298 SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 



report is not so great as that of the latter, nor are the 

 woods so prompt in echoing it. It sounds more like the 

 crash of a branch than an indication of danger; hence the 

 deer are not so readily alarmed by it. I heard of a man 

 who killed over a hundred on one stand in a mountain pass 

 in Colorado; and he would have probably slain as many 

 more had he not been injured seriously by the charge of a 

 furious buck he had wounded, and disdained to avoid until 

 it was too late to escape a thrust. 



It is nothing unusual for an experienced hunter to bag 

 from two to five deer in a day, if they are at all numerous ; 

 and I heard of a hunter who killed ten between sunrise and 

 sunset; and I knew a French half-breed to claim the death 

 of fifteen after an absence of fifty-six hours. 



The number killed in a week by those who supply the 

 market, or hunt for others under contract, is almost incred- 

 ible to persons whose greatest exploit has been to bag a 

 stag in a week, perhaps, or who do not know how abundant 

 deer are in portions of the West. Were they told that a 

 man has killed two hundred and thirty wapitis, eighty deer, 

 and several buffaloes in two weeks, they would be likely to 

 consider the matter for awhile at least before giving it cre- 

 dence ; yet it has been done, I understand, by Dr. Carver ; 

 and I knew a stock-raiser who was said to have killed thir- 

 ty mule deer from Monday to Saturday in Idaho County, 

 Idaho Territory; but there the animals were numerous 

 indeed, and, according to his statement, " were almost as 

 thick as flies in June." This is one of the best game 

 regions in the West, as nearly every large quadruped pe- 

 culiar to the country may be found there. 



One of the most interesting week's sport that I had in 

 the West was in that section of country. The party was 

 limited to two, as our purpose was to devote our attention 

 specially to the mule deer, which was said to be very abun- 

 dant, and little hunted. My companion was a veteran Nirn- 

 rod who had, in former years, lived by trapping, but who, 

 when the country began to get settled up, and gold and sil- 

 ver were discovered there, turned miner, only to change af- 



