,72 HUNTING TRIPS 



changed for a wild gallop, as I opened fire. 

 I was so hemmed in by the thick tree 

 trunks, and it was so difficult to catch more 

 than a fleeting glimpse of each animal, that 

 though I had fired four shots I only brought 

 down one elk, a full-grown cow, with a 

 broken neck, dead in its tracks; but I also 

 broke the hind leg of a bull calf. Elk offer 

 easy marks when in motion, much easier 

 than deer, because of their trotting gait, 

 and their regular, deliberate movements. 

 They look very handsome as they trot 

 through a wood, stepping lightly and easily 

 over the dead trunks and crashing through 

 the underbrush, with the head held up and 

 pose pointing forward. In galloping, how- 

 ever, the neck is thrust straight out in front, 

 and the animal moves with labored bounds, 

 which carry it along rapidly but soon tire 

 it out. 



After thrusting the hunting-knife into 

 the throat of the cow, I followed the trail of 

 the band ; and in an open glade, filled with 

 tall sage-brush, came across and finished 



