Big Game in the Rockies 



weighed his largest, which, if I remember 

 rightly, weighed eight hundred pounds. 

 One will, of course, occasionally see a very 

 large skin, and from its size it would seem 

 impossible that the animal that once filled it 

 out, if in good condition, could have weighed 

 less than twelve hundred pounds. But I 

 think it may be safely set down that the 

 average weight of most specimens that one 

 will get in the mountains will be under, 

 rather than over, five hundred pounds. 



To me, bear-hunting possesses a great 

 fascination, and for years I have hunted 

 nothing else. Personally I prefer to go after 

 them in the spring. Their skins are then in 

 their prime, the hair long and soft, and their 

 claws (if valued as they should be) are long 

 and sharp from disuse. Bears seek their 

 winter quarters in Bad Lands and in the 

 mountains. Those that adopt the former 

 come out much earlier ; consequently if the 

 hunter is on the ground soon enough, by 

 beginning first in the lower lands and work- 

 ing toward the mountains, he may be rea- 

 sonably sure of securing good skins as late 

 as June. In the spring, too, bears are much 



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