April 26, 1913 
FOREST AND STREAM 
523 
Montana Hunting Trip 
By E. L. S. 
T he latter part of September, 1911, found 
two of us, representatives of the States 
of Connecticut and New York, friends 
and former hunting companions, speeding west¬ 
ward via Chicago and St. Paul, thence over the 
Great Northern Railroad to the western part 
of Montana. 
This outing was expected to recuperate and 
build up our tired forces and give us a new 
lease of life; and further, we had intuitively 
arranged to meet some of the large game of the 
United States in this particular locality; conse¬ 
quently we came prepared. The Senator with 
his .405 Winchester and the writer with a .33 
special Winchester and a Remington automatic 
.35, to say nothing of our preparation for small 
game and fish. 
Our guide, Chick Grimsley, often called 
our start into the mountains; but our visit at 
friend R.'s ranch was pleasant in the extreme 
and a failure to have made this visit would cer¬ 
tainly have been unfortunate. Finally things 
were ready and, having procured our licenses, 
we went by wagon thirty-five or forty miles to 
Caiion Camp on Birch Creek in the foothills. 
This was the last of September; we wished to 
be on the hunting ground when the season 
opened, Oct. i; notwithstanding this date, the 
snow was six or seven inches deep at this point, 
as the country here is extremely mountainous. 
Early Monday morning we were on our 
way, thirty-five miles distant on the western 
slope of the main range of the Rockies. Our 
route followed the course of a good sized creek 
to its very source, which, at this point, w'as the 
Continental Divide; then down the other side 
south, and is surrounded by mountains. To the 
south Mount Pentagon Peak, being ten thou¬ 
sand feet above sea level, was visible against 
the sky. Across Meadow Creek, w'estward, on 
the far side of the valley, W’as a range with an 
uneven side covered generally with heavy 
forests. On the east, the mountain slopes came 
almost to our tents and the range was so high 
that it took the writer from early morn to one 
p. M. to reach the summit. 
Our stay at this camp was delightful; clear, 
cold water at our door for bathing and drink¬ 
ing; the purest air to breathe that man was. 
ever blessed wuth, and scenery that could not 
be excelled. 
We found the weather w'est of the Conti¬ 
nental Divide warmer than on the eastern slope 
of the mountain; and it was only occasionally 
CHICK AND HIS GRIZZLY. 
THE SENATOR AND TROPHIES. 
“King of the Grizzlies,” had to his credit 
tw^enty-four bear pelts since the beginning of 
1911, up to the time of our departure for the 
East. He was well acquainted with the country 
and knew the habits of the wild animals. He 
had spent many years in this locality and had 
twenty or more cabins in the most likely places 
for the different kinds of game. With sufficient 
time at one’s command, grizzly, black and 
brown bear, elk, deer, big-horn sheep, mountain 
goat, coyotes, and smaller game could not only 
be hoped for but would probably be trophies 
of a well-planned hunt with Chick. 
We reached our railroad destination tired, 
but much pleased with the wonderful produc¬ 
tive prospects of the country through which we 
had just passed. It seems as though when 
these hundreds of thousands of acres of rich 
level land have been made to produce their beSt 
by methods of scientific farming that a sufficient 
production'of hardy grains and vegetables can 
be had for years to come, notwithstanding the 
rapid increase in population. 
The Senator’s trunk got lost and did not 
come to hand for several days, thus delaying 
following the little streamlet until it became a 
small river. The scenery was superb. Some¬ 
times our trail was along the creek bottom, 
passing difficult places with mountain peaks 
thousands of feet above us. The scene was 
ever changing, in some places the valley would 
broaden out and perhaps be bordered with 
precipitous ranges, with now and then snow- 
covered peaks. To an Eastern man, such a trip 
is a revelation indeed. 
We reached Trail Creek Camp (one of 
Chick’s substantial log cabins), about twenty- 
five miles from our starting point, late in the 
afternoon. Early in the morning we again 
were on the move for Meadow Creek Camp, 
ten or eleven miles distant. This was to be our 
first hunting camp, and as Chicks’ log cabin 
here had burned the spring before, we pitched 
our tents. Evidence of game was seen all along 
our way in, but the vastness of the country, to¬ 
gether with its extreme roughness and moun¬ 
tainous nature, made it seem to a tenderfoot 
that the getting of game would be rather un¬ 
certain without unusually good luck. 
Meadow Creek \-alIey extends north and 
that we had snow enough in the valleys for 
tracking, and then it did not stay on long 
enough to be of much assistance. The higher 
ranges and peaks were covered with snow the 
most of the time while we were there. 
Next day the Senator brought down a fine 
mountain goat. This goat was on a projecting 
shelf about 300 feet up an almost perpendicular 
precipice. The animal seemed to become sus- 
jncious of our presence, and as both ends of 
the shelf on which he stood was guarded, the 
only W'a3' of escape w'as to go directly up the 
mountain side, as it was impossible to leap 
downward. The writer watching the move¬ 
ments from across the valley saw the goat make 
a successful effort to climb this seemingly un- 
surmountable cliff. The animal was not in 
sight of the Senator at this point; while the 
writer was not, expected to shoot, he knew 
something must be done to let the Senator 
know the necessity of immediate action. With¬ 
out hope of hitting the mark, he fired, and as 
soon as the echoes were vibrating back and 
forth across the gorges, the Senator changed 
his position and saw what was going on and 
