were at once in use. Soon Hunter saw rams, but they were so far below
that even with my powerful binoculars it was impossible to tell more
than that they carried larger heads than other sheep near them.
It was impossible to descend the cliff at the point where we then were,
so we moved around, looking for a place where we might work down, and
finally found one where it was possible to descend some fifty yards to a
sort of shute. From where we were we could not see whether we should be
able to make a still further descent, and if we did go down that far it
would be an extremely difficult climb to get back, but we thought it
probable that there would be slide rock at the other end of this shute,
in which case the rest would be fairly easy.
Moving with the greatest caution, we finally reached the shute, and
after a bit of bad climbing found the slide rock at the lower end as we
had expected; but it took us a good two hours to get low enough to tell
with the glasses how big were the horns the sheep carried.
There were eight rams in all. A bunch of three small ones about half a
mile away, and just beyond them four with better heads, but still not
good enough to shoot, and apart from these, a short distance up the
mountain side, was a solitary ram which carried a really good head. The
bunch of three was unfortunately between us and the big sheep, and it
required careful stalking to get within distance of the one we
sought. We knew very well that if we suddenly alarmed the three, and
they rushed off, they, in turn, would alarm the four and also the big
ram. When we were still at some distance we showed ourselves to the
three, and they took the hint and wandered slowly up the mountain
side. The others, although they had not seen us, became suspicious, so
we remained crouched behind some rocks until they once more began to
feed. The big ram now came down from his solitary position and passed
from view behind a mass of boulders near the remaining sheep.
The head of the ram which I had shot the day before was much smaller
than I had supposed at the time. In order to avoid this in future I had
asked Hunter to advise me in selecting only really good heads. My man,
who now had the glasses, declared that the big sheep had not joined the
bunch of four, and I must confess that I was also deceived.
Although the four had become suspicious from seeing the three go slowly
up the cliff, still they had not made us out, and the wind remained
favorable. Lying close only long enough for them to get over their
uneasiness, we cautiously stalked up to within some two hundred
yards. Again we used the glasses most carefully, but could not see the
big ram. Suddenly the sheep became alarmed and started up the
mountain. I expected each second to see the large ram come out from
behind the boulders, and therefore withheld from shooting. But when he
did not appear I turned my attention to the four which had paused and
were looking down upon us from a rocky ridge nearly four hundred yards
above. As they stood in bold relief against the black crags, I saw that
one carried horns much larger than the others, and that it was the big
ram. My only chance was to take this long shot. We had been crossing a
snow bank at the time, and I settled myself, dug my heels well in, and
with elbows resting on my knees took a steady aim. I was fortunate in
judging the correct distance, for at the report of the rifle the big ram
dropped, gave a few spasmodic kicks, and the next minute came rolling
down the mountain side, tumbling over and over, and bringing with him a
great shower of broken rocks. I feared that his head and horns would be
ruined, but fortunately found them not only uninjured, but a most
beautiful trophy. The horns taped a good 34 inches along the curve and
13-1/2 inches around the butts.
That night the weather changed, and thenceforth the mountains were
constantly enveloped in mist, while it rained almost daily. These were
most difficult conditions under which to hunt, for sheep have wonderful
vision and can see a hunter through the mist long before they can be
seen.
I was anxious to bring out as trophies only the finest heads, and daily
refused chances which some might have gladly taken. If we could not
plainly see with the naked eye horns at 300 to 400 yards, we always let
the sheep pass, knowing that the head was small, but if at any time we
could make out that a sheep carried a full turn to his horns, we knew
that the head was well matured. If we saw a sheep facing us we could
always tell when the horns made a full turn, for then the tips curved
outward.
A week after killing the big ram we again visited the great basin, but
found nothing, and cautiously moved a little higher to a sheltered
position. From here we carefully scanned the bottom of this large gulch,
and soon spied a bunch of ewes and lambs, and shortly afterward three
medium sized rams. When we first saw them one had become suspicious and
was looking intently in our direction, so we crouched low against the
rocks, keeping perfectly still until they once more began to feed. When
they had gradually worked over a slight knoll we made a quick approach,
cautiously stalking up to the ridge over which the sheep had gone. I had
expected to get a fair shot at two hundred yards or under, but when I
peered over nothing was in sight. I concluded they had not gone up the
mountain side, for their white coats against the black rocks would have
rendered them easily seen. I, therefore, started to walk boldly in the
direction in which we had seen them go, thinking they had probably taken
shelter from the gale behind some rocks.
I had only gone some paces when we located them standing on a snow patch
which had made them indistinguishable. I sat down and tried to shoot
from my knees, but the wind was coming in such fierce gusts that I could
not hold my rifle steady, so I ran as hard as I could in their
direction, looking hastily about for some rock which would offer
shelter.
The sheep made up the mountain side for some three hundred yards, when
they paused to look back. I had by this time found a sheltered position
behind a large boulder, and soon had one of the rams wounded, but,
although I fired several shots I seemed unable to knock him off his
feet. Fearing that I might lose him after all, I aimed for the second
ram, which was now on the move some distance further up the mountain,
and at my second shot he stopped. Climbing up to within one hundred and
fifty yards I found that both the sheep were badly wounded, and were
unable to go further, so I finished them off. What was my surprise to
find that the larger ram had seven bullets in him, while the smaller one
had three.
These sheep would almost never flinch to the shot, and it was difficult
to tell when you had hit, unless in an immediately vital spot.
The weather continued unfavorable for hill shooting until the third of
September, but that day opened bright and clear, and fearing lest the
good conditions might not last, we made an early start. Crossing the
high plateau we followed the valley of the Killy River, keeping well up
and skirting the bases of the mountain summits. As we trudged along, the
shrill cries of alarm of the whistling marmots were heard, and the
little fellows could be seen in all directions scampering for their
holes. Ptarmigan were also frequently met with, but not in such great
numbers as one would have supposed in a region where they had never been
hunted. On several occasions we found these birds on the highest summits
where there was nothing but rocks covered with black moss. It would have
been interesting to have shot one of them and learned upon what they
were then feeding, but it was just in the locality where we hoped to
find rams, and this was out of the question. That morning we traveled
some distance before we saw sheep, but having once reached their feeding
ground I had the satisfaction of watching more wild game than on any
previous day.
The Kussiloff hills were dotted with scattered bands, and I counted in
one large flock forty-eight, while the long and narrow valley on both
sides of the stream was sprinkled with smaller bunches containing from
two or three to twenty. It was a beautiful sight, for every ewe had at
least one, and many of them two, lambs frolicking at her side.
In addition to these sheep we saw three moose feeding in a small green
valley at the base of the opposite hills. The river was impassable for
some miles, and although they were hardly more than a mile away in a
straight line, they were quite unapproachable, so we sat and watched
them with much interest until they slowly fed into the timber.
Shortly after noon we located some large sheep on a rocky knoll across
the Killy River just below where the stream gushes out from a mighty
glacier. They were a long way off, but with the glasses we could see
that one lying apart from the others was a ram, and we surmised that if
we could see his horns at such a distance even through the glasses he
probably carried a good head.
Working down to the stream we finally found a point shallow enough to
wade. We now made a cautious and careful stalk to the place where we had
last located the sheep, but a bunch of ewes and a small ram were all
that we could see.
Hunter and I were both much disgusted, for we had expected surely to
find a head that was up to our standard.
It was well on in the afternoon when we started back to camp. We had
been going steadily over the broken hillsides since early morning, and
had met sheep at almost every turn. At the sight of us some would bound
up the steep mountain sides in great alarm, while several times at only
a couple of hundred yards others merely turned their heads in our
direction, and after observing us for a short time continued to
graze. Somehow these ewes seemed to understand that I had no intention
of molesting them.
It is strange how the hope of seeing game keeps one from feeling tired,
but as we trudged homeward, a bit depressed that in all the great number
of sheep seen, there had not been one good head, and that our hard day
was all to no purpose, my man and I both began to feel pretty well
fagged out.
Late in the afternoon we paused for a brief rest and a smoke, and here
Hunter sighted two lone rams in a gulch at the top of the mountain above
us. By this time we were both pretty well used up, but the glasses
showed that they carried good heads, and I determined to stalk them,
even if it meant passing the night on the hills. So we worked our way up
to the top of a ridge which commanded a view of the gulch in which the
sheep were grazing, but they had fed some distance away by the time we
reached the place where I had expected to shoot, and were at too long a
range to make my aim certain. If we had had plenty of time, we should
have worked up the ridge nearer, and this Hunter was still anxious for
me to do, but when I saw one of the sheep suddenly raise his head and
look intently in our direction I knew my only chance was to take the
long shot. T had seen what the .30-40 Winchester rifle would do in the
hills, and the question was one of holding. However, I could count on
several shots before they ran out of sight, and even at such a distance
I hoped to get one and possibly the pair. Both sheep carried good heads,
but I aimed at the one which stood broadside to me. Hunter, who had the
glasses, told me afterward that the ram with the more massive horns got
away, but I succeeded in wounding the other so that he was unable to
move. Knowing he would shortly die, and that I could find him the next
morning, we at once started at our best pace for camp.
We only reached our tent at nine o'clock that night, both completely
fagged out. A cup of tea made us feel better, but it was late before I
could get to sleep. Such days are a bit too much for steady practice,
but if they end in success the trophy means all the more.
The following day we were literally wind-bound, and not until the day
after could we set out for the wounded sheep, which we eventually found,
not fifty yards from where we had last seen him. It was a long and hard
climb to reach him, but he carried a very pretty head with massive horns
of over a full turn. I found that two shots of the seven which I had
fired had taken effect.
Two days later the native arrived from the main camp with more
provisions, and brought an interesting letter from Blake. It seemed that
some Englishmen who had been hunting in these hills just before us had
driven the big rams to the other end of the range, where my friend had
been most fortunate in finding them. He strongly advised my leaving my
present camp and coming to the country which he had just left, having
got six excellent heads. This was the limit which we had decided upon as
the number of sheep that we each wanted.
It was now apparently clear that I had been hunting at a great
disadvantage in my district. On receiving Blake's letter I at once
determined to retrace my steps to the main camp, go to the head of the
lake and follow up the trail which he had laid out upon the mountains.
Therefore the next morning (September 7) we shouldered our packs and
went over the hills to our main camp. Instead of following the trail by
which we had come, we decided to push straight across country, hoping in
this way to reach our main camp in one march. Our change of route was
unfortunate, and this day I can easily put down as the hardest one I
ever passed in the mountains.
In order to bring out all our belongings in one trip we had extra heavy
packs, and the country over which we marched was very trying. About noon
I spied sheep on one of the outlying hills, and as we came nearer I made
out through the glasses that this was a bunch of five rams, and that
three of them carried exceptionally good heads. My only chance was to
push ahead of my men, and this I did, but stalking sheep over a rough
country with a heavy pack on your back is very trying work, and I failed
to connect with these rams.
About five o'clock in the afternoon we came down over the mountains on
to the high plateau above our main camp. We were all too used up to go
any further, or even put up our light tent, although it soon began to
rain. We made a rude camp in a patch of stunted hemlocks, and as I sat
before the fire having my tea, I chanced to look up on the hills before
me, and there was the bunch of five rams I had tried so hard to stalk
early in the afternoon. They were at no great distance, but it was
rapidly growing dark, and there was not time to get within range while
it would be light enough to shoot. So I sat and studied these sheep
through the glasses, determined to find them later, even if it took me a
month.
One of them had a most beautiful head, with long and massive horns well
over the full turn. Another had a head which would have been equally
good if the left horn had not been slightly broken at the tip. The third
also had an excellent head, and although not up to the other two, his
horns made the full turn. The remaining two rams were smaller. I watched
them until darkness came on, and all this while they fed slowly back
toward the mountains on which my friend had been hunting the week
before. I am convinced that this bunch of sheep had been driven out of
these hills by Blake, and had been turned back again by me.
It rained hard that night, and the next morning the clouds were so low
that it was impossible to go in search of the rams I had seen the
evening before. I, therefore, determined to push immediately to the
main camp, which we reached three hours later. We at once lunched, and,
putting our light outfit in one of the boats, rowed up to the head of
the lake.
This range of hills is surrounded by a mighty glacier, and at the foot
of the glacier is a moraine some ten miles long extending down to Kenai
Lake. On one side of this moraine you can walk by skirting the shore
and using care, but on the other side the quicksands are deep and
dangerous. We camped for the night in a place which my friend had used
as his base of supplies.
The next morning opened dull, and I felt the effects of my hard work and
did not greatly relish the idea of shouldering a fifty-pound pack. But
my time was now getting short. In two weeks the rutting season of the
moose would begin, and in the meantime I wanted four more fine specimens
of the white sheep. Any day we might expect a heavy fall of snow, for
the northern winter had already begun in the hills.
We soon found the tracks of Blake's party, which led up the moraine, and
carried us over quicksand and through glacial streams, icy cold.
Finally we came to where Blake had started up the mountain side, and
with all due regard to my friend, his trail was not an easy one. About
noon it began to rain, but we pushed upward, although soon soaked to the
skin, and came out above timber just at dark. We were all fagged out and
shaking with cold by the time we reached Blake's old camp.
The next morning broke dismally with the floodgates of the heavens open
and the rain coming down in torrents. I lay among my rugs and smoked one
pipe after another in order to keep down my appetite, for there was
little chance of making a fire to cook with. In fact, most of the day
was passed in this way, for all the wood had become thoroughly
water-soaked.
Late in the afternoon we succeeded in getting a fire started and had a
square meal. While we were crouched around the blaze the natives saw
sheep on the hills just above us, but it was raining so hard that it was
impossible to tell if they were rams. In fact, when sheeps' coats are
saturated with water they do not show up plainly when seen at any
distance, and might easily be mistaken for wet rocks.
The next day opened just as dismally, with the storm raging harder than
ever, but by eleven o'clock it began to let up, and we soon had our
things drying in the wind, for the clouds looked threatening, and we
feared the rain would begin again at any time.
As we were short of provisions and depended almost entirely upon meat,
my head man and I started at once for the hills. The little stream by
our camp was swollen into a rushing torrent, and we were obliged to go
almost to its source--a miniature glacier--before we could wade it.
Climbing to the crest of the mountains on which we had seen the sheep
the evening before, and following just under the sky line, we soon saw a
large and two small rams feeding on a sheltered ledge before us.
We much feared that they would get: our scent, but by circling well
around we succeeded in making a fair approach. I should have had an
excellent shot at the big ram had not one of the smaller ones given the
alarm. The gale was coming in such gusts that it was difficult to take a
steady aim, and at my first shot the bullet was carried to one side. I
fired again just as the sheep were passing from view, and succeeded in
breaking the leg of the big ram. Hunter and I now raced after him, but
the hillside was so broken that it was impossible to locate him, so my
man went to the valley below where he could get a good view and signal
to me.
It is always well in hill shooting to have an understood code of signals
between your man and yourself. The one which I used and found most
satisfactory provided that if my man walked to the right or left it
meant that the game was in either of these directions; if he walked away
from the mountain, it was lower down; if he approached the mountain, it
was higher up.
As Hunter, after reaching the valley and taking a look with the glasses,
began to walk away, I knew that the sheep was below me, and I suddenly
came close upon the three, which had taken shelter from the gale behind
a large rock. Very frequently sheep will remain behind with a wounded
companion; especially is this so when it is a large ram. Now,
unfortunately, one of the smaller rams got between me and the big one,
and as I did not want to kill the little fellow the big ram was soon out
of range. But he was too badly wounded to go far over such grounds, and
I soon stalked up near, when I fired, breaking another leg, and then ran
up and finished him off. This ram carried a very pretty head 13-1/2
inches around the butts and 36-1/4 inches along the curve, but
unfortunately the left horn was slightly broken at the tip. It was
undoubtedly an old sheep, as his teeth, worn to the gums, and the ten
rings around his horns indicated.
When a ram's constitution has been undermined by the rutting season, the
horns cease to grow, nor do they begin again until the spring of the
year with its green vegetation brings nourishing food, and this is the
cause of the rings, which, therefore, indicate the number of winters old
a sheep is. This was my head man's theory, and is, I believe, a correct
one, for in the smaller heads which I have examined these rings
coincided with the age of the sheep as told by the teeth. Up to five
years, the age of a sheep can always be determined by the incisor teeth;
a yearling has but two permanent incisors, a two-year-old four, a
three-year-old six, and a four-year-old or over eight teeth, or a full
set.
[Illustration: HEADS OF DALL'S SHEEP
(The horns above are of the Stone's sheep)]
It was unpleasantly cold upon the mountains this day, and as no other
sheep could be seen, we returned to camp by five o'clock. This was the
easiest day's shooting that I had had.
As we sat by the camp-fire that evening, four sheep were seen on the
hills above us, two of which I recognized as the small rams that had
been with the one I had just killed. We felt quite certain that these
were the bunch of five rams which we had seen when we were packing out
from our first hill camp. In fact, this was the only good band of rams
which I saw during the entire hunt. If these were the same sheep, the
two newcomers carried good heads, for, as previously stated, I had
studied this lot carefully through the glasses.
The next day, the thirteenth and Friday, opened dismally enough, but by
the time we had finished breakfast the mountains Were clear of clouds
and there was no wind to mar one's shooting. Such conditions were to be
taken advantage of, and Hunter and I were soon working up the ridge well
to leeward of the place where we had seen the sheep the night
before. Reaching the crest we scanned the grounds on all sides, and also
the rugged mountain tops about us.
The white coats of these sheep against the dark background of black
moss-covered rocks render them easily seen, but we now failed to sight
any even on the distant hills. Therefore we pushed ahead, going
stealthily up wind and keeping a careful watch on all sides. We crossed
over the ridge and worked our way just below the sky-line on the other
side of the mountain from our camp, never supposing that the sheep would
work back, for they had seen our camp-fire on the night before. We
traveled nearly to the end of the ridge, and were just about to cross
and work down to a sheltered place where we expected to find our game,
when Hunter chanced to look back, and instantly motioned me to drop out
of sight.
While we had been working around one side of the summit the sheep had
been working back on the other side, and we had passed them with the
mountain ridge between. Fortunately they were all feeding with their
heads away or they must have seen us as we came out on the sky-line. My
man had the glasses and assured me that there were two excellent
heads. We now felt quite certain that these were the sheep we knew so
well.
We cautiously dropped out of sight and worked back, keeping the mountain
ridge between us. We were well above and had a favorable wind and the
entire day before us. It was the first and only time upon these hills
that the conditions had all been favorable for a fair stalk and good
shooting. Hunter did his part well, and brought me up to within one
hundred and twenty-five yards of the rams, which were almost directly
below us. They had stopped feeding and were lying down. Only one of the
smaller sheep was visible, and my man advised me to take a shot at him,
and then take the two large ones as they showed themselves. Aiming low,
I fired, and then as one of the big rams jumped up I fired again,
killing him instantly. The smaller one that I had first shot at went to
the left, while the one remaining large ram and the second smaller one
went to the right. The latter were instantly hidden from view, for the
mountain side was very rough and broken and covered with large slide
rock. I raced in the same direction, knowing well that they would work
up hill. But hurrying over such ground is rather dangerous work.