IN THE ALASKA-YUKON GAMELANDS 



seen a band of six or seven rams. But they had 

 selected a great outlook point and we almost 

 despaired of ever being able to reach them. 



We tied our horses at timberline and climbed 

 a 300-foot ridge to spy on them and figure out a 

 means of approach. We found that by dropping 

 down a httle to our left we could gain the pro- 

 tection of a friendly ridge, behind which it looked 

 like we could climb pretty close to them. While 

 crossing the gulch to this ridge we opened up 

 some new country next to where the rams lay, 

 on the slopes of which we saw some ewes and 

 lambs, and which seemed easier for us to stalk 

 than the rams. As we needed lambs, an ewe 

 and some 2- or 3-year-olds for our groups, we 

 decided it would be a nice pick-up to get 

 within range of these, so we bent our energies 

 accordingly. After an hour of hard climbing, 

 first up the gulch and then up the side-hill, we 

 found ourselves on the side of the ridge over- 

 looking the sheep. This side-hill was almost a 

 precipice in steepness, and to make it worse, it 

 was composed of loose shale rock with the wind 

 blowing directly toward our quarry. For the 

 wind might not only figure as a factor in scent 

 carrying, but in sound carrying as well. The 

 piercing cold wind at the summit of this ridge 

 seemed to transform our sweaty shirts into icy 

 incrustations. It certainly did crystallize the 

 drops of moisture that fell from our chins, noses 

 and eyebrows into temporary jewel drops. 



112 



