68 



THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



aurochs have increased so that now there 

 are large herds of deer and a considerable 

 herd of aurochs. It is impossible how- 

 ever owing to the extent of the ground 

 and the densenessof the forest to estimate 

 the number. In addition Count Potocki 

 is anxious to introduce some American 

 moose to cross with the European elk 

 for the improvement of their horns. 



On September 25 I went out shooting 

 in the Pilowin forest, taking stand in a 

 clearing behind some trees. At first 

 four wapiti stags came past on a gallop 

 in single file, followed by a very large 

 horned stag which I shot. Then fol- 

 lowed a rush of some fifty wapiti stags and 

 hinds. A herd of maral deer next passed 

 with a very good stag among them which 

 however the Count did not wish shot. 

 Finally came five cow elk at which of 

 course I did not shoot and the drive ended. 



I immediately went to examine the 

 stag I had shot and found it to be a cross- 

 breed between the wapiti and the 

 Caucasian deer (Cervus caucasicus-iva- 

 piti). It weighed 796 pounds as it fell 

 and had fifteen points on the horns — 

 very good horns, more of the European 

 red deer type than of the wapiti. 



Next day, I took my stand in the part 

 of the forest where the largest aurochs 

 was known to be. This l)ull aurochs 

 was thought to be about thirty years old 

 and had become bad-tempered and taken 

 to killing everything he met. They 

 had been obliged to treat him like a 

 "rogue" elephant and turn him out of 

 the herd. Before this took place how- 

 ever he killed a big wapiti stag, an 

 American buffalo, and attacked one of 

 the keepers who was passing on horse- 

 back, killing the horse and so severely 

 goring the keeper that he had to be 

 taken to the hospital for attendance. 



In preparation for the hunt an old 

 peasant had tracked the aurochs and 



kept him under observation for several 

 days and nights, lighting fires around 

 him at night. As soon as the drive 

 began the aurochs came cantering out 

 some sixty yards away. When he saw 

 me he stopped and I gave him a right 

 and a left shot from my rifle. He turned 

 and started galloping off, never stagger- 

 ing nor dropping on his knees although 

 he had received two .303 bullets, one in 

 the heart and one in the lungs. After 

 going a short distance however, he 

 stopped in a dense thicket where I had 

 to give him several more shots to bring 

 him down. He is the largest aurochs 

 ever accurately measured and has horns 

 five inches longer and of seven inches 

 wider spread than the record aurochs 

 in Rowland Ward's Records of Big 

 Game. 



The horns near the head are like an 

 American buffalo's but have a turn at 

 the end rather like a gnu's. I am told 

 that only very old aurochs have this. 

 A cast of the horns will be presented 

 later to the American Museum. 



After the aurochs fell I heard some 

 wapiti roaring and succeeded in shooting 

 one which weighed 837 pounds as it fell, 

 and had horns with sixteen points. On 

 the way back I shot a bull elk very fine 

 as far as body was concerned (weight 

 943 pounds), but he had, like most 

 European elk, rather a poor "head," 

 that is to say the horns had none of the 

 palmation of the American moose but 

 were only like those of a two or three 

 year old bull moose. This ended the 

 second day. 



This reservation is a most interesting 

 and valuable experiment in animal 

 preservation and I can report that all 

 the deer which I saw were in perfect con- 

 dition and in fact that all of the wild 

 animals in the Pilowin forest seemed to 

 be thriving. 



