THE GAME BREEDER 



15 



width. This "benching" of a mountain 

 has been a source of disappointment to 

 many a hunter. I have never been quite 

 able to understand where the mountain 

 climber gets his compensation for his 

 labors. Of course, he is well paid, but 

 the salary of one man does not meet the 

 demands of another. 



On approaching the shoulder of the 

 mountain, we separated to circumvent 

 the summit, on a purely inspection trip. 

 We had been separated for two or three 

 hours, and I had seen nothing in the 

 way of game signs and had started to 

 return toward the camp about five miles 

 away. I paused for a moment and 

 glanced toward the sky line to the north 

 of me about three miles. I was using 

 my field glasses. All at once I saw, like 

 a retreating cloud bringing to view the 

 moon at the horizon, five slowly resolv- 

 ing moving, objects that I soon recog- 

 nized as rams' heads, I have never be- 

 held a grander sight. I could make out 

 that they were frightened and had been 

 running quite a distance, as they fre- 

 quently paused and turned about to look 

 in the direction from whence they came. 

 I was standing in mushy snow up to my 

 ankles, but what did I care for cold or 

 wet, while watching this band of noble 

 rams ! I quickly lay down on my back 

 in the snow, as they were coming in my 

 direction. They were led by a big ram 

 with a massive pair of horns. The sight 

 was one of enchanting beauty as I 

 watched them. They strung out on the 

 face of the mountain, all the time coming 

 nearer and nearer to me. My joy at the 

 prospect of bagging one of those tro- 

 phies was unbounded, and I could hardly 

 contain myself, so impatient was I while 

 watching them. They are, I thought, 

 now about six hundred yards away and 

 coming directly toward me with the wind 

 in my favor. Will they discover me, or 

 will they turn to the right through the 

 little sag on the spine of the mountain? 

 While I was thus meditating, they 

 quickly turned away from me and dis- 

 appeared through the gap. I jumped to 

 mv feet, one-half of me as wet as a ship's 

 hiill just put in the dry docks, and ran 

 with all my might — not very fast at that 

 altitude — in the direction they had dis- 



appeared. I had not gone over two hun- 

 dred yards before I saw them coming 

 right toward me in full flight (flight 

 nearly describes their ability to get over 

 the ground. ) They had evidently come 

 in sight of some one of our party over 

 the crest of the ridge. When within 

 three hundred yards of me, I began 

 firing at the leader. My second shot 

 striking him while in the air — truly a 

 wing shot — he turned a summersault and 

 never moved after striking the snow. 

 I fired three more shots, scoring on the 

 horns of another, stunning him so badly 

 that he lay in the snow for fully thirty 

 seconds, but regained his feet and made 

 his escape. I measured some jumps made 

 by these sheep in the snow and found 

 the distance to be twenty-four feet. The 

 actual distance of the sheep from me 

 when I shot measured over three hun- 

 dred yards. My delight at killing this 

 ram was so great and my enthusiasm 

 was so intense that I did not realize — 

 and I presume would not have cared at 

 that time — ^that I had violated the pro- 

 visions of the game law of British 

 Columbia, protecting Ovis Montana, I 

 was later very forcibly reminded of this 

 fact, when one of the Indians deserted 

 camp and told the game warden that I 

 had killed the sheep on August 20th, I 

 was fined fifty dollars and costs. 



Now, my dear hunters and true sports- 

 men, I believe in game protection by 

 stringent laws, and I believe in the prose- 

 cution of all violations of the same, but 

 place yourself in my position — and con- 

 sider other facts mentioned — at the time 

 I killed this ram, and I will ask you on 

 the "Q. T." what would you have done? 

 What? Of course you would. The offi- 

 cials of British Columbia are the finest 

 set of courteous gentlemen I have ever 

 met in an official or unofficial way. 



This is a month of great activity on 

 the game farms and preserves. The hard 

 work of the year now begins and it will 

 continue until the last birds are shot in 

 the fall and the guns are called oflf to 

 give the breeding stock a rest before an- 

 other season begins. Game keepers are 

 requested to send notes about what they 

 are doing and what the prospects are. 



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