Ranching in the Bad Lands. 29 



to the old Southern planters. In this book I propose to 

 give some description of the kind of sport that can be 

 had by the average ranchman who is fond of the rifle. 

 Of course no man with a regular business can have such 

 opportunities as fall to the lot of some who pass their 

 lives in hunting only ; and we cannot pretend to equal the 

 achievements of such men, for with us it is merely a 

 pleasure, to be eagerly sought after when we have the 

 chance, but not to be allowed to interfere with our 

 business. No ranchmen have time to make such extended 

 trips as are made by some devotees of sport who are so 

 fortunate as to have no every-day work to which to attend. 

 Still, ranch life undoubtedly offers more chance to a man 

 to get sport than is now the case with any other occupa- 

 tion in America, and those who follow it are apt to be 

 men of game spirit, fond of excitement and adventure, 

 who perforce lead an open-air life, who must needs ride 

 well, for they are often in the saddle from sunrise to sun- 

 set, and who naturally take kindly to that noblest of weap- 

 ons, the rifle. With such men hunting is one of the chief 

 of pleasures ; and they follow it eagerly when their work 

 will allow them. And with some of them it is at times 

 more than a pleasure. On many of the ranches on my 

 own, for instance the supply of fresh meat depends 

 mainly on the skill of the riflemen, and so, both for 

 pleasure and profit, most ranchmen do a certain amount 

 of hunting each season. The buffalo are now gone for- 

 ever, and the elk are rapidly sharing their fate ; but 

 antelope and deer are still quite plenty, and will remain so 

 for some years ; and these are the common game of the 



