Hunting in Many Lands 



Roosevelt, of course, had the tusks in the skull, so that it 

 was not possible to measure them ; for the same reason 

 it was not possible to measure the skulls which were in 

 the heads of the bear, wolf and cougar skins exhibited by 

 Mr. Roosevelt. 



There were few Oregon blacktail deer heads exhibited, 

 and these were not large. The one exhibited by Mr. 

 Roosevelt, for instance, had horns 21 inches in length, 

 4 inches in girth and 17 inches in spread. 



In measuring most horns it is comparatively easy to 

 get some relative idea of the size of the heads by giving 

 simply the girth and length. The spread is often given 

 also ; but this is not a good measurement, as a rule, 

 because, in mounting the head, it is very easy to increase 

 the spread ; and, moreover, even where the spread is 

 natural, it may be excessive and out of proportion to the 

 length of the horns, in which case it amounts to a de- 

 formity. The length is in every case measured from the 

 butt to the tip along the outside curve of the horn. The 

 girth is given at the butt in the case of buffalo, sheep, 

 goat and antelope; but in the case of deer it is given at the 

 narrowest part of the horn, above the first tine; in elk this 

 narrowest part comes between the bay and tray points ; 

 in blacktail and whitetail deer it comes above the " dog- 

 killer" points, and below the main fork in the horn. 

 Even in the case of elk, deer, sheep and buffalo the 

 measurements of length and girth do not always indicate 

 how fine a head is, although they generally give at least 

 an approximate idea. The symmetry of the head cannot 

 be indicated by these measurements. In elk and deer 

 heads, extra points, though sometimes mere deformities, 

 yet when large and symmetrical add greatly to the 



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