HUNTING IN THE ROCKIES.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXIX, Issue 10842, 12 August 1911, Page 3 (Supplement)

HUNTING IN THE ROCKIES.

"There is an idea in some quarters that the Rocky Mountains are shot out; but not bv a jugful," says James Simpson, one of the best-known guides and trappers in the Canadian West. "Jimmie" Simpson makes his headquarters at Banff, Alberta, and is-an Englishman from Lincolnshire, wlio still says "ant" for put, though he has been in Canada for fifteen years, during every one of which he has roamed the Rockies, fishing,; hunting and'shooting. Simpson says there is a,hunters I'aradise in the vast expanse between the two guarded preserves at the National Park, and Jasper Park. ; This intermediate territory would "draw from both parks, and contains the famous* Yoho Valley, as well as much other valuables ground for hunters. ; Among the animiMS to be found hero are lynx, marten, mountain sheep, mountain goat, caribou, hoary * marmot,. grizzly bear, black bear, fox, ermine, mink, deer and moose, as well as . grouse, duck, snipe, and hare. In_ the .lakes may be found salmon, whrtefish and ; rainbow-trout, and the enthusiastic disciple of Izaak "Walton finds as much to delight him in the mountain as does I the follower of Nimrod. _ . | When I saw .Simpson in Banff at the i end of March, he had just returned .from a hunting trip which had lasted since the preceding October., He had been in the mountains _all winter, and had brought back skins of lynx, marten, mink, wolverine, ermine, fisher, fox. muskrat, ami grizzly bear. Simpson says hunting, when you are going for the sake of furs, is much better when the snow is on the ground, not only because you can see the animals on tho white snow so much better, but because their coats are so much thicker and in so much finer condition. From Lagg&n to tho Yellowhead, there is a chain of cabins, about fifteen miles apart, and tho trapper cn his way out, leaves blankets and provisions in each cabin. . Then he can hunt in a radius of eighty miles, returning to whichever cabin be happens to be nearest at nightfall. "They're rough" little cabtns." says Simpson, "but it isn't so very long sinje we had- to sleep in a snowbank under :i tree, and this seems pretty good to me. At least the-wind can't get at yon." It is Simpson's opinion that the man coming into the Rockies about October, and remaining until Christmas, gets the pick of the game and the hunting. "If the Government would only do someI thing to prevent the Indians from slaughtering game, wo would have a I hunting country second to none in the [world," ho says. "The Stoneys have !a right by their treaty, to hunt for their own purposes, and so they go out, in tepees of about six or eight, and kill r enough game to last them for. a month. Til on they sit around their tepees, loaf and smoke until the game is all gone, then start out again on another slaughtering expedition. If they could only bo held , down in some way, game wouldn't bo so" hard to get. I'd like to see them either run out, or put in such a position that they'd have to toe the mark. Then wo'd have somo decent game in Alberta. One thing, for instance, that you havo to come to Alberta to. get is sheep You can get goat anywhere, but the mountain sheep at its best is found only in Alberta, and it's bully good eating, tho finest meat you can get. I saw a flock of thirty shpep feeding when I was out this fall, and left them alone, because I didn't need them, but the Indian would have killed them all, and. lived ou the flesh for a month."

"Did you ever have any really exciting experience in your hunting?" I asked. Simpsou throw back his head, and laughed. "Well, I came down a mountain on my ear this winter. < That's going some, isn't it? But the onlytime I ever came really near, death was in an encounter with a grizzly -hear. 1 was making the round of ray traps one morning, and I found that a grizzly had walked off with one of. my best steel traps. I was pretty sore, and started off hotfoot after Mr- Bear. "I followed, the tracks into a bunch, of willows where you couldn't see a foot- in front of you, and- suddenly the bear reared, so close I. didn't even have room to aim my gun. I simply threw it in front of me and fired, and to my utter amazement he dropped. By some lucky fluke, the shot had gone right down his throat, missing the teeth, and it wasn't necessary to fire again. I stood there, stupidly staring at the : beast, and watching the smoke rise from his body. Then it suddenly came over me that .I'd - been pretty near death, and I shook like a leaf for about a quarter of an ho.ur. I tell you, I never again, want as close a shave as that was. . "Hooligan, my dog, has had several narrow escapes. He has been my constant companion for eight years, and he can do everything but speak. He'll tackle anything, whether it's his .own size or not. One time I was out with an old .lady who was hunting butterflies. She had specimens from all over tho world, and though she was nearly seventy, she was still on. the hunt. Wa were up in the mountains, miles from anywhere, and one night loafing around camp I heard, Hooligan bark. It was just one short yelp, but I knew lie:was. in trouble and started..off to. find. hiinI rounded a point and there was Hooligan in a fight ,wi'tlia mountain goat about twice, his size. I only had a small revolver with me, but I had to kill that goat before I could pry him looso from Homigan. '. . . "The old lady was much amused when I told her about it. She wasn't afraid of anything, and one of her favorite pastimes, when she.wasn't chasing butterflies, was hunting rattlesnakes. She was collecting enough for a handbag, and belt, and stuff like that, and she would go off with a little revolver and eomo back with two or three rattlesnakes at a time.