Memories of a Bear Hunter 



the best parts of the two elk were hung up in 

 camp. We soon discovered that we were about a 

 quarter of a mile below a runway traveled each 

 year by the black-tail deer, when the snows of 

 autumn warned them that winter was near. As 

 soon as the snow becomes too deep to permit them 

 to feed, these deer come down from the moun- 

 tains to the Bad Lands on the plains below the 

 foothills. In the spring, as the snows disappear 

 and the young grass starts, they return by the same 

 route. By watching this runway we could get a 

 deer almost any day as long as the migration 

 continued, but as soon as the snow accumulated, 

 as it did before we left this camp, the deer ceased 

 to pass ; no doubt because they had all gone down. 

 These runways are not along the valleys of the 

 streams, but below the high mountain ridges, prob- 

 ably because the deer know that in the valley their 

 enemies would watch for them. 



One of the elk killed by Herendeen lay in the 

 valley, about three-quarters of a mile above camp, 

 and on the side of the mountain in another direc- 

 tion, was a second. These baits were soon dis- 

 covered by the bears, and a few evenings after- 

 ward, watching at the one above camp, I killed a 

 large grizzly with a dark, well- furred robe. He 

 required only a single shot, and gave no trouble. 



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