630 
FOREST AND STREAM 
December, 1920 
quiet for some time watching them as 
they walked away and looked back 
towards our location. They failed to 
make us out. For practice I aimed the 
rifle first at one and then at the other. 
I have always believed that such prac- 
tice tends to make a hunter steady. We 
saw two more coyotes the same day 
and the remains of a yearling caribou 
and a larger one that were probably 
killed by wolves. 
After returning to camp it was de- 
cided to move farther in on Caribou 
Mountain, as the distance from camp to 
the hunting grounds was too great. In 
making this move we again saw many 
caribou. Our n~w camp was on the 
northern slope of 
the mountain 
just south of 
where the Pit- 
man, or Ketatsit 
River flows into 
the Stikine. In 
the evening cari- 
bou were visible 
in every direc- 
tion and one of 
the guides saw 
two moose about a 
mile from camp. 
After supper 
the wrangler 
saw a coyote 
among the horses 
and he and 
S t r u b 1 e went 
after him. This 
coyote had 
caught some 
small animal, 
and was tossing 
it in the air and 
catching it in 
the manner of a 
playful dog toss- 
ing a bone. So 
interested was 
the coyote in 
tormenting his victim that the hunters 
stalked to within easy range and killed 
the coyote. This was good work for 
within a year one coyote will destroy as 
much game as all the Cassiar big game 
hunters. 
As soon as the coyote was killed the 
animal that had been in its clutches 
took refuge under a rock and uttered 
peculiar cries. The next day the In- 
dians dug out from beneath the rock a 
badly used up ground-hog, though still 
alive. One eye had been put out and 
it was severely cut about the body. 
I N Cassiar one never knows what the 
hunt may bring forth. The ground 
was frozen and the air crisp as I went 
out for caribou and I had a fine morn- 
ing among them. The larger bulls were 
coming into the open ranges from the 
timber and high places. Many separate 
herds were scattered here and there, 
taking their last nip of browse before 
lying down. Seventy-two were in sight 
at one time. The smaller bulls were 
cleaning the velvet from their antlers. 
I spent considerable time in watching 
the process. One cleaned his “sun- 
shade” prong first and, after a bit, the 
other prongs and the beam. This was 
done by rubbing them upon heavy willow 
brush. Considerable blood flowed from 
the cleaning process. Their bloody 
heads and antlers, and the shreds of 
black velvet clinging to the tips, gave 
them a distressed appearance. After 
caribou clean their antlers they rub 
them on the green timber to color them. 
Some are colored black and others red. 
The Indians say that those colored black 
have been rubbed on balsam, and those 
red have been rubbed on hemlock. Some, 
in the pride of their new possessions, 
were trying out the strength of their 
antlers in friendly rivalry with one an- 
other. None of the antlers were suffi- 
our plans. A wide circuit was made 
and we crept through the green timber, 
taking advantage of the moose trails 
wherever possible. At every step we 
guarded against breaking a twig or per- 
mitting the clothing to rub the brush; 
for a moose is exceedingly wary and his 
senses of hearing and smelling acute. 
Just as we reached the willows an- 
other moose jumped from his bed and 
made off. We were certain this would 
give the alarm to the moose we were 
stalking and it is surprising that it did 
not. When within about two hundred 
yards the antlers came into view, but 
the shoulder was still invisible. We 
crept on very slowly, parting the brush 
with care, until 
within one hun- 
dred yards of 
the moose. Still 
we could see only 
the antlers. Then 
the Indian gave 
a sharp whistle 
and the startled 
moose sprang 
into view. I 
fired and he 
reeled as if about 
to fall. We 
thought we had 
him, but he 
made off. 
N' 
The pack train getting ready for the trail 
ciently attractive, either in size or 
points, to tempt me to kill the animal. 
While eating lunch the guide discov- 
ered the antlers of a moose just above 
the willow brush. The binoculars dis- 
closed that the animal was feeding. He 
was on a willow flat, far below us, and 
the flat was surrounded by green tim- 
ber. His location was such that a stalk 
would be exceedingly difficult and this 
made the attempt one of much interest. 
The brush on the willow flat was 
above the shoulders of the moose. The 
green timber was dense. It took the 
greatest of care to stalk noiselessly. 
On account of the dense brush we were 
under the necessity of getting quite close 
to the moose before we could see him. 
It is an easy matter for a hunter on a 
mountain side to see big game on a flat 
below, though the flat be covered with 
brush eight or ten feet high. But get- 
ting sight of the game when the hunter 
is on the same level with it, and also 
in the brush, is very difficult. The 
brush requires a quick shot. Such was 
the problem. 
We decided upon the direction of our 
stalk, but after we had commenced it a 
change in the wind caused a change in 
OW came 
the track- 
ing of the 
wounded moose 
by the Indian 
through the wil- 
low flat and into 
the green timber. 
His tracking was 
perfect. He noted 
every drop of 
blood, every 
freshly broken 
stick, the broken 
bark on logs rubbed by legs too weak to 
clear them, and the fresh tracks. Often, 
when the surface had left no sign, he 
circled until the trail of the wounded 
moose was struck again. With ease he 
distinguished the tracks of this moose 
when they became mingled with ethers. 
Every moment of this pursuit was one 
of intense excitement and full of inter- 
est. There was not an instant that we 
did not expect to view the moose. 
I encouraged the Indian, as I cannot 
bear to leave a cripple to be dragged 
down by wolves, or suffer a lingering 
death. After a trail of at least a mile, 
during which we found that the moose 
had often circled in order to get our 
scent, and once lain down, we found him 
lying in a wallow. He had gone there 
to cool himself. Driven out of the wal- 
low, that we might have a dry place to 
dress him, his suffering was quickly 
ended. It developed that the first shot 
was in the shoulder, but too high. Had 
the bullet been a light one, the animal 
would probably have escaped a cripple. 
I use a two hundred and fifty grain bul- 
let because it is sure. 
The moose was only a fair Cassiar 
specimen. The spread of the antlers 
