U'^c THEODORE ROOSEVELT Founder of the Boone and Crockett Chil) o-^^' j ^o^mr^. American Big Game in Its Haunts ®l|? look of tir? loon? anli Olrork^tt €l«b EDITOR GEORGE BIRD GRINNELL NEW-YORK FOREST AND STREAM PUBLISHING COMPANY 1904 Copyright, 1904, by Forest and Stream Publishing Company Forest and Stream Press New York, N.Y.. U.S.A. v^ Contents Page Theodore Roosevelt 13 Wilderness Reserves 23 Theodore Roosevelt. The Zoology of North American Big Game , 52 Arthur Erwin Brown. Big Game Shooting in Alaska : I. Bear Hunting on Kadiak Island ... 99 II. Bear Hunting on the Alaska Peninsula 128 III. My Big Bear of Shuyak 162 IV. The White Sheep of Kenai Peninsula. 177 V. Hunting the Giant Moose 209 James H. Kidder. The Kadiak Bear and his Home 225 W. Lord Smith. The Mountain Sheep and its Range 270 George Bird Grinnell. Preservation of the Wild Animals of North America 349 Henry Fairfield Osborn. Distribution of the Moose 374 Madison Grant. 1 Contents Page The Creating of Game Refuges 391 Alden Sampson. Temiskaming Moose 437 Paul J. Dashiell. Two Trophies from India 439 John H. Prentice. Big-Game Refuges 442 Forest Reserves of North America 455 Appendix 466 Forest Reserves as Game Preserves .... 467 E. W. Nelson. Constitution of the Boone and Crockett Club 485 Rules of the Committee on Admission 489 Former Officers of the Boone and Crockett Club 490 Officers of the Boone and Crockett Club , 491 List of Members 492 List of Illustrations Theodore Roosevelt Frontispiece Facing page President Roosevelt and Major Pitcher ... 13 Tourists and Bears 23 "Oom John" 25 Prongbucks 27 Mountain Sheep 29 Deer on the Parade Ground 31 Whiskey Jacks 33 Wapiti in Deep Snow 35 Old Ephraim 37 Mountain Sheep at Close Quarters 41 Magpies 43 A Silhouette of Blacktail 45 Black Bears at Hotel Garbage Heap .... 47 Chambermaid and Bear 49 Cook and Bear 51 Bull Bison 53 Trophies from Alaska 99 Loaded Baidarka — Barabara — Base of Supplies, Alaska Peninsula 105 The Hunter and his Home 155 Baidarka 175 Heads of Dall's Sheep 203 My Best Head 207 5 List of Illustrations Facing page St. Paul, Kadiak Island 231 Sunset in English Bay, Kadiak 233 Sitkalidak Island from Kadiak 251 A Kadiak Eagle 255 Bear Paths, Kadiak Island 261 Bear Paths, Kadiak Island 263 Merycodtis oshorni Matthew 349 Yearling Moose 377 Maine Moose; about 1890 379 Moose Killed 1892, with Unusual Development of Brow Antlers 381 Alaska Moose Head, Showing Unusual Devel- opment of Antlers 383 "Bierstadt" Head, Killed 1880 385 Probably Largest Known Alaska Moose Head 387 Temiskaming Moose 431 Temiskaming Moose 433 Temiskaming Moose 435 Temiskaming Moose 437 A Kahrigur Tiger 439 Indian Leopard 441 The New Buffalo Herd in the Yellowstone Park 443 A Bit of Sheep Country 447 Mountain Sheep at Rest 451 Mule Deer at Fort Yellowstone 455 Note. — The four last illustrations are from photographs taken by Major John Pitcher, Superintendent of the Yellowstone National Park, especially for this volume. 6 Preface Although the Boone and Crockett Club has not appeared largely in the public eye during recent years, its activities have not ceased. The dis- covery of gold in Alaska, and the extraordinary rush of population to that northern territory had the usual effect on the wild life there, and proved very destructive to the natives and to the large mammals. A few years ago it became evident that the Kadiak bear and certain newly discovered forms of wild sheep and caribou were being destroyed by wholesale, and were actually threat- ened with extermination, and through the efforts of the Club, strongly backed by the Biological Survey of the Department of Agriculture, a bill was passed regulating the taking of Alaska large game, and especially the exportation of heads, horns, and hides. The bill promises to afford suf- ficient protection to some of these rare boreal 7 Preface forms, though for others it perhaps comes too late. The enforcement of the law is in charge of the Treasury Department, and permits for shooting and the export of trophies are issued by the Chief of the Biological Survey. Although a local affair, yet of interest to the whole country, is the remarkable success of the New York Zoological Park, controlled and man- aged by the New York Zoological Society, brought into existence largely through the efforts of Madison Grant, the present secretary of the Club. The Society has also recently taken over the care of the New York Aquarium. The Society is in a most flourishing condition, and through its extensive collections exerts an important educa- tional influence in a field in which popular interest is constantly growing. Under the administration of President Roose- velt, the good work of national forest preserva- tion continues, and the time appears not far dis- tant when vast areas of the hitherto uncultivated West will prove added sources of wealth toi our country. The Club has for some time given much Preface thoughtful attention to the subject of game refuges — that is to say, areas where game shall be absolutely free from interference or molestation, as it is to-day In the Yellowstone Park — to be situated within the forest reserves; and as is else- where shown, it has investigated a number of the forest reserves in order to learn something of their suitability for game refuges. It appears certain that only by means of such refuges can some forms of our large mammals be preserved from extinc- tion. The first step to be taken to bring about the establishment of these safe breeding grounds is to secure legislation transferring the Bureau of Forestry from the Land Office to the Department of Agriculture. After this shall have been ac- complished, the question of establishing such game refuges may properly come before the officials of the Government for action. Among the notable articles in the present vol- ume, one of the most Important is Mr. Roosevelt's account of his visit to the Yellowstone National Park in April, 1903. The Park is an object les- son, showing very clearly what complete game pro- tection will do to perpetuate species, and Mr. 9 Preface Roosevelt's account of what may be seen there is so convincing that all who read it, and appreciate the importance of preserving our large mammals, must become advocates of the forest reserve game refuge system. Quite as interesting, in a different way, is Mr. Brown's contribution to the definition and the his- tory of our larger North American mammals. To characterize these creatures in language "under- standed of the people" is not easy, but Mr. Brown has made clear the zoological affinities of the species, and has pointed out their probable origin. This is the fourth of the Boone and Crockett Club's books, and the first to be signed by a single member of the editorial committee, one name which usually appears on the title page having been omitted for obvious reasons. The preceding volume — Trail and Camp Fire — was published In 1897. George Bird Grinnell. New York, April 2, 1904. 10 American Big Game in Its Haunts