249 



AN ESQUIMAU CARIBOU HUNT. 



THE Esquimaux in the vicinity of Point Barrow, 

 Alaska, have always placed great dependence upon 

 the hunting of the reindeer. The great mid-winter hunt 

 begins soon after the sup returns, or about the last of 

 January. Then the Esquimaux go out on the plains 

 which stretch far to the south and east, and are covered 

 with snow for about nine months of the year. 



The hunt is anticipated with ranch 'pleasure by the 

 young and active hunters, who look upon it as a field in 

 which they can display their skill with the rifle and also 

 their endurance, for, to be successful in the caribou 

 chase, an Esquimau must be able to travel at a high rate 

 of speed and continue the chase for hours. The hunt is 

 hailed by the oldest people as a season of feasting on the 

 fat of the land ; if reindeer are found in large numbers 

 there is no stint. 



While the younger men hunt, the old men set their 

 nets beneath the ice in the river and catch many fish, 

 most of which are whitefish, and a few burbot. When 

 these expeditions start out on a hunt, two or three 

 families, or portions of families, usually go together and 

 camp on the bank of some stream, whese they can set 

 their nets and have water handy. Here they build them- 

 selves snow houses and remain during 

 the season, hunting the surrounding 

 country to a distance of eight or 

 twelve miles in all directions. The 

 caribou being great travelers, as the 

 hunters drive them, from the vicinity 

 of the camp their places are taken by 

 others from distant feeding grounds, 

 and these in turn are harassed by the 

 natives with their magazine rifles, 

 and in time they will be driven so far 

 from the villages that it will be un- 

 profitable to hunt them. These people 

 do not like to go much further than 

 sixty or seventy miles from their 

 igloos (villages), and this is a long 

 distance to bring in the product of 

 the chase. Twelve or fifteen caritou 

 are about the average to a hunter, 

 but sometimes as many as fifty have 

 been killed by one person, and, by the 

 way, the best shot reported was four 

 reindeer killed at one shot with a Pea- 

 body -Martini rifle byMungie Ah Loo. 

 This shot was vouched for by a num- 

 ber of natives, who are not given to 

 boasting of the deeds of others, what- 

 ever they may say of themselves. 



Many animals are wounded and es- 

 cape the hunter only to fall easy vic- 

 tims to the prowling wolf, who takes 

 the bloody trail, and with untiring 

 persistence follows the stricken cari- 

 bou to his doom, and the wolf and the 

 reindeer lie down together. Occa- 

 sionally a reindeer is seen which is 

 the owner of but three legs, and is 

 still able to keep its place in the herd 

 while going at full speed; but it was 

 most probably wounded in summer, 

 when the chance of escape would be 

 much greater than in winter, as the 

 Bummer is a season of comparative 

 plenty for the wolf and, in fact, all 

 other animals, including man. 



As before stated, the hunting 

 grounds are comparatively level, with 

 nothing that can be called a hill except along the river 

 banks, where small hills have been formed by drifting 

 sand?, the deposit of tbe river along its banks. The 

 method pursued by the hunter is as follows: He travels 

 off in the direction which he intends to hunt during the 

 day until he comes to the highest point to be found, and 

 surveys the country through his binocular or a spy glass, 

 one of which he is almost sure to have, as these "aids to 

 sight often save the tramping of many a weary mile. If 

 a caribou is sighted, or, rather, a herd, for they roam 

 and feed in winter in groups of ten to fifty or more, he 

 at once starts off in that direction, striving always to 

 keep in sight of the deer, especially a? he gets in the 

 vicinity of the feeding herd, for the reason that if the 

 herd has seen the hunter they will remain comparatively 

 quiet while he is in full view, but if lost to sight they at 

 once become uneasy and start off in the opposite direc- 

 tion or directly to the windward. 



As the hunter gets nearer they become alarmed and 

 start off on a run, the native following at a dog trot, dis- 

 turbing the deer as they stop to feed, and were it not for 

 the curiosity of the caribou to find out what his tormen- 

 tor is few of them would be taken by these people. But 

 led on by its inquisitiveness the herd starts off at full 

 speed partly toward the hunter and in a direction which 

 will carry them to the leeward, to enable them to get the 

 scent of tbe enemy. Usually the herd would pass 500 or 

 600yds. distant, but the Esquimau, knowing the object of 

 the' animals and that they will not vary their course, runs 

 rapidly before the wind and shorte'ns this distance as 

 much as possible. When he sees that he has reached 

 the nearest point he drops panting on the snow and 

 begins to use his rifle, and one may image that in the 

 exhausted state of the hunter his aim is not true, but 

 he tries to make up for this by sending after the fleeing 

 herd as many whistling bullets as possible, consequently 

 the magazine rifle is the favorite weapon in the caribou 

 hunt. 



After the bombardment, if one or more deer be killed, 

 the hunter removes the pelt and places the carcass in a 

 pit which he excavates in the snow just the length of the 

 body of the deer, with the neck turned at a right angle 

 and the ncse pointing upward, to lengthen one leg of the 

 angle. In this shape the carcass freezes. This is done 

 so that when the bodies are placed on the sled, one head 

 to the right, the next to the left, four bodies on the sled, 

 then three on top of these, making seven caribou to each 

 sled load, the pelts, which have been staked out and 

 dried on the snow after all the particles of flesh have 

 been removed, may be packed between tbe elevated 

 heads. On the following day the wife goes out with sled 

 and dogs to bring in the game, the husband going off in 

 another direction to hunt over new ground. The game 

 which is brought to camp is put into a deep pit excavated 

 in the snow for tbe purpose, and is kept for present use 



and to carry to the permanent home of the Esquimaux 

 on the coast. 



The snow-fall will not average more than 18in. for 

 the winter, and this is continually drifting during the 

 high winds, and forms in deep drifts under the high 

 ban ts of the rivers and in all depressions of the land. 

 Under the cliffs along the seashore great drifts are 

 formed, and also on the rough sea ice. This drifting and 

 piling of the snow in low places leaves the tundra with 

 but a thin covering of a few inches for the caribou to re- 

 move, and this they readily do with the hoof, which is 

 admirably formed for the purpose. 



The moss upon which these animals feed is so plentiful 

 beneath this light covering of snow that the caribou keep 

 in good condition throughout the Arctic winter. Not 

 only is this true of the caribou, but all other animal life 

 is found well fed and in good condition— the fox, the 

 hare, the little lemming, the ptarmigan, the fish in the 

 rivers and the seals in the ocean, The great white bear 

 is sometimes met in winter with an appetite which it is 

 well to avoid unless one is well armed; this animal will 

 not attack a person unless very hungry: it is usually as 

 shy as a reindeer at the approach of man. 



The plains are bare of everything like trees; low alder 

 and willow bushes not more than four feet high are 



THE BARREN-GROUND CARIBOU (MALE AND FEMALE). 

 Drawn by Dr. R. W. Shnfeldf. 



found along the rivers in sheltered places. These patches 

 of bush are the home of the ptarmigan, which are snared 

 by the women and children. 



When the time comes to leave the tundra and go to the 

 coast to make preparations for the whaling season, the 

 Esquimau cuts from the river ice long blocks, a foot 

 longer than the sled and eight inches thick, in which 

 grooves are made deep enough to admit the runners. 

 Tne sled is placed in the grooves and water poured into 

 them, which freezes solid to the runners; the ice is then 

 dressed off smooth with a knife, rounded on the bottom 

 and curved at the end, and all is ready for the load of 

 caribou. If many reindeer have been killed, some one 

 goes to the village and engages boys, girls, dogs and sleds 

 enough to bring in the whole outfit. They travel about 

 twenty-five miles per day with these loads. All are har- 

 nessed to the Rleds — men, women, children that are not 

 too small, and the dogs. E. P. Herejndken. 



CHICAGO AND THE WEST. 



[By a Staff Correspondent.] 



C\HICAGO, 111., March 12.— Four days ago there was 

 ) every appearance of an early spring for this region. 

 Ducks were in over all the marshes of Illinois and lower 

 Wisconsin , and the flight was reported to have crossed 

 Dakota, Then came the severe blizzard of the past w >ek, 

 which has doubtless set the birds back again, though it 

 has not driven them south of the Kankakee marshes in 

 this district. This morning the sky is clear and a warm 

 wind is blowing from the south. Tbe ice will soon be 

 out of the marshes, and probably the best shooting of the 

 season will fall within the coming week. 



Numerous small bags, a dozen birds or so, have been 

 made, some as early as the last week in February. The 

 highest bag of the city is that of Mr. Abner Price, who 

 killed 40 ducks, mostly mallards, in four hours' shooting 

 in the timber along the Kankakee River above English 

 Lake Club. The day was bitter cold, everything frozen 

 tight except the mid-current of the river, and the shoot- 

 ing was on a fly way where the birds crossed high over a 

 timber point. Under the circumstances the bag was re- 

 markable, and one hardly to be made by a less experi- 

 enced old-timer than your uncle Abner. 



There will be a good flight on the Mississippi this spring 

 it is thought, and some attention centers there now. 

 Fred Allen of Monmouth is over at New Boston shooting 

 now, and, I doubt not, using with seductive effect one of 

 the new wooden Allen duck calls of which I see so many 

 in town this spring. A Fred Allen call with a wooden 

 barrel seems an anomaly, but it is a corking good call 

 just the same. 



A great many geese have been in this spring on the 

 marsh at tbe head of the Iroquois River, opposite Medary- 



ville, Ind. A few geese are using on the prairie above 

 English Like on the Kankakee. Two weeks ago there 

 were numbers of geese on the Crystal Lake prairie, along 

 the Fox River system. We get only the "honkers" or 

 Canada geese through here, and their great shyness makes 

 the bagging of one a feat long remembered. 



Mention was made earlier of the suits brought against 

 the Horicon Club, Wisconsin, by local shooters, seeking 

 the removal of the club dams on the Rock River in the 

 club marshes. It gives pleasure to announce that the 

 club has been entirely victorious in their suits, the cases 

 having been dismissed and injunction denied. "You 

 don't understand this yet, Judge," said counsel for plain- 

 tiff in course of the trial. "Unfortunately, sir," replied 

 the court, »«t understand it only too well, and I know 

 you bring this suit as an annoyance to men who are 

 peacefully pursuing their rights on their own land, with- 

 out harm to others. The case is dismissed." 



Mr. Percy Stone promises me a copy of the proceedings 

 in this case, which might be useful if Forest and Stream 

 should be called upon to assist another club, as it did the 

 Horicon, by means of reference to favorable decisions in 

 cases involving the question of riparian rights of clubs 

 which have changed the natural course or conditions of 

 streams or other waters. 



It is gratifying to state that the 

 latest advices from J. M. Hutchinson, 

 who met with the sad accident in 

 Florida, by which he lost a part of his 

 right hand, show that the plucky 

 patient's condition is the best possible. 

 The middle finger is gone entirely, 

 but the other fingers will remain use- 

 ful, and it is quite within hope that 

 the skillful use of the scalpel will not 

 be denied to one once so accustomed 

 thereto. Dr. Huchinson has written 

 up a letter to the boys, using his left 

 hand, but we hope for one with his 

 right hand before very long. Mr. Wil- 

 cox, who was with him at the time, 

 says that the Doctor's first remark 

 after inspecting the injured hand, was 

 the cool one, "They've left me my 

 trigger finger, anyhow." He did not 

 lose consciousness at all, though the 

 row to shore and assistance was a 

 long one. 



Last Friday there came to trial the 

 novel antelope cases mentioned earlier 

 as brought by Warden Bortree against 

 David R. Shirley, a commission mer- 

 chant of 160 South Water street, this 

 city. The warden saw a saddle of 

 antelope hanging out Feb. 15, and 

 brought suit under the statute pro- 

 hibiting sale of "buck, doe or fawn." 

 Defense set up that those terms did 

 not specifically cover antelope, and 

 that an antelope was not a deer, nor a 

 species of deer, justice Randall H. 

 White held that the statute was good 

 and valid as against antelope, and as- 

 sessed Shirley $10 and costs. This 

 case is unique in its way, and is use- 

 ful, though probably a liberal inter- 

 pretation of a loose statute. Much 

 venison is sold here as antelope meat 

 after the close of the season. This 

 case will stop much of that, and also 

 stop the open selling of antelope meat 

 which has gone on openly for so long. 

 We need a clause in our law making it punishable 

 offense for a game dealer to send out circulars to the 

 trade inviting shipments of illegal game. Such circulars 

 flood the country now. An inquirer is shown a plain, 

 nice circular, stating that illegal game is not wanted. 

 When the inquirer goes a nice rubber stamp, saying, 

 "Send on your game," is planted across the righteous 

 statement signifying such self-abnegation, and the cir- 

 cular in its improved form is sent out to some country 

 dealer who can get illegal game. Now, give half the fine 

 to the informer. The game dealers of this city cannot 

 trust all the country dealers. They would be afraid to 

 send out a stamped circular. Some fellow out in the 

 country will conclude there is more money in informing 

 than in selling, and a case or two will make South Water 

 street pretty careful. 



Until we regulate the buying and selling of game we 

 will never regulate its killing. Our tools are poor. You 

 can't block a wagon with an egg. 



On the south side of the city the magnificent buildings 

 of the World's Fair go on apace, and from the car win- 

 dows as one passes there may be seen more and more 

 proof of the strange days so soon in store for Chicago. 

 What are the sportsmen doing? How about the great 

 international tournament, the many international things? 

 For one thing, the typical hunter's camp planned by the 

 Boone and Crockett Club, of Ne w York, is faring on very 

 well. The management is now seeking for the location 

 of the proper grounds. We shall see the tent, the fire, 

 the simple meal, the plain garb, the evening pipe of 

 peace, and shall in spirit feel the breath of mountain air 

 and hear the whisper of the pines. There will be many 

 of these types of outdoor living, both of white and savage 

 hunters. 



There is a weird and fateful spot in Hennepin Club's 

 duck marsh, which is known as the "haunted half acre," 

 and which has earlier come to mention by reason of the 

 many occurrences thereon. He who goes upon this 

 spirit-ridden spot needs care in all his conduct. If he 

 step from his boat upon ground apparently the most 

 solid, let him beware that he do not sink down to hia 

 armpits. If a duck be killed stone dead upon the water, 

 let the shooter never turn his back, for when he seeks his 

 bird it will have disappeared beyond the most patient 

 search. This has been known to happen so often that 

 some men will not shoot there at all. There is a tree 

 upon the "half acre," and if a man shoot a duck passing 

 over, it will fall into this tree and hang suspended by the 

 neck beyond the possibility of recovery. One morning a 

 full-grown raccoon was found suspended by the neck in 

 one of the crotches of this tree, stone dead. The coon 

 was thought to have committed Buicide, but Charlie 

 Gammon thinks it was climbing after one of his fork- 

 hung ducks, and slipping, met a fate similar to that of 

 the numerous ducks which festooned the forked branches. 



