Hunting in Alaska

Manawatu Times, Volume 63, Issue 38, 15 February 1938, Page 2

Hunting in Alaska

ADDRESS TO ROTARY CLUB His experiences while travelling and hunting in Alaska during the last five months of last year, were the subject of Mr. K. W. Dalrymple’s address yesterday to the Palmerston North Rotary Club. Mr. Dalrymple described the country surrounding the great Yukon river (three times the size of New Zealand), as being broken up by glacier action. The mountain ranges were scattered about in disconnected fashion. On these ranges were found wild sheep which kept to the higher levels and were very hard to approach. Mr. Dalrymple and his party, chased a small mob day after day and it was not until the sheep were trapped by a hailstorm, that they were caught. Caribou, which resembled reindeer, lived on lichen in cold, windswept places where they needed the protection of their hardiness and thick coats. In the heat of the 22-hour summer day this odd-looking animal would lie, in order to keep cool, in patches of snow, and thus offer himself an easy target for marksmen. The caribou also made himself an easy prey for hunters when attacked by a fly. When avoiding this pest all other thought would leave its mind and it would often run into danger.

Both the bear and moose were remarkable in the way in which they avoided man. The grizzy bear was a vicious and savage beast which depended more on its sense of smell and its hearing than its poor eyesight. At the slightest whiff of man the bear would gallop away in its lumbering fashion and would always be difficult to approach.

The moose, the speaker continued, not only had unusual powers of smell and hearing but also had a very keen eyesight. This big, heavy animal lived at the lower levels among the lakes where it could obtain large quantities of food—usually from the bottom of the lake. While feeding with its head submerged, it offered the best chance for the huntsman. When on the alert, however, the moose was difficult to come by, its hearing ranging over such great distance in a country where there was little noise and its eyesight so keen it could spot a man at once.

The wolves were a source of annoyance to hunters in that they scattered the sheep and the caribou. Like other animals of that region, the wolves did not like man and usually kept two or three miles away. There was the possibility that in the winter the wolves might attack if they were very hungry

and roaming in a large pack, but the hunters were not frightened of them. There were very few known instances of attack on man, although there was the danger of thir attacking dogs. Mr. Dalrymple spoke of one occasion no knew when a hunter came across nine wolves which attacked his dogs, but he shot six and the other three made off.

The dog usually acted as a packhorse, being large and able to carry 501bs. all day. A team of 11 dogs would carry 5001bs. altogether on a hunting expedition. When a hunting party went out one man was always left at the camp to protect it against bears which would otherwise cause destruction in search of sugar or jam. The speaker remarked that the inhabitants of those great hunting grounds were mostly Canadians who, once settled there, would never return to the outer world. There they were not troubled by speed, hard and dusty roads or other drawbacks of civilisation. Most of the men had been in this attractive country a very long time. They lived better than we in being more particular about their food. The famous northern lights, he continued, usually occurred at about nine on a winter's evening, were of all colours, and could be heard moving across*the sky like the light swish of silk.

The speaker concluded by describing the Indian of Alaska as being a mixture of races with a trace of Asiatic origin. He was flat-faced, flat-nosed, lazy, dirty and useless, for he was neither good as a guide nor as a hunter. A half-bred Indian brought up amongst white men was a better man than one. brought up amongst Indians,