284 Still-Hunting Elk. 



branched. A man should always notice the position of 

 the sun, the direction from which the wind blows, the 

 slope of the water-courses, prominent features in the land- 

 scape, and so forth, and should keep in mind his own 

 general course ; and he had better err on the side of cau- 

 tion rather than on that of boldness. Getting lost is very 

 uncomfortable, both for the man himself and for those who 

 have to break up their work and hunt for him. Deep 

 woods or perfectly flat, open country are almost equally 

 easy places in which to get lost ; while if the country is 

 moderately open and level, with only here and there a 

 prominent and easily recognized hill or butte, a man can 

 safely go where he wishes, hardly paying any heed to his 

 course. But even here he should know his general direc- 

 tion from camp, so as to be able to steer for it with a 

 compass if a fog comes up. And if he leaves his horse 

 hidden in a gully or pocket while he goes off to hunt on 

 foot, he must recollect to keep the place well in his mind ; 

 on one occasion, when I feared that somebody might 

 meddle with my horse, I hid him so successfully that I 

 spent the better part of a day in finding him. 



Keeping in mind the above given rules, when I left 

 camp the morning after the breaking up of the band 

 of cows and calves, I hunted up-stream, and across and 

 through the wooded spurs dividing the little brooks that 

 formed its head waters. No game was encountered, 

 except some blue grouse, which I saw when near camp 

 on my return, and shot for the pot. These blue grouse 

 are the largest species found in America, except the sage 

 fowl. They are exclusively birds of the deep mountain 



