The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-11-22
THE HONE OF THE cARIBoU.
a Social Animal with = Range from North.
ern Maiae 20 I.nnds Of PERPETUAL Snow.

a Social Animal with . Range from North
ern Maine TO Lands OF Perpetual Snow.
IF you've never hunted caribou" said q
travelled New York sportsman. you have lived
pretty much in vain. ] used to 60 after thon IN
Maine. but l found that the sport there was q
little tame after / had made a trip or two into
New Brunswick and neiRhboring British prov
inces. There Is a surprising and deploraole
ignorance amoug sportsmen about caribou.
even among those who talk pretty loud
and fast about where they've been and
what they've bagged. l know men who
have lived all their lives in tho woods. you
might say, who have a dim recollection OF hear
ing something about elk and buffalo. but who
look q little incredulous when you mention
caribou. l met an old hunter in Michigan once
who had a record OF over 1000 deer. but who
gave me a suspicious grin when | asked him
whether he had ever hunted carbon.
Caribou said he. with his grin. You
mean bugaboo, l guess
I'D just like to see that old mossback once
with a wounded bull caribou reaching GU, for
him. He'd think 1t was the fastest and Widest
eyed bugaboo he ever had any idea Of!
There isn't n great deal OF difference be-
tween our caribou and the reindeer Of Lapland
or Greenland. The northern ranges OF Maine
are us far south as this capricious animal can
stand the climate. but l believe 1t would like It
first rate up around the North Pole. For all
anybody knows. its range extends to that I'M
discovered country. No weather has yet been
found liz the very uttermost parts OF Labrador
that is too cold for the caribou, and 1t can't be a
great deal colder up in the far polar seas than it's
in those boreal regions. There are a good many
caribou in northern Maine. and on the
wild. cold barrens OF New Brunswick and
Nova Scotia they are still abundant. In
the very northern parts OF New Brunswick
and Newfoundland. and in Labrador. they still
roam almost undisturbed BY the hunter. The
settlers themselves hunt them rarely. because
their hide is Of little value. and, besides that,
few OF the settlers know how to hunt them. II
would be well with the great, hulking moose II
1t were more like the caribou. These huge ami
mails cannot travel in deep snow. and during the
winter they fall easy victims to the hunter on
his snowshoes.
But the caribou. because of its lesser weight
and the peculiar formation of its hoofs. which 1t
can spread TO great width or close ut will. max
ing regular snow shoes Of them. moves readily
over the top OF the snow. and can rarely be run
down, IL requires a good stalker and favorable
conditions OF wind and snow, to approach with
in range OF a caribou. Unlike moose. these ami
mails are soclable though wanderers. and travel
in herds. Their fevorIte resorts are spruce and
Juniper woods and barren grounds. They feed
on moses which hang in profueIon. like tufts of
spruce and juniper trees. The lichens that
grow HeI ma fa on the barren grounds arc Also
dig for with their fore feet down through the
deep snow.
The caribou has three gsits-a walk. a trot,
and a gallop. With whatever gait Caribous are
travelling they always move in single file, keep
tracks. SC, that no one can judge by the trail how
big q herd Is leading him on. the trut OF the
caribou Is not unlike the trot or the domestic
COW, but IT Is much more rapid. 1t would take
the fastest walking horse to keep up WIN III,
cnrihou in a wa;Sing match, But 1t is the gallnp
OF this animal hat is a wonder among the gaits
of Wild beasts. Tho caribou never gallops IN
les 10 Is frightened. and then it's leaps are thirty
ana sven thirty-fye feet in the clear.
Although SHY and wary animal. the carl
bou Is sometime" n very stupid one, and seems
90 puzzled AT the report OF = gun that it will as
likely As not run directly toward the sound in-
stead Of away from 1t. II "a concealed hunter
dead IN its tracks, he will stand u good chance
Of getting the whole herd. il lao should be so
hends, become ratified, and run almlcssly here
and there. always within range. The sight of u
dead companton seems to entirely craze all the
hunter. no might rs well give up all hope OF
gettaing q shot at il That day,
The nndlng Of fresh caribou tracks by native
hunters Is q very important event. The Indian
hunters follow these with magical skill. and inc
mn;avorab!o If they return without a caribou.
The Following of u fresh caribou track is a mat
Ter th1t requires great tact; A herd OF carbon
when feeding Is continually on the move and
makes q vast amount of tracks. back ward and
forward, round and round. The animals are
obliged 10 do so from the nature of their food.
which they obtain in small quantities here and
there:
TO the lover OF tho sport for the sport itself. IL
when the game Is found on the barrens-greAt
nlains, dotted with spruce trees and jumpers.
The huge deer may be seen far away. like boats
on u broad eGpanse of water. ana, a. they can
see a good way themselves aud smell IA great
deal further. the stalking of them under these
circumstances is not only precarious but or
tremely exciting, Success depends almost en-
tirely on the state of the snow. a thaw succeeded
BY a sharp frost, forms a crust through which
the snowslrocs break, E:aking so much noise as
to make stalking Impossible. The only thing 10
do i To lake OIL the snow shoes and walk In tho
caF!hou tracks. No sight can be more inspiring
or grand TO u true sportsman than a herd OF
caribou on tho barreps, he having the wind IN
his IaNor anu a well-hidden stalking course. IL
le Is clever he can easily get within sufficiently
close range 10 send his rifle ball where he wants
70 puLi ~, or where heought to putt II hSknows