SEAL LIFE ON THE PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 



which were so badly wounded that they would have died. I have per- 

 sonally examined the log of the schooner Ant/el DoUic, in which it was 

 stated that the hunters from that vessel got about one seal out of every 

 ten shot ;it; also that on one occasion they tired 250 rounds, and got 

 20 seals; on another occasion 100 cartridges, and got <> seals, and which 

 log also stated that the captain personally shot and killed 7 seals, of 

 which he got only one. (T. F. Morgan.) 



They lost very few of the seals they speared. They secured about 

 all of the seals they speared. (John Morris.) 



When in Bering Sea, I had an opportunity to observe the difference 

 in the number of seals lost by killing them with shotguns and by taking 

 them with spears. The hunters that used shotguns lost more than one- 

 half they shot, while the hunters that used spears seldom ever lost one 

 that they hit. (Moses.) 



It is generally conceded that the Indian hunters in the use of the 

 spear seldom lose one they kill or wound. (Morris Moss.) 



When 1 was a boy 1 used a shotgun for taking seal, bought from the 

 Hudson Bay Company at Fort Simpson, and have always used a shot- 

 gun for sealing. 1 think about two out of ten seal shot are lost. (Smith 

 Natch.) 



Sometimes I lose two and sometimes three seal out of ten 1 shoot. 

 (Dan Nathlan.) 



It depends a great deal upon the weather as to the amount of seals 

 obtained by the hunters. After a heavy blow you see the seals lying 

 on top of the water asleep, and you can get very close to them, and on 

 an average you would get two or three out of every five or six you kill 

 or wound, while in rough weather you would not get one out of live or 

 six killed or wounded. (John O'Brien.) 



Xot being hunters of experience, our men lost about two thirds of 

 all the seal shot. Good hunters would not lose to exceed 25 per cent. 

 (Nelson T. Oliver.) 



We used shotguns, using buckshot, and I have known twenty shots 

 to be tired at a seal before we got her. When we shot at " sleepers' 7 

 we got a good many more than when we shot at "bachelors" or "roll- 

 ers," and we secured on an average about one out of every three killed 

 and wounded. The percentage of loss of those killed and wounded is 

 fully as great as 1 have stated. (John Olsen.) 



W T heu the rifle is used less than one seal for five shots is secured; 

 many shots miss, but of those seals hit about one half are secured. 

 (W. Roberts.) 



It is very hard to estimate the number lost of those shot, but I should 

 judge an expert hunter would lose certainly from 40 to GO percent,, 

 and a hunter not particularly expert would lose from 80 to 85 per cent. 

 (L. G. Shepard.) 



In some instances we ran upon schools of seal and shot five or six, 

 all of which would be lost; in other instances we would secure about 

 one-half of those wounded. One-half of all seals shot on the coast are 

 lost. (William Short.) 



About 25 per cent are lost when shot with a shotgun, and more are 

 lost when shot with rifle. Shotgun and rifle are used by me for taking 

 seal. (Jack Shucky.) 



