OF A RANCHMAN 131 



a mile or two off. There I stayed till long 

 after the shadows began to lengthen, when 

 I started homeward. For some miles I saw 

 nothing, but as the evening came on the 

 grouse began to stir. A small party flew 

 (ALT my head, and though I missed them 

 with both barrels, either because I miscal- 

 culated the distance or for some other rea- 

 son, yet I marked them down very well, and 

 when I put them up again got two. Three 

 times afterward I came across coveys, either 

 flying or walking out from the edges of the 

 brushes, and I got one bird out of each, 

 reaching home just after sunset with fifteen 

 sharp-tails strung over my back. Of course 

 working after grouse on an August day in 

 this manner, without a dog, is very tiring, 

 and no great bag can be made without a 

 pointer or setter. 



In September the sharp- tails begin to come 

 out from the brushy coulies and creek bot- 

 toms, and to wander out among the short 

 grass of the ravines and over the open 

 prairie. They are at first not very shy, and 



