A Mountain Man’s Last Hunt Before Winter

The writer got here to Canada from England in 1923 as a 23-year-old greenhorn. Throughout the subsequent 5 years he traveled within the wilds of Canada and Alaska and found gold close to Frances Lake within the distant southeastern Yukon. Within the June OUTDOOR LIFE Cash advised a few 650-mile dogsled journey again to his cabin at Frances Lake in 1928 together with his bride and toddler son. Final month he described their first spring and summer time on the cabin. Right here he tells how they harvested the sport and fish they would wish for the lengthy winter forward. 

THE GLORIOUS SUMMER handed all too rapidly. Frosts started in August, warning me that months of blizzards can be beginning quickly. I had a number of Liard Indians working with me at my gold diggings, however by the center of September I needed to shut the operation for the season. I found that effective gold was being carried out of the sluice-box tailings by skim ice.

Caesar, one of many Indians, helped me clear up the final of the gold and stack away the gear. I paid the lads with gold cash and quite a lot of commerce items.

Later, on the cabin, my spouse Joyce helped me weigh the summer time’s manufacturing from the mine. Our revenue was astonishing, and we delighted in planning forward to the following 12 months’s mining. On the going fee of $20 an oz. for gold mud and nuggets, our summer time’s take would internet us about $8,000.

After spending over half a 12 months within the wilderness, we had been getting low on provides. However I’d anticipated that downside. Months earlier I’d left an order for extra commerce items and provides to be shipped from the Taylor-Drury Firm in Whitehorse to their distant Pelly Banks Publish on the Pelly River. That put up was throughout a mountain vary and about 75 miles from our cabin. When snow journey turned good, I might run my six-dog staff to the put up and freight the provides house with our toboggan. In the meantime, I needed to harvest our winter’s provide of recreation and fish.

In September, whitefish swim clockwise round Frances Lake in shallow water close to shore. I had a 50-foot-long gillnet, so I had little bother catching as many as 50 whitefish and lake trout a day. I set the online with a 22-foot boat I’d constructed from whipsawed lumber.

Every night, we’d pull the online, untangle the fish, and whack them over the top. I’d intestine them in an enormous zinc washtub, then throw them into one other tub the place Joyce washed them clear. Collectively we hung our fish over racks within the smokehouse, the place willow-brush fires dried and smoked them in about three days. Then we put them in gunnysacks and saved the masses on high of a highpoled cache.

“We’ve bought about two-thousand fish dried now,” Joyce mentioned one evening. “Isn’t that sufficient for winter pet food and our personal emergency rations?”

I made a decision it was, so we pulled within the internet and started taking good care of our backyard produce.

The backyard in entrance of the cabin was totally grown. Potatoes. carrots, turnips, onions, and all the opposite greens had grown nicely. I dug and cleaned the crops. We put most of them in a storage cellar that we had dug below the center of the cabin ground. We left our cabbages within the backyard to freeze.

There was one final job to do earlier than we deliberate our fall hunt. After snow got here we’d construct an enormous new cabin measuring 24 by 22 ft. I needed to dig trenches for base logs earlier than the bottom froze.

Once I completed that job, I advised Joyce about my searching plans.

“The journey might be enjoyable,” I started. “We’ll take the boat and sail thirty miles down this arm of the lake to the place it joins the east arm. Then we’ll journey up that arm to its far finish. A companion and I found a silver-lead declare there three years in the past. You’ll take pleasure in trying on the veins of ore. Above the declare is excessive, stunning nation that’s tops for moose and mountain goats. We shouldn’t have any bother selecting up loads of geese and some geese alongside the best way.”

Joyce was particularly happy with the plans as a result of they supplied her and our child son Sydney a change in routine. Syd by then was one 12 months previous. He was in a position to stroll a bit and curiosity himself in new environment. Typically he rode round on the again of Rogue, our lead sled canine. Each the boy and the 115-pound Siberian husky loved their video games. When Syd would fall off Rogue’s again the canine would stand nonetheless and look ahead to Joyce to position the boy again in place. We had been certain that Syd would take pleasure in a brand new world of play through the hunt.

We loaded the boat with our camp outfit and loads of contemporary meals; then we set sail down the lake the primary morning we had a wind from astern. My makeshift canvas sail caught the wind effectively, so all I needed to do was steer. Nothing might have been extra restful and stress-free than crusing easily down the lengthy waterway.

Excessive mountains, already capped with first snow, hemmed within the jewellike waters. Timber, particularly birches and willows, displayed a glory of fall colours. We steered previous the large Il-es-tooa River delta and on previous the islands towards the south finish of the lake. By consuming lunch afloat we reached the junction above the foot of the lake the place the east arm enters the west arm. A scenic narrows made a really perfect campsite.

We had let the canine unfastened again on the cabin. taking solely Rogue within the boat with us. The others ran alongside the seashore. As quickly as I had the household safely ashore I took the boat and fetched the opposite canine from throughout the narrows. Then I tied them to bushes and gave every one a dried whitefish. We made our personal supper over an open fireplace.

This was like previous instances, tenting out once more and cooking outside as a substitute of on the range. Joyce and I sat up late beside the hearth, watching the celebrities come out one after the other and listening to the mild lapping of waves on the seashore.

The north wind stored blowing the following day. We had been heading into it now, and I needed to row with the heavy, do-it-yourself oars. The decrease finish of the east arm is a collection of small lakes and bays related by slender channels, so the canine needed to run round irregular seashores to maintain up with us. About 2 p.m. the wind strengthened and waves began piling up. It bought too dangerous and troublesome to row, so we pulled right into a small bay and made camp early.

After getting settled I searched the mountains throughout the lake with discipline glasses. Nearly instantly I noticed a herd of goats. They had been climbing round steep partitions of the peaks above the silver declare. We watched them for an hour as they grazed alongside an previous talus slope partly overgrown with grasses and lichens. I might be capable to hunt them from the place I deliberate to make our camp.

We discovered some currant bushes, and Joyce went selecting whereas I took my Stevens single-shot 12 gauge shotgun and walked to the following bay, the place I might hear geese quacking. I stored to the sunshine brush away from shore and came to visit a small rise that sloped all the way down to the bay. I counted 11 mallards swimming shut collectively inside simple vary.

Holding an additional shell in my hand, I sighted rigorously at a knot of the birds and fired. With out seeking to verify outcomes, I reloaded as quick as I might. The surviving geese had been simply moving into the air once I let go a second shot, which dumped a single chicken. I retrieved three mallards that had been downed with the primary blast after which waited whereas the wind drove the fourth duck to shore.

The subsequent morning, we got here to the final slender neck within the large lake. From there on the water unfold out to about two-miles extensive all the best way to the top of the east arm the place the silver declare was. We made camp on the mouth of a creek, in the identical spot the place I’d camped with my companion on the time we had positioned the declare.

Earlier than going to mattress I took 100 yards of 25-pound-test line and knotted it to a No. 2 hook. I weighted the road with a four-ounce lead sinker and baited the hook with a small chunk of moose meat. Then I swung the works in circles and pitched it out from shore.

As I pulled the road in hand-over-hand, a fish struck. It fought onerous however by no means broke water till I, labored it near the seashore. It was a five-pound pike. I rebaited with the pike’s liver and tried once more. Seven or eight casts produced three extra pike. Any that we couldn’t eat we’d feed to the canine. Certainly a person want by no means go hungry on this land, particularly when dwelling on a lakeshore.

I had deliberate to make our final camp at timberline two miles up the mountain, however Joyce determined it might be higher for the household to remain within the lakeside camp. They may have enjoyable on the seashore, and blackflies had been fewer there than up on the mountain.

The subsequent morning I reduce a stack of kitchen wooden and banked up dust across the backside of our 8 x 12-foot silk tent. Then I chosen 4 close-together bushes and reduce them off 10 ft above the bottom after making a ladder from stout poles. On high of the stumps I made a crude cache for the meat we hoped to get. It was only a 6 x 8-foot platform of poles, however it took me all day to construct it.

I used to be up earlier than daybreak. The solar was simply topping the mountains to the southeast as I walked alone over the forehead of the primary slope and got here out onto a mile-wide swampy flat. I finished beside a creek to relaxation and scan the flats for moose with my discipline glasses. I didn’t spot recreation, so I sloshed my manner via the swamp and gained the upper floor on the opposite facet.

Climbing ever larger, I handed the final progress of stunted spruce and balsam and will look again onto the miles of swampy flats, lakes, and patches of heavy timber. I sat down and glassed the realm from one finish to the opposite. Deep ruts of recreation trails led out and in of heavy willow growths and into small clearings between stands of thick spruce. At my first sweep with the glasses I noticed no huge recreation, simply flocks of geese on nearly each little lake. Then, as I used to be about to rise up and check out for goats, I noticed one thing transfer.

I zeroed in with the glasses and noticed a bull moose searching in a stand of willows a mile away. I angled again down the mountain and into the timber, heading nearly into my very own shadow in order that I might preserve a gentle bearing and are available out at a lakeshore near the bull.

My comfortable, moist moccasins pressed frivolously on the bottom as I approached my vacation spot. I slid my pack and discipline glasses off and left them close to the lake. Listening, straining to catch a sound from the feeding bull, I edged nearer to the open glade the place I knew he have to be. All of the sudden I finished lifeless in my stride.

An enormous cow moose was standing immobile beside a spruce 50 yards forward, dealing with the open glade. She didn’t see me, nor, apparently, had she heard me. The wind introduced her scent to me as I stood questioning what to do. If I killed the cow, the shot would absolutely ship the bull charging away. But when I attempted to bypass her, she would possibly stampede and scare the bull off and I might lose each.

I lined the cow up in my open sights, aiming to strike her coronary heart, and pressed the set off of my bolt-action Winchester .30/06. She fell as if clubbed. I ran instantly to the cleating, hoping for a glimpse of the bull. I might hear his antlers smashing via branches as he ran up the hill via heavy timber.

I retraced my steps to the large cow and gutted her out. Although the hour was nonetheless early afternoon, it was too late to climb the peaks and hunt goats. I skinned out the moose and quartered it, protecting the meat with the disguise to maintain flies off. The subsequent day I might start packing it to camp with the canine.

The subsequent morning the household and I began up the mountain, with one canine carrying our tea kettle and lunch, one other packing cartridges, shotgun shells, and different gear. Joyce carried the shotgun whereas I shouldered the .30/06 and had Syd in a packsack on my again. I took the rifle alongside in case a grizzly had bought wind of the meat and determined it was his. I chained the canine in pairs in order that they might not run off in the event that they scented recreation; at the very least they wouldn’t get far earlier than they tangled round a tree.

The slope was a troublesome climb for Joyce. We had been in no hurry, so we rested usually beside the creek. The air temperature had been dropping quick the previous couple of days. It was about 10° after we began out, however the solar quickly ·warmed us though the wind gusted down from the snow-capped mountains.

Once we got here to the lake the place the geese had been, we tied the canine and hung our packs in bushes. Joyce and Syd watched whereas I bought soaking moist by stalking low within the tall grass and dealing towards the water’s edge. With my single-shot gun I needed to be very certain of lining up at the very least a few geese. I used to be in a foot of water and getting chilly once I straightened up from my crouch and let go at a dozen mallards about 20 yards away. The survivors jumped instantly into the air, however I had time to eject the spent shell, reload, and fireplace once more. The 2 blasts killed 5 prime birds.

We made lunch beside a lake near the moose kill, a mile from the place I shot the geese. I reduce the moose into items sufficiently small for canine·packs. The six canine must make three journeys to hold all of it down the mountain. I left the household with the canine at our lunch camp and hunted one other lake, getting three extra geese earlier than we began again.

The canine every carried 40-pound packs, and the load stored them proper on path behind us. We bought again to our lakeside camp drained however very proud of our success. The subsequent day I took the canine alone and made the 2 journeys to pack out the remainder of the meat.

The nights had been chilly now, however it might take about three weeks to freeze the meat strong. I reduce off the heavy fats and saved it aside. The moose’s rump had 4 to 5 inches of strong onerous fats that may make great shortening and cooking oil when rendered down. The meat would preserve till the following Might if saved in shade. After it was frozen and hanging I might cowl it with a movie of fats to stop it from drying in temperatures of 30 to 40 beneath.

Throughout breakfast within the tent the following morning we heard a splashing within the lake. Then the canine went wild with yelping and barking. I grabbed my .30/06 and jumped exterior. A younger bull moose was breaking out of the water and climbing ashore 300 yards away. He should have swum clear throughout the 2 miles of water earlier than putting the seashore close to our camp.

The bull turned away as quickly as he was ashore, however I dropped him whereas he was crossing the seashore. He was a two-year-old and can be glorious consuming. What great luck to have a fats younger moose stroll nearly into camp.

A flurry of snow settled over the tent and brush through the evening. The subsequent morning started a very good day to hunt, particularly for moose, because the snow would present contemporary tracks.

The air was clear and chilly with a slight west wind as I climbed the mountain to the identical lookout I had glassed from the primary day. After an hour of fruitless trying via the sphere glasses, I deserted the lookout and adopted alongside the facet of the mountain simply above timberline. Then I labored my manner down via heavy timber the place mild snow nonetheless held on the bottom. Snow-shoe-rabbit trails crisscrossed via the bushes. Squirrels scolded me.

I got here out of the timber onto the sting of a Jake the place many well-worn moose trails led out and in of the water and again into the timber. I adopted one set of contemporary tracks that appeared to have been made by a bull three or 4 years previous. The tracks had been already well-rounded on the level of the hoof, exhibiting that the bull had been pawing the bottom. The massive hoofprints led into the wind for maybe a mile, then circled downwind. The bull had clearly headed to a feeding place the place he would be capable to scent something following him.

I backtracked a half-mile down the mountain towards the lake after which struck east. I stored the wind behind me for a full mile till I figured that the bull wuull.l be half a mile or extra up the mountain and positively west of me. Then I climbed up via heavy timber and, once I reached the bull’s possible elevation, circled into the wind. I finished to hear each few steps however heard nothing. The mountain slope leveled out, -and I noticed a willow swamp via the bushes.

All of the sudden I heard a crash and thought I should have spooked the animal. The crashing noise got here once more, clearer this time, and immediately I knew what it have to be.

I crept nearer, climbing up the steeper slope away from the willow swamp till I got here into an space that was half meadow, half heavy timber. The clashing of antlers was unmistakable. I peered via the bushes and noticed a spectacular sight. The younger bull I’d been searching was bigger than I had suspected. He was standing 30 yards away and dealing with an enormous older bull. Each had been pawing the bottom and snorting. The bigger bull was defiant and was swinging his magnificent antlers back and forth. A cow moose stood by, apparently unconcerned.

The previous bull was bleeding badly from a reduce in his proper shoulder. His opponent took a couple of steps ahead, then leaped full tilt right into a cost. The massive bull reared up, got here down with a thud of hoofs, and thundered into motion. The combatants met head-on with a convincing crash. their large our bodies rising below the terrific influence, which pretty shook the bottom.

The 2 bulls locked antlers and struggled, half surprised by the collision, every making an attempt to throw the opposite. Then they pulled again and tried to tear one another with swinging antlers.

The younger bull reared as much as strike a demise blow together with his entrance hoofs, however earlier than he might begin the downward strike the crafty previous grasp, shifting with stunning agility, stabbed him within the neck with a quick sideswipe of his six-foot- extensive rack. Blood gushed from the wound. The younger bull stood nonetheless as if incredulous that such a factor might occur. Then he turned away and started staggering downhill towards me.

The previous bull limped somewhat as he walked with magnificent satisfaction previous his ready cow. A second cow can1e out of the woods and adopted him.

The younger bull was in dangerous form; blood was coming quick from his neck as he handed inside a stone’s throw of me. I spared him additional ache by capturing him via the guts.

A storm blew up two days later. We awoke that morning to the pounding of waves on the seashore and the screaming of wind within the treetops. As daylight broke via the clouds we discovered six inches of snow surrounding us. The storm blew itself out by midday, so I took the shotgun and went as much as the primary lake for geese. Earlier than I visited the third lake I needed I had introduced a few canine to pack for me. My packsack was bulging with mallards and getting heavier each time I blasted at a rising flock.

The subsequent morning I hiked alongside the seashore after which climbed up the creek valley to an even bigger lake. It was simply getting mild sufficient to see once I observed some motion alongside the shoreline. I knew I used to be geese or geese. I stalked via the bushes until I used to be shut sufficient to determine the birds as Canada honkers. About 12 or 15 of them had been chattering away like a cageful of monkeys. They moved round on a strip of sand, strolling backwards and forwards to the water’s edge.

I bought inside 30 yards of the geese earlier than I needed to break cowl. With an awesome flurry of squawking they ran for the water. I blasted them as they ran. By reloading I bought off three pictures earlier than the honkers bought into the air and out of vary. I had downed 5 of them.

What a larderful we had now over 20 geese, 5 stunning geese, and three fats moose. We might shoot spruce and ruffed grouse nearly anytime, for they stayed repeatedly on the delta close to the cabin. I gutted the large birds, put them into my packsack, and staggered again to camp below the load. We had been delighted to have geese. We might use one for Christmas and one for New Yr’s dinner; the others would make actual feasts for different particular events.

Deep snow was now on the bottom at larger elevations, so I made a decision to cancel my goat searching. It might have meant scrambling round excessive ridges and slides and risking an injured leg or different troubles.

Learn Subsequent: The Top Moose Cartridges and Bullets

The subsequent morning we loaded the meat within the boat, broke camp, and began the 50-mile journey across the lake. All of the little bays had been lined with skinny ice. We had been glad to get via the narrows and into the west arm of the lake earlier than making camp.

The subsequent afternoon we arrived house at our cosy cabin and started filling the large cache with our provide of meat. It had been an exquisite and profitable hunt. We had no worries about consuming nicely for months.

Within the subsequent subject of Out of doors Life I’ll inform about our first winter on the lake, once I constructed an enormous new cabin, studied wildlife, and made an thrilling hunt for caribou.

This story, “A Hunt for the Larder: A Bride Goes North, Half Three,” first appeared within the August 1972 subject of Out of doors Life.