40 Hunting Trips of a Ranchman 



St. Paul, for grouse and plover. On regular hunt- 

 ing trips I always carry the Winchester rifle; but 

 in riding round near home, where a man may see 

 a deer and is sure to come across ducks and grouse, 

 it is best to take the little ranch gun, a double-bar- 

 reled No. 1 6, with a 40 70 rifle underneath the 

 shot-gun barrels. 



As for clothing, when only off on a day's trip, the 

 ordinary ranchman's dress is good enough : flannel 

 shirt and overalls tucked into alligator boots, the 

 latter being of service against the brambles, cacti, 

 and rattlesnakes. Such a costume is good in warm 

 weather. When making a long hunting trip, where 

 there will be much rough work, especially in the 

 dry cold of fall and winter, there is nothing better 

 than a fringed buckskin tunic or hunting-shirt (held 

 in at the waist by the cartridge belt), buckskin 

 trousers, and a fur cap, with heavy moccasins for 

 use in the woods, and light alligator-hide shoes if 

 it is intended to cross rocks and open ground. Buck- 

 skin is most durable, keeps out the wind and cold, 

 and is the best possible color for the hunter no 

 small point in approaching game. For wet it is 

 not as good as good flannel, and it is hot in warm 

 weather. On very cold days, fur gloves and either 

 a coon-skin overcoat or a short riding jacket of 

 fisher's fur may be worn. In cold weather, if 

 traveling light with only what can be packed behind 

 the horse, I sleep in a big buffalo-robe, sewed up at 

 the sides and one end into the form of a bag, and 

 very warm. When, as is sometimes the case, the 



