i8o 



RECREA TION. 



the game was a little " off " in seeking out 

 such unlikely spots to lie in during the 

 day. 



I studied the habits of the deer at differ- 

 ent seasons, and hunted them accordingly. 

 Now, I feel quite disappointed if in a day's 

 tramp from camp, I do not have an op- 

 portunity for a shot at whatever kind of 

 game I am looking for. 



I have found that hunters who have 

 made the habits of game a study, are the 

 most successful. 



To show how a fellow can miss it and 

 think there is no game in the country, I 

 will give you one instance that happened 

 in a party of which I was a member. 



We were camped in the Clearwater coun- 

 try, in the Bitter Root mountains. One 

 of the party had never killed a grizzly bear 

 or a moose, and was anxious to kill both. 



Years ago. in that locality it was an easy 

 matter to do so; but since the trappers 

 have killed so many large animals to bait 

 bear traps with, it is not so easy to find 

 game. 



West of where we were camped was a 

 country that had been swept by fire for 3 

 or more miles to the West and 15 or 20 

 miles North and South. About 3 miles 

 West was a divide, and every mile or more 

 toward the North, along this summit, was 

 the head of a small creek which flowed 

 East. Opposite each of these creeks, was 

 one flowing West. 



Six or 7 miles Northwest of camp was 

 another divide which ran East and West. 

 The summit was a large marsh or meadow, 

 and at times was quite a resort for grizzly 

 bear and moose. 



A few years ago, one would have to try 

 harder to miss game there, than he now 

 would to find it. But since the game has 

 been so hunted for bear bait, it does not 

 use these large open marshes as in former 

 years; but seeks some small marsh at the 

 head of one of the creeks, and will not 

 range out for weeks at a time. 



The man who wanted the moose and 

 bear, hunted early and late, but could see 

 nothing but elk and deer, and a few moose 

 tracks. 



West of camp, a half mile or more, was 

 a small stream. As often as once a week 

 we would see the tracks of a very large 

 moose, crossing from the head of this creek 

 to some one of the others. 



One morning, after hunting this burned 

 ridge and the large marsh to the North- 

 west, my friend gave up hope of finding 

 game there. He suggested that I make a 

 trip and get some meat for camp. I took 

 m Y 30-30 Marlin. and struck out for the big 

 marsh to see if I could find a grizzly; not 

 that I cared to kill one, but more to see if 

 there were any working the marsh. 



Until I crossed the divide to the West, 

 I saw no signs of game. Before I reached 



the marsh I stopped at a small spring to 

 drink. I heard something moving below 

 where I sat, and soon an old cow elk came 

 out. 



It was such a bad place to pack the meat 

 out from, that I decided to let her pass, and 

 trust to luck to find something in a more 

 accessible place, so I proceeded on my way. 

 On the divide at the head of the marsh is 

 a narrow pine ridge, with a small lake. 

 Just as I reached the East end of the lake, 

 I heard quite a scratching and snuffing, in 

 the small pines on the Western shore. 



Keeping behind trees and what cover I 

 could find, I worked my way slowly to 

 within 40 yards of the source of the noise. 

 Looking from behind a tree, I saw an old 

 grizzly turning up rocks in search of ants 

 and grubs. My fingers itched to put one of 

 the little 30' s into his hide: but as we had 

 been trying to capture one alive, and had 

 camped for 6 weeks in this place for that 

 purpose, I did not fire. After watching 

 the bear turn over 3 or 4 rocks, I quietly 

 withdrew, and continued down the stream. 



For 3 miles I saw nothing except some 

 old tracks of moose and elk. These grew 

 less frequent as I got further down stream. 

 I decided to strike Southeast to camp, 

 which was 7 or 8 miles away. 



On the way I had to cross 3 or 4 small 

 streams running to the East. 



Near the divide was the head of a small 

 stream which flowed West into the stream 

 I was then on. I had never been at the 

 head of this, but from the divide had looked 

 down on a small marsh. This contained 

 perhaps a *4 section, and was dotted here 

 and there with small water holes and 

 clumps of trees, and covered with tall grass. 



As I had found nothing as yet for camp 

 I decided to pay this marsh a visit, and see 

 what was there. Coming to the top of the 

 ridge, I saw, 150 yards from the lower end 

 of the marsh, a large moose, with a fine set 

 of antlers. At first I thought of shooting 

 him; then I remembered the fellow who 

 had hunted so faithfully, and decided to 

 let him try to find the moose the next day. 



Just then, another large moose emerged 

 from a clump of trees, near the first one. 

 and joined him. 



Both moose moved into the clump of 

 trees. They were nearly in the middle of 

 the group, when another arose from the 

 grass and started to join the procession. 

 This was more than I could stand. The 

 last moose was not so large as the others, 

 and I thought perhaps the fellows at camp 

 would overlook the shooting of a small 

 one. As he entered the timber, I cut loose 

 with a left quartering shot, but could not 

 see that it had any effect on the moose. 

 He was over 150 yards away, and as I had 

 shot this gun but little. I was not sure 

 I could hit him at that distance. The gun 

 was one I had had made, and I think was 



