186 Where to Hunt 



mountain-grouse, ptarmigan, quail, and in some places 

 sage-hen and prairie-hen in small numbers. 



Elk are found only in the highest mountains and are 

 becoming quite scarce, as are mountain-sheep and 

 Rocky Mountain goat. They are found in limited num- 

 bers in the Sacramento, Gaudalupe, Mogollon, and 

 other mountain ranches. Deer have also been decreas- 

 ing with the advance of civilization, but with the enact- 

 ment of stringent laws for their protection, and owing to 

 the fact that there are thousands of square miles of 

 rough, mountainous country and forests which will 

 always be vast breeding-grounds for deer, they will be 

 sufficiently plentiful to afford fine sport for a long time 

 to come. 



Bear are found in the roughest mountains, in the 

 foot-hills, and along the rough breaks of the deep can- 

 yons. They do not molest stock to any great extent, 

 but subsist mostly upon acorns, pinon nuts, berries, 

 roots, and insects. They are hunted chiefly with 

 hounds, of which there are several large packs in New 

 Mexico. Bear hunting is a very exciting sport, and 

 with a well trained pack of hounds is not at all dan- 

 gerous, as the bear usually takes to a tree or takes refuge 

 under a shelving rock, and will not attack a man, even 

 when wounded, if there is a dog in sight. 



Fox, coyote, mountain-lion, coon, wild- or bob cat, 

 and gray wolf are also hunted by the same kind of 

 hounds, a species of the English foxhound. Gray 

 wolf are quite plentiful, and are increasing. They are 

 large and powerful animals, and their pelts make fine 

 robes. They are destructive to cattle, sheep, and goats, 

 and a bounty of five dollars for each scalp is paid on 



