Big Game in the Rockies 
weighed his largest, which, if I remember 
rightly, weighed eight hundred pounds. 
One will, of course, occasionally see a very 
large skin, and from its size it would seem 
impossible that the animal that once filled it 
out, if in good condition, could have weighed 
less than twelve hundred pounds. But I 
think it may be safely set down that the 
average weight of most specimens that one 
will get in the mountains will be under, 
rather than over, five hundred pounds. 
To me, bear-hunting possesses a great 
fascination, and for years I have hunted 
nothing else. Personally I prefer to go after 
them in the spring. Their skins are then in 
their prime, the hair long and soft, and their 
claws (if valued as they should be) are long 
and sharp from disuse. Bears seek their 
winter quarters in Bad Lands and in the 
mountains. Those that adopt the former 
come out much earlier; consequently if the 
hunter is on the ground soon enough, by 
beginning first in the lower lands and work- 
ing toward the mountains, he may be rea- 
sonably sure of securing good skins as late 
as June. In the spring, too, bears are much 
109 
