2 24 BIG GAME SHOOTING IN ALASKA chap, xi 



Hasard were camped about three miles from us, and that 

 Hanbury was camped at no great distance again from them. 

 We all seemed to have got huddled up in a corner, and, as 

 Hanbury remarked when looking down from a high mountain 

 in the sheep country on several camps about a month before, 

 the Kenai Peninsula was getting too much like a Scotch 

 deer forest. 



I decided to move my camp shortly and to cross to the 

 other side of the lake. Little persuaded me to try Nicolai 

 Creek, where Colonel Cane had been the previous season. 

 In a weak moment I decided to do this, although from 

 his account Colonel Cane had not seen very many moose 

 during the whole time he spent there. Two days before 

 leaving my old camp, whilst Pitka and I were taking 

 our daily prowl through the forest, I saw, as we were 

 crossing an open glade, three objects moving in the grass 

 about 200 yards away. Pitka was as usual looking on the 

 ground, and when I pointed out the objects he said, " Me 

 think that cow moose lie down." I said, " You fool, they are 

 three black bears feeding on berries." Pitka said, " Yes, old 

 woman bear, two little ones. Go quick, you catch 'um." 

 Leaving him where he was, I started crawling on my hands 

 and knees up to the bears, which were so busy grubbing up 

 the blue-berries that I got within 50 yards of them without 

 being seen. Then, thinking I could not possibly miss the 

 old one, I stood up, and taking steady aim at her shoulder, 

 fired. She fell like a log, but a second afterwards, as I was 

 very leisurely reloading, jumped up and dashed towards the 

 thick brush a few yards away. I was so astonished that I 

 fired hurriedly at her again, and think that I hit her in the 

 hind-quarters. At any rate the shot did not stop her, but 

 the two cubs, starting off after their mother, suffered from 



