THIS MONTH IN THE 
I ^mrrlTH the cool weather of Au- 
tumn, shooting time is at 
’ hand. There is still big game 
to be had in these United States of 
America, although the opportunities 
are greater in the provinces of Canada 
and of Alaska of making a kill. In 
September the season opens in the 
northern district of Lower California 
for antelope and for caribou in Alaska 
and the Canadian Provinces of Nova 
Scotia, Ontario, Quebec and Yukon. 
Elk may be killed in Wyoming, goat 
in Alaska, Alberta and Yukon, and 
sheep in Alaska, Wyoming, Alberta, 
Yukon and the northern district of 
Lower California. In Alaska the moose 
season opens and this month deer may 
be killed in Alaska, California, Hawaii, 
Oregon, South Carolina and Wyoming. 
The bear is unprotected in all the 
• States and in Canada with the excep¬ 
tion of Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, 
California, Louisiana, Mississippi, New 
York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South 
Carolina, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin 
and Quebec. In Utah and Quebec the 
season is now open. 
Bears’ Habits Changed 
The black bear is coming to be looked 
upon as an animal mu 'h in need of 
protection, and excepting in the na¬ 
tional parks the grizzly bear is vanish¬ 
ing. Enos A. Mills made a study of 
the grizzly bear for many years, and it 
was his belief that under present con¬ 
ditions this great animal will be ex¬ 
terminated. Day and night the year 
round, guns, traps, dogs and poison 
have assailed him. Because often he 
I follows a game hog lion and feeds on 
the lion’s excessive killing he has been 
accused of being a destroyer of game. 
On the other hand the grizzly destroys 
many pests, rats, mice rabbits, and 
grasshoppers. Most of his food habits 
are economically beneficial to mankind. 
Exceptional grizzlies have turned cattle 
killers; but cattle killing and big game 
killing are confined to exceptional in¬ 
dividuals and are not characteristic of 
doings of all grizzlies. 
The grizzly has courage, loyalty and 
,' individuality. In addition he has the 
play habit and sense enough to relax. 
The grizzly will play with a floating 
log, with his shadow, with lively grass¬ 
hoppers, and many times Mr. Mills has 
seen him, all alone, coasting merrily. 
To man the grizzly gives the wilderness 
its supreme spell. 
Page 505 
By ALEXANDER STODDART 
When Lewis and Clark were sent by 
President Thomas Jefferson after the 
purchase of Louisiana in 1803 to ex¬ 
plore the northwest country the griz¬ 
zlies had no fear of the Indian. The 
white man had not been seen, that is, 
the white man with his gun. The 
grizzly bear feared nothing; he was 
big and strong and well-armed and in¬ 
vulnerable to the weapons of the In¬ 
dians, the bow and arrow. Except un¬ 
der very exceptional circumstances an 
arrow headed with stone or bone could 
not penetrate his hide. 
But when Lewis and Clark and the 
company that were with them went up 
the Missouri river and on to the north¬ 
west, grizzly bears learned respect for 
the white man with the rifle, and soon 
changed their tactics, and instead of 
their previously feeling that the man 
would run, they found it best to retire 
from the field. 
Maine Caribou Exterminateed 
Caribou are no longer found in the 
United States. One must go to the prov¬ 
inces of Canada or to Alaska. It was 
40 years ago when Maine suddenly 
awakened to the fact that the lumber 
camps were squandering her caribou 
and moose and enacted a law establish¬ 
ing a game limit. That was in 1883 
and the limit was one moose, two cari¬ 
bou and three deer. The caribou steadi¬ 
ly decreased in number and six years 
later their further killing was pro¬ 
hibited, but the removal of caribou 
from the list of game animals did not 
prevent their extermination. 
Only five states have an open season 
for elk and, strange as it may seem, 
Pennsylvania is one of them, the Key¬ 
stone State having an open season for 
male elk for fifteen days. The season 
is now open in Wyoming, the elk of the 
Idaho, Montana and Wyoming' region 
being those that find refuge except in 
certain parts of the open season in the 
national parks. 
It was back in 1872 that the United 
States, because of the suitability of 
Yellowstone and the Jackson Hole coun¬ 
try, made of Yellowstone National Park 
a preserve for wild life. In this huge 
plateau each year with the coming of a 
heavy snow the elk go north or south 
to escape the heavy drifts in the Yel¬ 
lowstone. As soon as the elk wander 
across the boundary of Yellowstone Na¬ 
tional Park the sportsman is awaiting 
them. The Yellowstone herd of elk 
OUTDOORS 
is the last stand of the big game in 
large numbers in the United States. 
Elk formerly ranged over one third 
of the mainland of North America. 
The elk have been so progressively ex¬ 
terminated and crowded back in the 
limited areas there is fear that they 
are following in the footsteps of 
the buffalo. Civilization turned the 
wilderness into farms, obstructed the 
migratory movements of elk and the 
consumption of food by domestic cattle 
are among the causes which steadily 
decreased the number of elk in the 
United States. The only reason that 
the elk exist in any number at all is be¬ 
cause these animals are fed hay in the 
winter time. 
Sheep Saved by Shyness 
In Idaho is the only state where the 
mountain goat can be taken. The rea¬ 
son the mountain goat has not been en¬ 
tirely exterminated is because they are 
not so highly prized by sportsmen. 
Sheep may be only taken now in Wy¬ 
oming and in the northern district of 
lower California. Sheep are shy and 
crafty and probably owe their salvation 
to their living high up in the mountains 
and for their ability to keep out of the 
range of hunters. 
The most plentiful big game animal 
that the United States has to-day is the 
deer, and three quarters of the states of 
the United States have an open season 
for this animal. This month the season 
is open in California, Oregon, South 
Carolina and Wyoming, and with the 
exception of California no state has a 
season open before September 1. More 
and more, as the public become enlight¬ 
ened to the conservation of deer, the 
seasons are being placed later in the 
fall when the flesh is less liable to spoil, 
and more states are opening their sea- 
soon later, in October and November, 
with not a few states like Massachu¬ 
setts, Missouri, New Jersey, Pennyl- 
vania and Tennessee not opening their 
seasons until December. 
Buck Law Saves Men 
The buck law has now the following 
states enrolled for the protection of the 
female animal: Alabama, Arizona, Ar¬ 
kansas, California, Colorado, Michigan, 
Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Ne¬ 
vada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New 
York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South 
Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, 
(Continued on page 509) 
