American Big Game in its Haunts 



animals in violation of the law. I saw one superb 

 herd south of the headwaters of the Elwha, and 

 was informed that in the winter a large number 

 come lower down into the valley of that river; 

 here and elsewhere the finest specimens are 

 slaughtered by head-hunters for the market, and 

 by anyone, in fact, who may covet their hides or 

 meat or their "tusks," now unfortunately very 

 valuable. 



Presumably, in so killing them, picked specimens 

 are selected. Of course the finest bulls may not 

 thus be systematically eliminated without causing 

 the general deterioration of the herd. Nature's 

 method of progress is by the survival of the fittest. 

 Man reverses this so soon as cupidity makes him 

 the foe of wild animals. The country here is an 

 excessively hard one to get about in with stock, 

 owing to its very rugged nature and to the scarcity 

 of feed, so that there is slight danger of the exter- 

 mination of these elk by sportsmen during the 

 open season. In the winter, however, the hunters 

 have them at their mercy. I was assured by one 

 very level-headed man that, in the winter of 

 1902-3, two men killed seventeen elk from the 

 Elwha herd. Since the individuals who killed the 

 elk are well known and are practically unmolested, 

 the immunity which they enjoy tempts others to 



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