Still-Hunting Elk on the Mountain 305 



pony for the hides and meat of the elk. Elk tongues 

 are most delicious eating, being juicy, tender, and 

 well flavored; they are excellent to take out as a 

 lunch on a long hunting trip. 



We now had more than enough meat in camp, 

 and did not shoot at another cow or calf elk while 

 on the mountains, though we saw quite a number; 

 the last day of my stay I was within fifty yards 

 of two that were walking quietly through a very- 

 dense, swampy wood. But it took me some time 

 longer before I got any fine heads. 



The day after killing the cow and calf I went 

 out in the morning by myself and hunted through 

 the woods up toward the rocky peaks, going above 

 timber line, and not reaching camp until after night 

 fall. In hunting through a wild and unknown coun 

 try a man must always take great care not to get 

 lost. In the first place he should never, under any 

 conceivable circumstances, stir fifty yards from 

 camp without a compass, plenty of matches, and his 

 rifle; then he need never feel nervous, even if he is 

 lost, for he can keep himself from cold and hunger, 

 and can steer a straight course until he reaches 

 some settlement. But he should not get lost at all. 

 Old plainsmen or backwoodsmen get to have almost 

 an instinct for finding their way, and are able to tell 

 where they are and the way home in almost any 

 place ; probably they keep in their heads an accurate 

 idea of their course and of the general lay of the 

 land. But most men can not do this. In hunting 

 through a new country a man should, if possible, 



