BIG GAME SHOOTING IN ALASKA

by Capt. C. R. E. Radclyffe

Captain Radclyffe was an English gentleman-hunter who visited Alaska in 1903. He bagged Dall sheep on the Kenai Peninsula, back then a relatively new destination for sport hunting. He shot excellent brown bear and moose, one a 57-incher on Kussiloff Lake on the Alaska Peninsula. On his final bear hunt, a sow charged him and his native guide abandoned him. He was arrested for game law violations that prematurely ended his hunt for sheep, adding another interesting dimension to this well-written story. The charges against Radclyffe were later dismissed since he had an off-season permit to collect for the British Museum, but the author’s partner was not so lucky. Radclyffe writes of how the judge enjoyed rubbing the dismissal into the face of the arresting marshal, and he paints a vivid picture of the interactions of the hunters, guides, and authorities. After all his troubles, he lost most of his trophies because of shipping problems related to the Russo-Japanese War. Radclyffe had a way with words that makes the account of his trip to the Alaskan frontier come alive. This is an extremely interesting and well-written account of the game as well as the people that existed 100 years ago in the frozen North. Big Game Shooting in Alaska is dedicated to Theodore Roosevelt, a longtime friend of Radclyffe’s.