From Out of the Yukon: A Backcountry Adventure Hunting Big-Game in the Northern Wilderness

by James H Bond

From out of these mountains come many things. . .Here is a big game hunting story from the greatest hunting grounds in the world. From a time when they were wholly unknown. Yukon Territory in the 1940's was very much a frontier state with much of what the Jim Bond explored uncharted and unpenetrated except by the occasional prospector and trappers. The first sport hunter in the area, the author provided valuable documentation of how wildlife fares in a wilderness without any human interference as well as relating his exceptional hunting experiences.From Whitehorse, the largest "city" of the Yukon, Mr. Bond flew to Mayo, an outpost of the Yukon Territory. From there, with two native guides, he started his 57-day hunting expedition and survey into this remote and nearly unexplored region. His party observed over 2,000 game animals, numbering among them moose, caribou, mountain sheep, bears, and other big game. His findings point out that big game thrives despite natural predators when unmolested by man. With this in mind, he emphasizes the need for game management as well as predator management in all game areas. He notes that the tremendous size of most of the animals of this region was due in all probability to the abundance of limestone.Highlighting his story with incidents relating the ingenious ability of his Indian guides to meet all emergencies he tells of their construction of a moose-hide boat which was used to bring them down the 250 miles of the Beaver and Stewart Rivers, when it became impossible to pass over the rain-softened muskeg. The guides were also keen observers of the wildlife and their knowledge was indispensable.“When I look at these mountains, I see friendliness, peace, and stability. They never change. They are your friends, as are the rivers, the streams and lakes, the sun and the frost and the rain. You can depend on them. God made them. God made the people too. When the people are among the mountains and close to nature they feel better, they have wholesome thoughts, and have a genuine spirit of cooperation and helpfulness. When they crowd into the cities and have no purpose in life other than day to day living, trouble is bound to come." From Out of the Yukon

361 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 21, 2021

Reviews

[Joe · Rating 1 out of 5]

I listened to the audiobook of this title and I didn’t find it enjoyable at all. I went into it assuming it would be a descriptive tale of an extended hunting trip into the Yukon Territory, and boy was I wrong. The only thing this book describes is how many animals they shot…and it was A LOT. He starts off by saying they were going out to survey the natural wildlife and come up with a plan for game management, but the game would be better off managed by itself without him there. Every chapter is basically he wakes up shoots a bunch of caribou and then waits for bears and wolves to come and then shoots them too. And then he shoots every moose and sheep he can find. The author takes great enjoyment from killing wolf cubs and other such juvenile animals. After 57 days of killing his way through the Yukon, his big plan for game management is to prevent the indigenous population from hunting so that white hunters can shoot more game. Really an upsetting book that made me physically upset.

[mark Freshwaters · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good book of hunting in the North. Should be a classic.