76 Hunting Trips of a Ranchman 



to contempt upon any firearm but the rifle or revol- 

 ver, and partly because it is next to impossible to 

 keep hunting-dogs very long on the plains. The 

 only way to check in any degree the ravages of 

 the wolves is by the most liberal use of strychnine, 

 and the offal of any game killed by a cattleman is 

 pretty sure to be poisoned before being left, while 

 the "wolfer," or professional wolf-killer, strews his 

 bait everywhere. It thus comes about that any dog 

 who is in the habit of going any distance from the 

 house is almost sure to run across and eat some 

 of the poisoned meat, the effect of which is certain 

 death. The only time I have ever shot sharp-tailed 

 prairie fowl over dogs was during a trip to the 

 eastward with my brother, which will be described 

 further on. Out on the plains I have occasionally 

 taken a morning with the shotgun after them, but 

 more often have either simply butchered them for 

 the pot, when out of meat, or else have killed a few 

 with the rifle when I happened to come across them 

 .while after deer or antelope. 



Occasions frequently arise, in living a more or 

 less wild life, when a man has to show his skill 

 in shifting for himself; when, for instance, he has 

 to go out and make a foray upon the grouse, neither 

 for sport, nor yet for a change of diet, but actually 

 for food. Under such circumstances he of course 

 pays no regard to the rules of sport which would 

 govern his conduct on other occasions. If a man's 

 dinner for several consecutive days depends upon 

 a single shot, he is a fool if he does not take every 



