Big Game Shooting 255 



salmon running up the streams, the fur of the bear 

 is not at its best. The trappers like to shoot bruin 

 when he comes out of his winter quarters. But his 

 spring coat soon becomes shabby, and then you 

 must wait till he grows fat again. 



Eeliable information can be obtained in either 

 Victoria or Vancouver, and in the former town are 

 several famous sportsmen who have shot every- 

 thing that may be found in the forests of the 

 North, from the rare musk-ox to the humble squir- 

 rel. But these gentlemen can hardly be expected 

 to reveal the whereabouts of their own happy 

 hunting-grounds. They will gladly tell you what 

 to take in the way of impedimenta, and what not 

 to take ; and they will tell you also not to look for 

 caribou and sheep in the places where these ani- 

 mals have been shot of recent years. If you can 

 spare the time — and big game shooting is not to 

 be undertaken in a hurry — it is wise to seek fresh 

 ground, passing over the old en ronte to the new. 

 Some parts of the country are more open than 

 others, and after the first snows, the sheep and 

 caribou are driven in search of food to ranges more 

 accessible to the hunter. I believe October and 

 November to be the best months for wapiti, cari- 

 bou, sheep, and goats. The cold, it is true, is often 

 intense ; but there are no mosquitoes to drive you 

 distracted, and the game is easily tracked. Many 

 years ago, I spent the month of November in the 

 North Park of Colorado, and although the mercury 

 in my thermometer often fell below zero, and al- 

 though our tent was as full of holes as a rabbit 

 warren, we suffered not at all; and the sense of 



