THE GUN AT HOME AND ABROAD 
during the rut in places where they had never previously been hunted. 
Certain friends whom I have sent to my Indian friends in later years, 
have found plenty of caribou in those regions I first visited, but not one of 
them has obtained a first-class head, and this I attribute to the fact that 
I must have killed the one or two exceptional beasts that had for years 
lived there without moving. This, at any rate, is my opinion and that of the 
Indians who accompanied me. When a “ road ” used for years by the 
same old bull is found it is well to make the camp near and down wind at 
the spot where the beast regularly comes out at eve and to wait patiently 
for several days. Sooner or later a chance is nearly sure to materialize and 
an easy shot obtained. But that shot must not be missed, for if it is, it is 
unlikely another will be gained during the season. 
Another excellent mode of September hunting is to frequently climb 
trees and spy from them until a good stag is seen. This method is more 
difficult because the beast may move before it can be approached. 
Another, and by far the best as well as the most difficult, is to still hunt the 
caribou in moccasins in the “ open ” timber in September and October. 
The greater part of Newfoundland forests are too dense for this, but there 
are many places at the headwaters of the big rivers which are much fre- 
quented by old stags at this season and where they can be found by an 
expert hunter. I say “ expert,” because the Newfoundland fisherman, 
good fellow as he is, is not in any sense a “ hunter,” and though he calls 
himself a guide, he is, as a rule, quite incapable of “ still ” hunting caribou. 
Although the caribou is so stupid in the open, or even when drinking 
in the river beds, he is a totally different animal in the timber. There he 
uses both his nose and ears to the full extent of their powers and these are 
not feeble, and so the hunter has to exercise all the caution and quietness 
he would employ in killing moose, to be successful. Having found a forest 
region frequented by caribou, the hunter must be shod in moccasins and 
move very slowly against the wind, quartering the ground backwards and 
forwards until the game is viewed. That this method may be as successful 
as any is seen by the fact that the writer, in company with Joe Jeddore, the 
best Indian hunter in Newfoundland, found nine to twelve adult bulls every 
day for four days on the Upper Gander during one season’s hunting. It is true 
that none of these were worth shooting, but all were adult males. In addition 
we must have roused as many as we actually saw, for often we heard the dull 
crash and the subsequent run of retreating beasts which we had unwittingly 
put away. Caribou at this season, before they leave the woods, are both 
274 
