OF A RANCHMAN 229 



and patience. If the quarry is a big-horn, 

 a man needs especially to be sound in wind 

 and limbs, and to be both hardy and reso- 

 lute. Skill in the use of the long-range rifle 

 counts for more in antelope hunting than 

 in any other form of sport ; and it is in this 

 kind of hunting alone that good marksman- 

 ship is more important than any thing else. 

 With dangerous game, cool and steady 

 nerves are of the first consequence ; all else 

 comes after. Then, again, in the use of the 

 rifle, the kind of skill not merely the de- 

 gree of skill required to hunt different 

 animals may vary greatly. In shooting 

 white-tail, it is especially necessary to be a 

 good snap shot at running game ; when the 

 distance is close, quickness is an essential. 

 But at antelope there is plenty of time, and 

 what is necessary is ability to judge dis- 

 tance, and capacity to hit a small station- 

 ary object at long range. 



The different degrees of estimation in 

 which the chase of the various kinds of 

 plains game is held depend less upon the 



