It is not possible to devise a camp outfit which would suffice in all climates and under every condition of travel, and for that reason a few notes on the special outfit necessary for each country have been given where requisite.
But, although different climates require different camp equipment, there are many things common to camp life all over the globe, and a brief sketch of the needs and shifts of such a life in temperate, tropical and arctic countries may at any rate serve as a basis upon which to found a plan of campaign in any country.
It must be understood from the outset that these notes are for the hunter and not for the scientific explorer, whose needs are excellently cared for in the Royal Geographical Society’s ‘Hints to Travellers,’ and that the beau-ideal hunter is he who can accomplish most with the least assistance from anyone else. The most perfect outfit is that which, while it contains all things really necessary to success, includes no superfluities, and is in the highest degree portable.
The cost of hiring help in different countries has of course an immense effect upon the nature of the camp equipment employed, and what would be but a beggarly outfit in India where you pay your beaters 3d. per diem would be extravagantly luxurious in British Columbia where you pay your Indians 1½ dollar a day.
But to succeed all the world over in big game shooting, a man should be able not only to find his own game and kill it when found, but to skin it, pack it, pack his own food on his shoulders or his horse’s as the circumstances require, cook his dinner, choose and pitch his camp; in fact, he should be able to do everything which he wants done for himself without aid from anyone else.
It by no means follows that because a man can do these things he will be obliged to do them, but there are times in every hunter’s life at which the almighty dollar fails him, and then it is that the beauty of being able to help himself becomes apparent. It is not a bad plan just for once (say for a single day) to do entirely without extraneous aid. At the end of the day you will probably find that a good many things, from tying a bowline knot to lighting a camp fire, look a good deal simpler than they are.
We will consider then, first, what are the essentials of camp life and camp outfit in countries where the temperature ranges during the shooting season from 80° above to say 10° below zero, a fair sample of which may be found on the mainland of British Columbia.
One of the first maxims I would lay down is, bring with you all the most important items of your outfit, rifles, ammunition, tents, &c., even though the cost of transport be heavy; but, on the other hand, do not load yourself with less important items, such as rugs, blankets, cooking utensils, saddles and smaller things. You can get most of the ordinary necessaries of life in every country you enter, and in nine cases out of ten the native manages to evolve the article best suited to the daily needs of the country he lives in and the life he leads, e.g. the so-called Mexican saddle or the Indian moccasin. There is another thing worth considering, and that is that if you must spend money somewhere upon your outfit, it is as well to spend it where the spending of it may earn you the goodwill and assistance of the people amongst whom you are going to hunt.
THE CAMP