The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1894-05-16
HUNTING SEA OTTER.
An Exciting and Dangerous Sport at Gray's
HRrbor.
Especial Correspondence


Especial Correspondence.1
TACOMA, May prom May to
October is busy time with sea otter
hunters On the shores of Gray's harbor
1t is not generally known that a large
percentage of the fur of that animal
comes from that locality, but it is a
fact For good many years a large
number Of men have enjoyed large in
come each year from the sale of tho
pelts of sea offers killed along the rocky
shores of Gray's harbor.
The hunting ground extends from Da-
mon's point to Point Greenville, and it
is for the most part a dreary stretch Of
rocky coast beaten by a heavy surf
The coat of the sea otter is one of the
most valuable of furs 1t requires no
plucking or coloring. Many of the hairs
are tipped with white or silver, giving
it a kind of luster or sheen that no 9TH
er fur possesses. The pelts are readily
sold at from $3.50 at $500 each, and the
majority of them go to Europe, where
they are wrought into garments for the
nobility.
The method employed in hunting the
animal is peculiar and possesses an ele-
ment of danger that renders it exciting
The offers are secured by shooting, and
as they are too shy to expose themselves
to the aim of the hunter by leaving
the water the hunter is obliged to find
an elevation that will give him clear
view of the surf.
For this purpose he erects on the shore
three strong poles, usually the trunks
of pine trees. They are set firmly in the
sand in the form of a triangle 20 feet
apart The poles are set ON a slant, SO
that the tops approach each other close
" rir(lcr 70 70 -
poles. and on the top of them floor is
laid
Around the floor wall of strong
planks is built Short -cIeats of stout
wood are nailed to the inshore pole
about two feet apart. These form a lad
der that leads to the box at the top. By
this means the hunter is elevated 40
feet above the shore, and as the poles
are set at a point midway between high
and low tide he is often surrounded by
a stretch of tumbling water that shakes
his roost as if it was a reed
1t is during storm, when the water
is the toughest and the danger greatest,
that the hunters chances for securing
the game are best. Occasionally a tower
is wrenched from its foundation.by the
waves. and then the hunter has hand
to hand struggle for his life, but he
ment is a life preserver that he wears at
times when the waves threaten his perch
At low water the hunter climbs up to
his lookout armed with a rife and car
rying a fieldglass. AS the tide begins
to rise the hunter sweeps the water
with his feldglass, searching carefully
the swell just outside the breakers 1t
is in that locality that the dark head of
the game is first seen bobbing up and
down with the swing of the water.
At first the range is about 600 yards.
but as the tide rises it is brought down
to hundred yards When an otter is
sighted, the hunter takes careful aim at
it and does his best to-send a ball into
the bobbing head
That is a very difficult feat to accom-
plish in consequence of the motion of
the target and the trembling of the
perch under the pressure of the wind or
waves. 1t is necessary for success that
the hunter be a first class markSman,
and then it is estimated that not more
than one in hundred shots takes effect.
The bodies of offers that are killed
are cast up by the tide, where they are
found by the hunters, who identify them
by means of marked bullets By an ar
rangement between the hunters the tow
ers are set along the shore at a distance
of half a mile apart.
1t sometimes happens that a hunter
Will climb to his perch and watch
through the tides for week without
getting a shot, and it Is not an uncom-
mon occurrence for hunter to work
the season through without securing a
single pelt. but the possibility Of get
ting hundreds of dollars easily and
quickly lures him to his Grow s nest
as regularly as the seasons come. Of
late the game has grown scarce, and If
a hunter secures four pelts during the
season he is satisfied Many of them,
however, If the season Is one in which
there are few storms and they are lucky
as well as careful in making shots, come
out at the end of the season with from
So, 500 to So, 900 worth of fur to their
credit THOMAS HOLMES