172 The Elk of the Pacific Coast 



deer to the things that were, when the hand 

 of the law stepped in. Public sentiment sustains 

 the law, and few are those who now dare molest 

 the elk that remain. But for their remoteness 

 they would long since have been sought out, but 

 it was too far from market in early days, and was 

 always uncomfortably wild for the tenderfoot and 

 his murderous guide. 



In Oregon the elk fared better, and better yet 

 in Washington and British Columbia, though 

 murdered by thousands. But the vast forests 

 were too big for the leg, if not for the heart, of 

 man. Thousands of square miles yet remain 

 where the foot of man is hardly known, thou- 

 sands more where it is very difficult for him to 

 go w T ith a horse and almost useless to go without 

 one. This leaves plenty of room for one who 

 can find pleasure in hunting such a grand ani- 

 mal and be satisfied with one or two. Hence 

 there are still large areas on the upper coast 

 where the elk is yet very abundant and always 

 will be. And here, and not in California, is where 

 he should be sought by one who wants to see him 

 at his best in the most splendid home nature has 

 given his race. 



Modes of hunting elk on the Pacific coast 

 have always been of the simplest kind. There 

 were no greater hunters in the world than the 

 old Spanish Californians, who lassoed the largest 



