INTER-OCEAN HUNTING TALES 



to about twenty-five or thirty. The bull 

 frequently threw his head up, giving vent 

 to his peculiar call, which was answered now 

 and then by several other bulls on the sur- 

 rounding hills, none of which seemed willing 

 to venture near him. I watched this 

 spectacle for some time, endeavoring to get 

 near enough to obtain a good shot. 



Being alone and unaccustomed to the 

 country I was unable to gauge the distance 

 correctly. When finally I stopped at the 

 nearest point I could reach to secure a fair 

 shot (I was using on that occasion a .45-90 

 Winchester, not one of the modern high- 

 power guns with a flat trajectory), I fired 

 at the bull without effect and saw the whole 

 bunch of cow elk come together in a solid 

 mass and ascend the slope of the neighboring 

 mountain. The cow elk acted as though 

 panic-stricken, all striving to get as near the 

 center of the bunch as possible while ascend- 

 ing the slope and interfering considerably 

 116 



