GRIZZLY AND BLACK BEAR HUNTING 



valley of the Iskoot River, we could see the distant mountains 

 on which we were to hunt sheep. Ptarmigan were quite plenti- 

 ful in the low growth in the vicinity of camp, and a sufficient 

 number of these were shot with the .22 for luncheon. 



After we had eaten, Howe started out alone for game, the 

 cook went after more ptarmigan, and the two Indians climbed 

 a knoll near by looking for marmots, while I, having a slightly 

 swollen ankle, amused myself with solitaire. Suddenly both 

 Indians came leaping down the hillside in search of the field- 

 glasses, claiming they had seen a moose on the opposite side of 

 the canon. By the time I had pulled on my boots the moose 

 had changed to a grizzly, and, entirely forgetting my sprained 

 ankle, I plunged down the slope of the cafion in the wake of the 

 excited MacClusky. We forded the waist-deep current of a 

 glacial stream, forced our way through the timber, and then 

 climbed over moss-covered ridges until I was ready to drop from 

 exhaustion and shortness of breath. Finally, in the region of 

 snow-patches, we jumped the grizzly at about one hundred and 

 seventy-five yards, and I sat down in the moss and fired shot 

 after shot as the departing bear galloped away across the moun- 

 tain. I could not see where the bullets were striking in the 

 moss, and, before I realized it, the running grizzly had disap- 

 peared over a ridge a quarter of a mile distant to the accompani- 

 ment of ten futile shots. MacClusky, while a miserable shot 

 himself, never hesitated to criticise the marksmanship of com- 

 panions at any range. Naturally he did not allow this excellent 

 opportunity of airing his sentiments on the subject to pass un- 

 noticed. We followed the tracks of the bear, which was of 

 medium size and light-colored, for some time, but, finding no 

 traces of blood, gave up the chase, and reached camp after dark 

 in a drizzling rain. 



Enveloped in fog and rain, we travelled down the cafion all 

 the next morning, and reached the Little Iskoot River at noon. 

 Here we had luncheon, and the Indians made a feast on a freshly 



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