1 62 Deer and Antelope of North America 



I was sure the herd would not stop for some 

 miles, and accordingly I resumed my chase of the 

 single bull. He walked for certainly three miles 

 before he again halted, and I was then half a mile 

 behind him. On this occasion he struck a small 

 belt of w r oodland and began to travel to and fro 

 through it, probably with an idea of lying down. 

 I was able to get up fairly close by crawling on 

 all fours through the snow for part of the dis- 

 tance ; but just as I was about to fire he moved 

 slightly, and though my shot hit him, it went a 

 little too far back. He plunged over the hill 

 crest and was off at a gallop, and after running 

 forward and failing to overtake him in the first 

 rush, I sat down to consider matters. The snow 

 had begun to melt under the sun, and my knees 

 and the lower parts of my sleeves were wet from 

 my crawl, and I was tired and hungry and very 

 angry at having failed to kill the wapiti. It was, 

 however, early in the afternoon, and I thought 

 that if I let the wapiti alone for an hour, he would 

 lie down, and then grow stiff and reluctant to get 

 up ; while in the snow I was sure I could easily 

 follow his tracks. Therefore I ate my lunch and 

 then swallowed some mouthfuls of snow in lieu 

 of drinking. 



An hour afterward I took up the trail. It was 

 evident the bull was hard hit, but even after he 

 had changed his plunging gallop for a trot he 



