Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-02-03
SEAL AND OTTER HUNT
SAILORS PERILoUS WORK IN
NORTHERN SEAS.
An Old Hunters xperience-How an
Expedition is Equipped and
Sent Out.


From Forest and Stream.
Dan Claussen is a seal and otter hunter
one of the best in the North Pacific and
Boring sea. having been at it more than
twenty years. His blue eyes are yet steady
and keen and distinguish a seal or otter
on the water while his mates are uncertain
and waiting for the report CT the man with
the glass. Then. too he has the trick
of the double shot and is a thorough sailor
also. That is why he can get a lay at any
time for from $3.50 to s. for each seal and
from $50 to $50 for each otter he kills. The
schooner in which Dan had sailed for the
far north had been turned back by reve-
nue. cutter. and was up in his coy little
fat in Center place, San Francisco to well
come him home.
Tn going on n sealing cruise we gen
orally START along the latter part of January
or early in February and expect to pick
the herd on the way north along the coast
about furty-three degrees or forty-hve de
grees,' he said. ''In the fall coming down
they keep to the deep water. but return
ing they circle in TO the coast. The Grdi-
feet long, about twenty-five feet beam and
eight feet depth of hold. Some are how
ever. much smaller, and 1 have cruised In
twenty and forty-ton boats. In otter hunt
ing we use even smaller craft in order to
slip into inlets in the coast.
Rig of a Sealer.
The rig of sealer will be two nlasts
with main and fore courses, gaf topsails
jihs and staysails. The time was when
We did not have to carry 50 much canvas,
but nowadays 1t takes big spread of cloth
to catch enough wind TO leave a cutter.
Generally such a craft would carry crew
of thirty men. all told, three men for each
of the eight boats, the captain. two mates.
cook and helper and cabin boy. The boats
are clinker built double-enders. twenty feet
long and about four and one-half feet
beam, In which a small mast can be step
ped and iib set on the stay These boats
are manned by three men each, the hunter,
the boat puller and boat steerer: the two
latter are allowed 80 cents each for every
seal killed by their hunter. For the past
few years have had the same boat pulIer
and steerer. When | get my lay | hunt
them up and they ship with me They
know my ways and | know theirs and /
do not even have to speak when caution Is
necessary. If we have a successful season
l also pay them something from my earn
lngs IN addition TO that received from the
owners.
Say the lookout picks up the herd some
morning along about forty-five degrees
north, the word is passed and the eight
boats go over the side. In each boat there
are two shotguns with cartridges carrying
buckshot, twenty-ene pellets TO the load:
hve or ten gallon key of water and a box
of provisions and compass. The location
of the herd is given, the captain lays a
general course and the boats give way We
often range from fifteen 10 twenty-five and
thirty miles from the schooner sometimes
a fog comes down, and then
The Kill.
Seals go in bands of from three or four
to thirty or forty but a herd may consist
of tens of thousands. In the old days /
have seen the sea fairly alive with them
miles They riuJ,+
water, while an otter does not. II a seal
is asleep first-class boat steerer can run !
within six or eight yards without waking |
it. When the old bulls give the alarm the |
herd IN hearing goes under water The |
double shot is a trick and requires quick |
action on the part of the hunter II two |
seals are close together the boatsteerer
brings them in line for the hunter who
fires at the one ahead or furthest away.
and instantly depresses the muZzie of the
gun and plugs the nearest one. At the
first shot he fires directly over the near
est one, which always throws up its head
al the whistle of the shot, and then dives: /
that IS the second which the hunter must |
utilize.
when the herd goes down, we go on IN |
the same general direction to pick up |
others or to meet the first when 1t comes |
up, if it does. If ! see | am going 10 have /
a busy day l set my two men to sknning |
when have six seals in the boat; an ord
nary fur seal will weigh about 125 pounds. /
A good skinner will strip the peit from
one and have the carcass overheard in five |
minutes. He runs the knife around the
tail ripper, then rips the pelt up the belly
to the jaw, passes the knife around each
of the forward f1ppers and then begins |
sknning, much one does the carcass of
a steer. The peit comes away easily, and
after reaching the fiippers they are poked
through the holes and the skin is taken
from the head. When we return at night |
the skins are counted and the captain and
mates salt and put them away.
"Of course, / am speaking of peiagic
selling. hunting In the open sea. and 1t Is
against the law for Americans 10 do that,
but not for other nations. We follow the
herd up the coast until we sight a cutter
and then-killing seals at the rookeres is
easier than knocking pig In the held at
the slaughter houses and is sheer butchery. |
You can read all about 1t fn books; what
am telling you now Is known only 70 the