Big Game Shooting, volume 2 (of 2)

Big Game Shooting, volume 2 (of 2)

Arctic hunting embraces an enormous field, the extent of which is not yet realised, and I should begin by remarking that my experience, as here set forth, is limited to the seas around Spitzbergen, and that I propose to confine myself to the pursuit of the walrus and the polar bear. Although the vast herds of walrus which formerly inhabited the Spitzbergen and Novaya Zemlya seas have been sadly[Pg 2] thinned by persistentand often wastefulhunting, first by the English and Dutch in the early part of the seventeenth century, then by the Russians, and at the present day by the Norwegians, yet enough may still be killed in a seasons hunting to satisfy most sportsmen. The fact that the expeditions after walrus and polar bear which are made to these waters are often partially, or wholly, unsuccessful is due not to the scarcity of game but to the manner in which it is sought. The sportsman usually sails in a yachta vessel totally unfit for the work before herand at Troms or Hammerfest picks up an ice pilot, who is also supposed to show where sport is to be obtained, at a season of the year when all the best men are engaged to, or have already sailed with, the professional walrus hunters. The consequences are that the voyage is confined to the open, and therefore easily navigated, waters of the western coast of Spitzbergen, or else that if good hunting grounds are visited much of the game is not seen; for no matter how keen a look-out a man may keep, he is sure to pass over game if he is not used to hunting, and does not know exactly what to look for and where to look for it. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 48816
Author: Phillipps-Wolley, Clive
Release Date: Apr 28, 2015
Format: eBook
Language: English

Contributors

Illustrator: Whymper, Charles, 1853-1941