124 Hunting Trips of a Ranchman 



Among the places which are most certain to con- 

 tain white-tails may be mentioned the tracts of 

 swampy ground covered with willows and the like, 

 which are to be found in a few (and but a few) 

 localities through the plains country; there are, for 

 example, several such along the Powder River, just 

 below where the Little Pow T der empties into it. 

 Here there is a dense growth of slim-stemmed 

 young trees, sometimes almost impenetrable, and in 

 other places opening out into what seem like arched 

 passage-ways, through which a man must at times 

 go almost on all fours. The ground may be covered 

 with rank shrubbery, or it may be bare mud with 

 patches of tall reeds. Here and there, scattered 

 through these swamps, are pools of water, and 

 sluggish ditches occasionally cut their way deep be- 

 low the surface of the muddy soil. Game trails are 

 abundant all through them, and now and then there 

 is a large path beaten out by the cattle; while at 

 intervals there are glades and openings. A horse 

 must be very careful in going through such a swamp 

 or he will certainly get mired, and even a man must 

 be cautious about his footing. In the morning or 

 late afternoon a man stands a good chance of killing 

 deer in such a place, if he hunts carefully through it. 

 It is comparatively easy to make but little noise in 

 the mud and among the wet, yielding swamp plants ; 

 and by moving cautiously along the trails and 

 through the openings, one can see some little dis- 

 tance ahead; and toward evening the pools should 

 be visited, and the borders as far back as possible 



