HUNTING THE KODIAK.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20519, 21 March 1930, Page 11

HUNTING THE KODIAK.

BROWN ALASKAN BEAR.;

THRILLS FOR SPORTSMEN.

LARGEST CARNIVOROUS ANIMAL.

[FROit OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT. 3

VANCOUVER, Feb. 10.

Stalking the Kodiak, Alaska's great brown bear, is beginning to attract biggame hunters who hitherto have looked to Africa for their big-game. Of recent years, English hunters have como in greater numbers; last year two Australians wore among tho far northern migrants. Ihe largest carnivorous animal in existence, tho Kodiak scales up to a ton and has a pelt 12ft. in length. He is found on- tho Alaskan peninsula, on tho western shore of Cook Inlet and on Kodiak Island, where he develops his greatest sizo and bulk. As a coveted trophy, he is known wherever hunters congregate. The average rancher or pros- | pector in Alaska would cheerfully take his choice of fire, murder or sudden death before an untimely visit from a Kodiak. Eskimo and Indian will tackle bim only in parties of four or five rifles. Yet the Kodiak is the gentleman of the wilderness. He minds his own business. There have been only rare occasions when ho attacked without provocation. If the big bear suspects the presence of a human being he will clear out so fast that the hunter is lucky if he sees any more than his trail. When it comes to speed ho is' in a class by himself. With all his tremendous bulk, he is the incarnation of agility, and makes prodigious leaps, clearing 10ft. to 15ft. at a bound. A great rock traveller, his 6in. claws, fore and aft, are worn blunt. He does not hug when fighting; standing on his hind le<rs, he uses his paws as a man does his hands, to stjiJce and cuff. The Kodiak is a climber. He hibernates about half-way up tho slopes, and, on emerging in May or Juno, goes higher above the snow line. Having lost tho desire for food for six months, he does not como down, but plays round in the snow. The hunter must therefore seek a lotty spot in the mountains, from which the whole valley and tho slopes _of other mountains may be scanned With binoculars After a few days of aimless sport in tho snow, the Kodiak will amblo down to the nearest water and eat sparingly of tho first tender shoots of grass. He eats at. night, mostly, for tho long months of hibernation have made him cautious. Three or four' days of grass rations aro followed by a ravenous hunt for gophers, around squirrels and the hoary marmot, * during which he will dig and disturb rocks as heavy as himself. "Brownie" likes decayed fish or meat; the longer the bait is left the more enticing it is to the whole Kodiak family. On Kodiak Island, however, where there is neither moose, caribou nor deer, the only way to hunt the bear is by stalking. The hunter has to match his wit against the bear, and in this lies all the excitement and fascination of the chase. _Of notoriously bad eyesight and poor hearing, the Kodiak has a redoubled sense of smell, and does not like tho scent of humans. Tho hunter must, therefore, always hunt into tho wind.