120 EARLY DAY STORIES. 



At one time when we had some venison and several 

 rolls of butter stored in the manner described, there came 

 a heavy rain, the creek raised about fifteen feet during the 

 night, washed away the bank, bringing down tons on tons 

 of earth upon the box, covering it so that it could not be 

 rescued without a great deal of labor. The box with its 

 contents is there yet. 



In the fall of the year we killed whenever there was a 

 chance, the bucks, the does and the fawns, but generally 

 from preference selected the bucks and large does if there 

 was a chance to do so. The fawns grow very fast, and by 

 the middle of November are half as large as their mothers. 

 All these game animals were very fat in September and 

 October, but by November the bucks begin to lose flesh. The 

 wild grasses of Nebraska were very nutritious, and the does 

 and fawns kept fat all winter if the snow was not deep, but 

 in severe winters they would become thin before spring. In 

 the spring and summer it was our custom to shoot the bucks 

 only, sparing the does for the sake of the increase. 



In the early spring the best game to be had was buck 

 antelope. The antelope mostly went west to spend the win- 

 ter where there was less snow than here, and where there 

 was an abundance of winter feed, such as the buffalo and 

 gramma grasses. When the antelope began to return to 

 this country from their western winter resort, the bucks, 

 while not fat, were in good condition, and made the best 

 venison to be had at that time of year. We hunted very 

 little in the spring, and that only nearby home to get a buck 

 antelope now and then ; excepting that on two or three oc- 

 casions we made a trip to capture young fawns. However 

 thin and poor the game might become during the winter 

 months, it fattened very quickly after the spring grass start- 

 ed. The same remark will equally apply to domestic stock 

 of all kinds. The value of our native grasses and other 



