CHAPTER IX 



THE WAPITI OR ROUND-HORNED ELK 



ONCE, while on another hunt with John Willis, 

 I spent a week in a vain effort to kill moose 

 among the outlying mountains at the southern end 

 of the Bitter Root range. Then, as we had no meat, 

 we determined to try for elk, of which we had seen 

 much sign. 



We were camped with a wagon, as high among 

 the foot-hills as wheels could go, but several hours' 

 walk from the range of the game; for it was still 

 early in the season, and they had not yet come down 

 from the upper slopes. Accordingly we made a 

 practice of leaving the wagon for two or three days 

 at a time to hunt; returning to get a night's rest 

 in the tent, preparatory to a fresh start. On these 

 trips we carried neither blankets nor packs, as the 

 walking was difficult and we had much ground to 

 cover. Each merely put on his jacket with a loaf 

 of frying-pan bread and a paper of salt stuffed into 

 the pockets. We were cumbered with nothing save 

 our rifles and cartridges. 



On the morning in question we left camp at sun- 

 rise. For two or three hours we walked up-hill 

 through a rather open growth of small pines and 

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