American Big Game in Its Haunts: The Book of the Boone and Crockett Club
History
American Big Game in Its Haunts: The Book of the Boone and Crockett Club
Big game hunting -- United States
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.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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