260 CANADIAN TURF RECOLLECTIONS 



and as anxious as the most timid hunter could be to get 

 out of the way. The only exception to this rule is the 

 case of a wounded bear when brought to bay, or a mother 

 when her cubs are attacked. She is then thoroughly 

 dangerous, and the hunter who has wounded one of her 

 youngsters and finds himself confronted by the mother 

 requires to keep his head cool and shoot straight. Other- 

 wise he will have a wrestling match on hand in which 

 he is likely to come out second best. 



Passionately fond of shooting and fishing, I am now, 

 through blindness, forced to content myself with mem- 

 ories of past outings; of splendid sport on lakes and 

 rivers, of noble catches of gamey bass and lordly salmon. 

 Memory also serves up thoughts of glorious autumnal 

 days in Canadian forests when hunting red deer or moose, 

 and though the knowledge that such pleasures can never 

 again be experienced, it is solace for the mind to be able 

 to serve up some of these recollections. 



Every shooting season an appalling number of acci- 

 dents are annually recorded, the majority of them caused 

 through gross carelessness in handling, or otherwise 

 using, rifle or shotgun, and some men are so thoroughly 

 reckless that they are unsafe companions, no matter how 

 big the woods. At the slightest movement the gun is at 

 their shoulder and without any proper inspection of what 

 caused the noise, they will blaze away in the direction of 

 the sound. Settlers often lose young stock feeding in the 

 woods through such recklessness, and it is therefore not 

 surprising that in some sections where they have had 

 such experiences they object to hunters trespassing on 

 their property. 



My son, a skilful hunter and a thoroughly experienced 

 woodsman, once had a narrow escape when still-hunting 

 in this same section. When stepping over a log he was 

 seen by an amateur hunter who, mistaking him for a deer, 

 had his rifle at his shoulder ready to blaze away without 

 further inspection. Fortunately, a lad who was steering 

 him through the woods, detected the mistake and knocked 

 up his rifle, thus sending the bullet harmlessly through 



