Vo!. XC 
SEPTEMBER. 1920 
No. 9 
THE iGAME RANGES OF KLAPPAN 
SOUTH OF THE STIKINE RIVER IN BRITISH COLUMBIA THERE LIES A HUNTING GROUND 
FOR SPORTSMEN WHERE GAME TRAILS LEAD INTO A REGION OF PRIMITIVE GRANDEUR 
T HE hunting grounds of Cassiar, 
known locally as Klappan, lie east- 
wardly from Telegraph Creek and 
south of the Stikine River, in British 
Columbia. The distance from Telegraph 
Creek to the point where the trail crosses 
the Klappan River is seventy-two miles. 
The entire region is composed of rugged 
mountains over which range the Stone 
sheep, mountain, goat, moose, caribou, 
grizzly and black bear. Caribou are more 
plentiful beyond the Klappan so it is bet- 
ter to cross that river to hunt them. The 
other varieties of game named may also 
be found in abundance beyond the cross- 
ing. Hunters who pitch their camps on 
either side and in the vicinity of the 
Klappan River make what is known as 
the Klappan hunt. 
In 1917 I hunted Fannin sheep in the 
Nahlin-Nakina region north of Telegraph 
Creek and killed two rams. It is said 
that the Stone sheep also range in that 
region. I killed a ram there that was 
classified as such by the local authorities, 
but I do not think that it is a true Stone 
sheep and it was to secure specimens of 
that species that I returned to Cassiar 
in 1918. 
I also desired to closely observe the 
game, especially the caribou, and look 
over the lay of the land. The trip took 
me beyond Cold Fish Lake, almost to the 
upper Stikine River, and about one hun- 
dred and forty miles from Telegraph 
Creek, so I went beyond the Klappan 
game ranges. 
My companion was Ralph Y. Struble, 
Esq., of Ohio. He secured unusually 
good trophies of which he may well be 
proud. His best caribou is one of the 
finest ever taken out of Cassiar. The 
beam is exceptionally large, the skull 
and antlers weighing thirty-five pounds. 
Our outfit consisted of Indians of the 
Tahltan tribe and a pack train. It was 
of the usual sort sent out with hunters 
from Telegraph Creek and as good as 
the average from that outfitting point. 
With such outfits one should not spend 
his spare time about the kitchen; in an 
By HENRY BANNON 
Indian camp, a strong eye often makes a 
weak stomach. 
We crossed the Stikine on August 
twenty-fourth and arrived at our first 
hunting grounds on the last day of that 
month. The trail is lined with willow 
brush and each day there was some rain. 
A light rain on a brushy trail is as good 
a test of waterproof apparel as a wet 
snow. 
The trail wound through groves of 
pine, spruce and quaking aspen, and at 
intervals there were glimpses of snow 
clad mountains. The previous winter 
had been the coldest ever known in Cas- 
siar and the snows the deepest. The 
soil is very shallow over the boulders 
so the trees are not firmly rooted, and 
Searching for rams 
the weight of the snow caused many 
trees to bend across the trail and up- 
rooted others that fell on it. This made 
it necessary for the guides to chop out 
much down timber ahead of us. 
The salmon do not come up from the 
sea into the streams along the Klappan 
trail as they do north of Telegraph 
Creek, but trout may be caught in many 
of the streams and lakes, affording a 
change of fare for those who care for 
fish and excellent sport for the angler. 
L EAVING Telegraph Creek, at an 
elevation of 540 feet, the trail stead- 
ily ascends to an elevation of about 
2750 feet. It then runs with the shore 
line of Buckley Lake. This lake is at an 
elevation of about 2900 feet, is about 
six miles long and a mile and a half 
in width. In October it is a favorite 
stopping place for the wild swan. South- 
east of the trail there is a range of vol- 
canic hills from which it is said the 
basalt and lava originated that are found 
about the Stikine and its tributaries. Be- 
yond the lake the trail leads through ex- 
tensive lava beds. 
In places the muskegs were so deep 
that the pack horses mired helplessly 
and it would then become necessary to 
remove the packs to enable the horses to 
get to firmer ground. 
My saddle horse, Coyote, had the least 
trail sense of any horse I have ever seen 
in a mountain pack train. “He step too 
high”, was the Indian’s description of 
the cause of his troubles. At one soft 
place, that even the pack horses had 
crossed without mishap, he sank in a 
little and then began to plunge. Down 
went Coyote, and as he rolled over on 
his side I rolled off. As we went down 
something cracked. I knew that nothing 
had cracked about me for I had struck 
a specially prepared soft spot, but I 
feared that the stock of my favorite 
rifle had broken at the grip, but my 
fears did not come true. The worst sel- 
dom happens. With some effort we got 
the horse to firm ground where every- 
thing was found to be intact. There- 
after I dismounted at every suspicious 
bog and led across. 
For many miles few living things were 
seen; some goats on the cliffs, three or 
four swallows flying south, two flickers, 
half a dozen spruce grouse, a couple of 
hawks, a robin or so, and some ducks 
constituted the extent of objects of na- 
tural history seen from the trail. Occa- 
sionally a nest of yellow- jackets made 
its presence known and ad’ded quite a 
little animation to the movements of the 
Contents Copyrighted, 1920, by Forest and Stream Publishing Co. 
