Hunting at High Altitudes 



ready for her, and a close shot delivered into her 

 chest rolled her over. I then delivered a shot into 

 each of the cubs, one of which managed to get 

 back into the brush. I quickly followed, and by 

 its squalling found it and delivered another shot. 

 As it ceased squalling, I was satisfied it was dead. 

 By the time these bears were dressed it was fully 

 dark, but the moon was shining, although occa- 

 sionally obscured by a cloud. 



I determined to make a scout around that pile 

 of beef before bedtime. Mounting my hunting 

 mare Kate, I made a circuit to the left for some 

 distance, so as not to alarm any animal there, 

 'either by scent or noise. Cautiously approaching, 

 my mare was tied to a tree about three hundred 

 yards to leeward of the carcasses. The mare acted 

 very uneasy and must have scented the bears. 



I took the precaution to tie a wad of white tissue 

 paper on the end of the rifle barrel, over the sight, 

 for night work, and cautiously approached. My 

 object was to slip up to the edge of the gulch and 

 have a commanding view below. At such short 

 range I could get one good shot, and then depend 

 on having a second shot as the bear ascended the 

 opposite side, which had a gentler slope. 



When within one hundred feet of the rim of the 

 gulch, a coyote passed just in front of me and dis- 



234 



