The American Wilderness 29 



game was wofully slaughtered; but plenty of deer 

 and antelope, a few sheep and bear, and an occa- 

 sional elk are still left. 



Since the professional hunters have vanished with 

 the vast herds of game on which they preyed, the 

 life of the ranchman is that which yields most 

 chance of hunting. Life on a cattle ranch, on the 

 great plains or among the foothills of the high moun- 

 tains, has a peculiar attraction for those hardy, ad- 

 venturous spirits who take most kindly to a vigor- 

 ous out-of-door existence, and who are therefore 

 most apt to care passionately for the chase of big 

 game. The free ranchman lives in a wild, lonely 

 country, and exactly as he breaks and tames his own 

 horses, and guards and tends his own branded herds, 

 so he takes the keenest enjoyment in the chase, 

 which is to him not merely the pleasantest of sports, 

 but also a means of adding materially to his com- 

 forts, and often his only method of providing himself 

 with fresh meat. 



Hunting in the wilderness is of all pastimes the 

 most attractive, and it is doubly so when not carried 

 on merely as a pastime. Shooting over a private 

 game preserve is of course in no way to be compared 

 to it. The wilderness hunter must not only show 

 skill in the use of the rifle and address in finding and 

 approaching game, but he must also show the quali- 

 ties of hardihood, self-reliance, and resolution needed 

 for effectively grappling with his wild surroundings. 



