LETTERS FROM OUR READERS 



225 



Where Officers Brothers and Larsen are 

 now camped he killed 24 moose last year 

 in one week, and this year there has not 

 even been a track of one seen. You can 

 readily see that in a few more years we will 

 have to go to the North Pole to find a 

 moose. 



The caribou are migratory, going South 

 in the fall. They pass through here in im- 

 mense herds, the run lasting 12 to 14 days. 

 The number passing reaches nearly a quar- 

 ter of a million. Their path is 20 miles 

 wide, and one can see caribou in all direc- 

 tions. The hills literally swarm with them, 

 all headed South. In the spring these ani- 

 mals come North again, but take different 

 routes. They travel scatteringly, and most 

 of them are in poor condition ; at least the 

 bulls are reduced almost to skeletons. A 

 few caribou winter in this section. As you 

 are aware, the caribou cow has horns, and 

 they work hardships on the bulls during the 

 deep snow. The bull droos his horns in the 

 fall, but the cow carries hers until spring. 

 As soon as the bull drops his horns he leaves 

 the cow, but the cow "him heap sabe." She 

 follows the bull, and wherever he paws the 

 snow away to get down to the moss, which 

 they feed on altogether, the cow fights him 

 away and gets the moss. By the time she 

 has the first hole mossed out Mr. Bull has 

 another one opened and she repeats her 

 tactics, and the poor defenseless bull cannot 

 protect himself. Neither can he get away 

 from the weaker sex, for she would follow 

 him to hades and make him dig. 



Our game laws are not enforced. Living 

 is high here, and the meat market is prac- 

 tically controlled by one large concern. 

 The Territorial Government realizes that a 

 great many prospectors get their grubstake 

 by hunting for the market. If the game 

 laws were enforced the meat company 

 would make us pay their price, which would 

 be not less than 75 cents to $1 a pound, in- 

 stead of 30 to 40 cents, as it now is. I do 

 not uphold anyone in the slaughter of this 

 noble game, but am simply stating what 

 seems to be the general sentiment of the 

 people here. Some go so far as to say the 

 caribou never can be killed out ; that 

 hunters can not follow them to their breed- 

 ing grounds. That is all bosh, and the 

 caribou will disappear. As I heard a 

 Spokane Indian say some years ago about 

 the buffalo, "White man ketchum Peter 

 gun buffalo klattawa." 



If our game laws as they stand to-day 

 were enforced it would only put a few more 

 men in the field with guns, as every miner 

 who could get away would shoulder a gun 

 and kill his own meat. Each man is al- 

 lowed to kill 2 moose and 6 caribou. It is 

 hoped that the Yukon Council will at an 

 early date amend these laws and appoint 

 game wardens. Otherwise, in 5 years 



from now, there will not be a moose within 

 500 miles of Dawson. 



J. P. Hubrick, Dawson, Y. T. 



THE SIXTEEN GAUGE. 



Some years ago a man in Haiti owned a 

 16 gauge, single barrel, pin fire, French 

 shot gun. He used it with both ball and 

 shot, and on one occasion the ball, being 

 too large to pass the choke, took along 3 

 inches off the end of the barrel, leaving 

 about 25 inches. After sustaining other se- 

 rious damage the gun reached my hands, 

 and I used it several years in pigeon, plover 

 and snipe shooting. I afterward bought a 

 12 gauge American gun, but was never al)le 

 to do better shooting than with the little 

 16. In recent years I have returned to the 

 16 and am now using one by an English 

 maker. 



The standard weight of a 16 with 26 or 

 2J inch barrels is 6 pounds, while a 6 

 pound 12 gauge is but a miniature gun, 

 which will not stand so proportionately 

 heavy a charge as the 16 will. The accepted 

 standard for a 12 gauge is zVa drams; that 

 for a 16 is 2^ drams. With the decreased 

 weight of ammunition there is a lighter re- 

 port, and les recoil. The smaller size will 

 not recoil to the same extent with 2>4 

 drams as the larger size will with 

 3% drams, both guns being of the 

 same weight ; and it is my contention that 

 the 6 pound 16 is a better gun than the 6 

 pound 12 gauge dwarf, known as a feather- 

 weight. 



Mr. Greener, the champion of the 12 

 gauge featherweight, says : "The 16 caliber 

 has been proved to shoot as strong as the 

 12, but the killing circle is less, and, more- 

 over, not being in such general use as the 

 12-bore, it is not always so easy to procure 

 cartridges." 



It is true that with the 12 gauge 20 pel- 

 lets more may be placed in the 30 inch 

 circle, and that barely accounts for the ad- 

 ditional y% ounce of shot in the larger load, 

 with the advantages to the sportsman 

 using the smaller size of less weight, less 

 recoil lighter report and possibly greater 

 penetration. It is admitted that with certain 

 heavy loads the penetration of the 12 is 

 greater than that of the 16 with its regular 

 load ; it must on the other hand be admitted 

 that a considerable increase may be made in 

 the latter, but I believe there would be lit- 

 tle wisdom in such increase since there is 

 so little necessity for it. 



As to the reduced killing circle experi- 

 ment shows that to be a small matter in- 

 deed and for any one but the man intent 

 on slaughter, the killing circle of the 16, 

 and even the 20, is sufficient. What is 

 of greater importance is penetration, and 



