4 i 8 BIG GAME SHOOTING 



grizzlies, in British Columbia at least ; and the man who revisits 

 a caribou carcase after a few days' absence is likely enough to 

 find big tracks going in front of him, and a big, bad-tempered 

 beast suffering from a surfeit of venison lying not far from the 

 body. 



Mr. Rowland Ward mentions a head 6b ins. long, with a 

 span of 41^ ins., having 15 tines on the one side and 22 tines on 

 the other. 



(4) BARREN GROUND CARIBOU (C. tarandus arcticus] 



Almost all that I know of the Barren Ground Caribou 

 (C. tarandus arcticus] has been derived from the writings of 

 my friend Mr. Warburton Pike, who has enjoyed exceptional 

 opportunities of studying this beast recently in its native 

 haunts, the barren lands of Upper Canada. According to him, 

 the Barren Ground caribou is about one-third smaller than its 

 woodland cousin. This seems fairly conclusive, coming from a 

 man who has seen and shot so many Barren Ground caribou as 

 Mr Pike has. 



The range of this beast is, according to my authority, ' from 

 the islands in the Arctic Sea to the southern part of Hudson 

 Bay, while the Mackenzie river is the limit of its average 

 western wanderings.' 



The Barren Ground caribou appears to rut at about the 

 same season as the woodland variety, and masses up into those 

 huge herds known locally as ' la foule ' for its winter migration 

 southwards, late in October. A month later the males and 

 females separate, the latter beginning to work their way north 

 again as early as the end of February ; they reach the edge of 

 the woods in April, and drop their young far out towards the 

 sea-coast in June. The males stay in the woods until May and 

 never reach the coast, but meet the females on their way inland 

 at the end of July ; from this time they stay together till the 

 rutting season is over, and it is time to seek the woods once 

 more. The horns are mostly clear of velvet towards the end of 

 September, and are shed by the old bulls early in December. 



