FOREWORD 



Moreover, the high-power, small-caliber rifles, 

 which are so extensively used, very often lead 

 to shots at distances at which it is not possible 

 to place an immediately fatal bullet. This makes 

 it the more necessary for the hunter to be able 

 to read the signs correctly and to interpret aright 

 the language of the trails. Every sportsman 

 should consider it a sacred duty to bring to bay 

 any animal he has wounded, and he should also 

 regard it a matter of honor to acquire a working 

 knowledge of tracks, trails, and signs. Then he 

 will not, through ignorance, make carrion or wolf- 

 bait of a noble creature which, in all reason, he 

 should have secured. 



A sportsman who is unable to interpret the 

 meaning of tracks he encounters, however much 

 game he may have killed by chance, luck, or with 

 the assistance of others, will be considered a tyro 

 in woodcraft by companions who have learned 

 their lessons in this art. 



Lack of opportunity on the part of the major- 

 ity of sportsmen to become versed in tracking 

 lore by actual experience, as well as the incompe- 

 tence of a great number of guides, is the reason 



