SPORT AND TRAVEL 199 



Personally, I believe in the desirability of snow for 

 success in wapiti hunting, for although the presence 

 of snow may be immaterial to success should one 

 have the luck to hear the stags whistling freely, as 

 they always used to do, I believe, during the rutting 

 season, yet if they don't whistle, but only skulk ever 

 watchful in the dense forests, and there is no new 

 snow to aid one in tracking them and deaden one's 

 footsteps, it is a difficult matter ever to get a glimpse 

 of one at all. 



Our success up to date had not been great. W. M. 

 had shot a wapiti bull and a mule deer buck, whilst 

 I had accounted for two prong-horn bucks, two mule 

 deer (a small buck and a medium-sized stag), and one 

 bighorn sheep ewe. Considering that one does not 

 eat more bull wapiti meat than one can help, and that 

 we were seven in camp (eight, counting a hungry dog), 

 we had so far only just kept ourselves in good meat. 



On October 2, I started out with Graham as 

 early as possible into the mountains lying to the north 

 of our camp, whilst W. M. crossed the river with 

 Jinks to hunt along the course of a stream flowing 

 into it from the south. 



After leaving camp, Graham and I climbed steadily 

 up the steep forest-clad slopes immediately above 

 us, and soon got into snow which gradually became 

 deeper and deeper as we climbed higher and higher. 

 We were, I suppose, about one thousand feet above 

 our starting-point when we came upon the perfectly 



