Bear Hunt
From: FreddyHeadey
Date: 02 Jul 25 - 08:02 PM

Michael Rosen does a performance and has written a children's book.

He has a blog where he mentions other versions he's heard himself or has been told about :

"This puts one origin for the song/rhyme as early as 1954"
'I was a brownie and girl guide about 70 years ago - in those days, we sat in a circle and did the actions to ‘I’m going on a lion hunt’. I definitely remember how we all screamed ‘a lion’ when we found ‘something soft, something furry’ in the cave and how we scrabbled our way back home, panting as we arrived!'
Margaret E. Sandercock - Facebook; April 8 2024

no date - Brownies (Girl Guide movement)
but their version was a 'Lion Hunt'

1983 - Linda Goss
,,, with obstacles of a tree, a river, a cornfield, a 'lah dee dee da dee' and a cave.
,,,mostly the moves through the obstacles are done with noises not words. The repeated line is 'can't go over it, can't go around it,' till it gets to the cornfield which they go 'through'. At the cave, the singer takes you to 'feel something' and after they realise it's a bear, they run home (no words, just noises made by slapping legs), and the last line is 'we were lucky that time'.
https://youtu.be/lY_-mA9AjPQ?t=11s

1973 - Sandra Stroner Sivulich,
illus by Glen Rounds, published by Dutton
'the obstacles are trees, rivers and caves'
Thanks to Jo Brodie on Twitter/X

1977 - Kathleen Savage and Margaret Stewart,
illus. by Leonard Shortall, published by Prentice Hall
'the obstacles are a river, bridge, cliff and a swamp'
Thanks to Jo Brodie on Twitter/X

1977 - Alison McMorland - album 'Funny Family'
American version ,,, devised in US summer camps. Some of these included a repeated line about guns
[That was the first version that Michael heard.]
http://www.alisonmcmorland.com/music/the-funny-family/09-were-going-on-a-bear-hunt.mp3
on
http://www.alisonmcmorland.com/player.asp

1986\87\89 - Michael Rosen
grass river mud forest snowstorm
illus Helen Oxenbury, published by Walker Books.
www.walker.co.uk/9780744523232/were-going-on-a-bear-hunt/
- interesting video there of Michael talking about the creation of the book.
performance : https://youtu.be/ytc0U2WAz4s

more :
https://michaelrosenblog.blogspot.com/2024/04/the-true-story-of-making-of-book-of.html

Subject: RE: Origins: Goin' on a Bear Hunt
From: Jack Horntip
Date: 02 Jul 25 - 11:33 PM

A Bear Hunt The leader says each line in a rhythmical manner.
Children and leader repeat each line together, making the necessary
motion

I want to go on a bear hunt (Children repeat each line.)
All right!
Let's go! (Slap thighs with hands.)

Oh, look!
There's a brook.
Can't go round it. (Make a "go round" motion with hand.)
Can't go under it. (Make a "go under" motion with hand.)
Can't go over it. (Make "go over" motion with hand.)
Gotta go through it.
All right!
Let's go. (Make swimming motion.)

Oh, look!
There's a bridge.
Can't go round it. (Make "go round" motion with hand.)
Can't go under it. (Make "go under" motion with hand.)
Gotta go over it.
All right!
Let's go! (Thump chest with both hands as you go over bridge.)

Oh look!
There's a swamp.
Can't go round it. (Make "go round" motion with hand.)
Can't go under it. (Make "go under" motion with hand.)
Can't go over it. (Make "go over" motion with hand.)
Gotta go through it.
All right!
Let's go! (Slide hands together.)

Oh look!
There's a tree
Can't go over it. (Make "go over" motion with hand.)
Can't go under it. (Make "go under" motion with hand.)
Gotta go up it.
All right!
Let's go! (Motion with both hands climing up and down tree.)

Oh look!
There's a cave.
Let's go see
What's inside?
All right!
Let's go! (Tramp softly; lower voices on next lines.)
Let's go softly.
Let's go quietly.

Oh look!
I see two big eyes.
I see two big paws.
I feel something like a fur coat.
It looks like a bear.
It feels like a bear.
IT IS A BEAR! (Loudly)
Let's go (Tramp fast with feet.)
Up the tree. (Make fast motion up the tree.)
Down the tree. (Make fast motion climbing down the tree.)
Through the swamp. (Make fast motions, sliding hands.)
Over the bridge. (Thump chest.)
Swim the brook. (Make fast swimming motions.)
Down the street. (Tramp fast.)
Ooooooh! or Wheeeew!
(When children have shown that they can exercise control, they
can stamp their feet as well as slap their thighs as they tramp.0

VARIATION: At seasonal times, this may be a Witch Hunt, A Santa
Claus Hunt, A Bunny Rabbit Hunt, and so forth. Use appropriate
clues when you reach the cave.

1961. Play activities for the retarded child : how to help him grow and learn through music, games, handicraft, and other play activities by Bernice (Wells) Carlson. pp.60-62.


See here: https://archive.org/details/playactivitiesfo0000carl/page/60/mode/1up?q=%22bear+hunt%22++%22go+through+it%22

Subject: RE: Origins: Goin' on a Bear Hunt
From: Jack Horntip
Date: 03 Jul 25 - 12:05 AM

Bear Hunt

The group repeats everything that the leader says and imitates
her motions.

Leader: Would you like to go on a bear hunt? Group: Yes.
Got my shoes. (Motion.)
Got my hat. (Motion.)
Got my gun. (Motion.)
All right--let's go!
Let's start down the road. (Clap hands on knees in walking rhythm.)
It's a long road. (Continue clapping.)

Oh look! There's a field of grass. (Point)
We can't go around it.
We can't go under it.
Guess we'll have to go through it. (Rub palms of hands together.)
More tall grass. (Same motion more vigorously.)
(Clap hands on knees again.)

Oh look! There's a bridge. (Point.)
We can't go around it.
We can't go under it.
Guess we'll have to go over it. (Clap hands on thighs.)
(Clap hands on knees again.)

Oh look at all the mud. (Point.)
We can't go around it.
We can't go under it.
Guess we'll have to go through it. (Hit closed fists on chest).
All right--let's go on. (Clap hands on knees.)

Wonder where we are?
Let's climb a tree and have a look. (Make climbing motions with hands and then shade your eyes looking rom side to side.)

Oh, look!
There's a pond. (Point)
Let's have a swim. (Climb down tree and start to clap hands on knees.)
Here's the pond.
Let's go. (Make swimming motions.)
That was nice.
I feel better.
(Clap hands on knees.)

Oh, look!
There's a cave. (Point)
I wonder if it's a bar cave?
Let's see.
Shh--you go first.
We'll all go together. (Walk fingers on knees.)
I feel something soft. (Groping motion with hands.)
And warm--and furry.
It feels like a bear.
Its is a bear!
Oh, dear!
(Start clapping on knees very rapidly. The rest of the story is told
as quickly as possible to give the impression that the bear is on
your heels.)

Cross the pond. (Motions.)
Through the mud. (Motions.)
Over the bridge. (Motions.)
Through the tall grass. (Motions.)
Down the long road. (Motions.)
Into the house. Slam the door. (Let out a great sigh.)
You didn't want to go on a bear hunt did you?

1954. Group Fun: Games and Activities for Girls--Techniques for Leaders
by Catharine Conway Reiley. pp.190-191. Formatted for readability.


See here: https://archive.org/details/groupfun0000unse/page/190/mode/1up?q=%22bear+hunt%22++

Subject: RE: Origins: Goin' on a Bear Hunt
From: Jack Horntip
Date: 03 Jul 25 - 07:20 PM

Warriors

Repeat after me song

We are Warriors.
We are brave.
We are strong.
We have great big guns.
And teeny tiny little bullets.
One day
Came across some tall grass
Can’t go round it.
Can’t go over it.
Got to go through it.
Repeat and change obstacles

Campfire Songbook. British scouting songbook

See here: https://www.107th.org.uk/skills/songbook/Song%20Book%20V3e_booklet.pdf

Subject: RE: Origins: Goin' on a Bear Hunt
From: Joe Offer
Date: 03 Jul 25 - 07:37 PM

I haven't sung the song for maybe 25 years, so I was having a hard time remembering the version I used to sing, but Jack Horntip is doing all the work for me. My version is very close to the one in Group Fun: Games and Activities for Girls--Techniques for Leaders

Subject: RE: Origins: Goin' on a Bear Hunt
From: Jack Horntip
Date: 03 Jul 25 - 07:43 PM

SQUEEGEE HUNT

Repeat after leader

Going on a squeegee hunt
Gonna catch a big one
I'm not afraid
What's that up ahead?
Grass
Can't go over it
Can't go under it
Can't go around it
Gotta go through it (move hands
together)

Repeat verse using:

Mud: poke fingers at air filled cheeks
Mushrooms: clasp hands and clap
Bridge: beat chest
Tree: climbing motion, 10 ft, 20 ft,
etc.
Cave: it’s dark in here, what’s that I
feel, it’s wet, it’s squishy, it’s a
squeegee

Go backwards through obstacles

Going on a squeegee hunt, I’m not
afraid

Camp Sacajawea Songbook. Girl Scouts of Woodland Council, Inc.
MS-word file. Retrieved Feb, 25, 2008. from www.woodgsc.org/forms/Songbook.doc

Subject: RE: Origins: Goin' on a Bear Hunt
From: GerryM
Date: 04 Jul 25 - 03:17 AM

From the title, I thought this was going to be about a parody of Going to a Go-Go, https://youtu.be/sWt4Hz1KGcQ?si=ORjPwgB6KFr53S-N

Subject: RE: Origins: Goin' on a Bear Hunt
From: Jack Horntip
Date: 04 Jul 25 - 12:12 PM

A recording of Squeegee Hunt: https://archive.org/download/16SingingInTheRain/01%201.%20Squeegee%20Hunt.mp3

1995. Camp Time - Walton's Grizzly Lodge Summer Camp, 1995 Camp Songs
by Walton's Grizzly Lodge Summer Camp

This is actually sung to a tune that I have heard in running cadences.

Subject: RE: Origins: Goin' on a Bear Hunt
From: Jack Horntip
Date: 04 Jul 25 - 01:04 PM

One of the songs that I sang over and over and over again as a song leader
in Girl Scouts was "Going on a Squeegee Hunt." Now, you may be wondering
what a "squeegee" is - good question! It is an imaginary creature that
was probably invented by some obscure girl scout in Southern California
many, MANY years ago!

Retrieved from here: https://musictxandme.blogspot.com/2012/11/going-on-squeegee-hunt.html