An Elk-Hunt at Two-Ocean Pass 225 



he rubbed his shoulders with his horns. There were 

 several cows around him, and one saw me immedi 

 ately, and took alarm. I fired into the bull s shoul 

 der, inflicting a mortal wound ; but he went off, and 

 I raced after him at top speed, firing twice into his 

 flank; then he stopped, very sick, and I broke his 

 neck with a fourth bullet. An elk often hesitates in 

 the first moments of surprise and fright, and does 

 not get really under way for two or three hundred 

 yards ; but, when once fairly started, he may go sev 

 eral miles, even though mortally wounded; there 

 fore, the hunter, after his first shot, should run for 

 ward as fast as he can, and shoot again and again 

 until the quarry drops. In this way many animals 

 that would otherwise be lost are obtained, especially 

 by the man who has a repeating-rifle. Neverthe 

 less, the hunter should beware of being led astray by 

 the ease with which he can fire half a dozen shots 

 from his repeater; and he should aim as carefully 

 with each shot as if it were his last. No possible 

 rapidity of fire can atone for habitual carelessness 

 of aim with the first shot. 



The elk I thus slew was a giant. His body was 

 the size of a steer s, and his antlers, though not un 

 usually long, were very massive and heavy. He lay 

 in a glade, on the edge of a great cliff. Standing 

 on its brink we overlooked a most beautiful country, 

 the home of all homes for the elk: a wilderness of 

 mountains, the immense evergreen forest broken by 



