Forest and Stream 
VOL. LXXXIII. 
No. 23 
December 5, 1914 
Quebec’s New Gameland 
Its Low License Fee, Long Open Season and Unspoiled Areas, Make the Game and Fish Conditions Here 
Described of Special Interest to Sportsmen and Outers 
By S. F. Sangster (“Canuck”). 
HETHER or not the new north¬ 
western Quebec Hinterland, which 
will, with the operation of the Na- 
ti '..11 Trans-continental Railway 
steel be for the first time made 
accessible, would measure up to 
expectations in the direction of proving to be the 
game country I looked for, had been a question 
that was causing me considerable bother, par¬ 
ticularly on account of the inquiries constantly 
addressed me by eager and interested sportsmen 
all over the continent. It was, therefore, with 
this object in view that I arranged to get into 
the territory that looked best on 
the map for an exploratory 
cruise during the past autumn, 
the time being particularly suited 
for sizing up conditions, as it 
was the actual hunting period. 
The line running from Hervey 
Junction north and west to mile¬ 
age 360 was under one contract¬ 
ing firm; from there west to 
Peter Brown Creek under a sub¬ 
firm and west again 150 miles to 
Cochrane under a third. All 
building work is completed. These 
each ran construction trains one 
day a week, one of them twice. 
The trip involved considerable 
figuring for connections in order 
to get in without a tie-up en- 
route. Finally I managed to get 
things settled and on October 1 
left via Montreal, taking along 
my own guide and a sportsman 
from Indiana, together with an 
outfit, including my own seven¬ 
teen foot “Old Town” canoe, 
blankets, tent, supplies, et al. 
It is not my intention in this 
issue to describe the trip in or 
out, but to limit it rather to game and fish con¬ 
ditions found. Incidentally, perhaps, a few re¬ 
marks as to the canoe cruising proposition will 
also be of interest. 
The point selected for leaving steel was the 
Bell or Nottaway river crossing. This lies 
some 174 miles east of Cochrane, Ontario, be¬ 
ing approximately 100 miles inside the Quebec 
border from Ontario, and 260 miles west of 
LaTuque. Here the waters from Timiskaming 
and Grand Lake Victoria flow northward by the 
Bell river into Shabogama lake and continue 
their run out by way of the Nottaway river into 
James Bay. They are typical of the Height of 
Land waters, showing the usual brownish tinge 
of muskeg. However, they are much clearer 
than the more western James Bay rivers. 
Dealing with conditions found, possibly the 
following description, under sub-headings, will 
give readers a practical idea in a clearer way 
than if given in a more general manner. 
TYPOGRAPHY AND TIMBER : The coun¬ 
try contiguous to the steel from LaTuque west¬ 
ward some 125 miles is mountainous, covered 
Indians at Bell River Crossing; Note Moose Meat Smoking—Indian Papoose, 
Eight Days Old. 
with poplar and birch. Around the Bell it has 
flattened out and is pretty level, the soil being 
mostly clay and sand along the rivers- North 
from the steel for some 10 miles it has all been 
burned over, but from this point northward one 
finds a pleasing aspect, rolling slopes covered 
with a good growth of white birch, poplar and 
spruce. This stretches pretty far to the north— 
it may be remarked that Bell River station is 
itself some 25 miles over the height of land. 
CANOE CRUISING: One finds here the best 
though least known route to James Bay of all the 
waters emptying therein. While it is pebhaps 25 
miles longer than the Abitibi or Missinabie, it 
can be done in less time on account of better 
going. From steel one has a run of some 60 
miles north before a portage is required. Two 
or three cross routes will enable cruising parties 
to vary the trip in and out. For instance, the 
Indians generally go north to the big arm of 
Shabogama lake 'at the northeast end, whence 
they turn into the Wedding river and follow 
down the Waswannipi, swinging into the Notta¬ 
way well down that immense river. The more 
direct route lies north up Shabo- 
— garna lake into a continuation of 
the Bell river, thence through 
Mattagami lake and down the 
Nottaway to salt water. Either 
way, it is approximately 220 miles 
to the Bay from steel. 
Other cruises are many and 
varied. One can put in at Bell 
River and go south right through 
to Timiskaming—a nic e two- 
weeks’ cruise. The Coffee river 
is an alternative long run north 
from steel here, and the Megiskan 
a good cruise south and east, 
coming out at steel thirty miles 
east of the Bell. 
FISHING : These waters offer 
splendid fishing enroute north— 
that is, the big rivers and lakes 
going through to James Bay—for 
immense northern pike, pickerel, 
whitefish and sturgeon; all these 
species are excellent eating and, 
in these cold waters, are gamey 
fighters. The smaller streams 
emptying into the Bell, the Coffee 
and Megiskan contain large num¬ 
bers of speckled trout, that are 
full of fight and will take the fly all summer. 
BIG GAME : I probably gave more attention to 
the question of game conditions on this trip than 
to any of the other phases as my time was 
limited and it was in the game season of Octo¬ 
ber. I feel I am thoroughly justified in stating 
that this region—and remember only a small 
fraction (some thirty-five miles), of the district 
contiguous to the Bell waters to the north was 
explored—is one of the finest moose and bear 
(Continued on page 742.) 
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