304 Hunting Trips on the Prairie 



rectly ahead of me and not twenty yards away, 

 at a slashing trot, which a few of them changed for 

 a wild gallop, as I opened fire. I was so hemmed 

 in by the thick tree trunks, and it was so difficult to 

 catch more than a fleeting glimpse of each animal, 

 that though I fired four shots I only brought down 

 one elk, a full-grown cow, with a broken neck, dead 

 in its tracks ; but I also broke the hind leg of a bull 

 calf. Elk offer easy marks when in motion, much 

 easier than deer, because of their trotting gait, and 

 their regular, deliberate movements. They look 

 very handsome as they trot through a wood, step- 

 ping lightly and easily over the dead trunks and 

 crashing through the underbrush, with the head 

 held up and nose pointing forward. In galloping, 

 however, the neck is thrust straight out in front, 

 and the animal moves with labored bounds, which 

 carry it along rapidly but soon tire it out. 



After thrusting the hunting-knife into the throat 

 of the cow, I followed the trail of the band ; and in 

 an open glade, filled with tall sage-brush, came 

 across and finished the wounded calf. Meanwhile 

 the others ran directly across Merrifield's path, and 

 he shot two. This gave us much more meat than 

 we wished; nor would we have shot as many, but 

 neither of us could reckon upon the other's getting 

 as much game, and flesh was a necessity. Leaving 

 Merrifield to skin and cut up the dead animals, I 

 walked back to camp where I found the teamster, 

 who had brought in the hams and tongues of two 

 deer he had shot, and sent him back with a pack- 



