164 GAME. 



scored by them, and, to make matters worse, was covered 

 with sage bush from one to two feet high, completely 

 concealing them from the view of either myself or horse. 

 One moment the pony's fore feet would go down, the 

 next his hind feet. I rode him from his ears to his tail, 

 sometimes in front, sometimes in rear of the saddle. How 

 I stuck on I do not know, but after a mile of such riding 

 (if it could be called riding) I was rewarded by seeing my 

 dog holding one elk at bay while another was lying down 

 a few yards off. I got them both. All three elk had 

 been mortally wounded, yet I should have bagged neither 

 had it not been for the dog. 



Singular as it may appear, plains hunters are equally 

 divided in opinion as to the gait of the elk when at his 

 best speed. Some old hunters who have bagged their 

 hundreds of elk, stoutly maintain that the elk only trots, 

 even when at his best pace ; while others, equally good 

 authorities, insist that he runs like a deer. The truth is 

 that both are somewhat right and both wrong. The 

 elk trots with great speed, and this seems to be his 

 easiest and most natural gait. He, however, can and 

 does run much faster than he can trot, but it is a 

 laboured effort and soon tires him out. A hunter 

 on foot in August, September, and October might 

 well declare that an elk only trots, for at this sea- 

 son he is very fat, easily blown, and nothing short of 

 being absolutely forced to do so will induce him to break 

 his trot. When thin he runs much more easily and 

 readily, and a hunter seeing him in February might with 

 equal truth declare that he did not trot at all. I believe 

 an elk will trot across ordinary prairie at the rate of 

 about a mile in 3 min. 30 sees. 



His run will lessen the time by thirty seconds at least. 

 The peculiarity of the animal is that his gait is about as 

 good on the worst as on the best ground. In going up 

 and down bad places he is only excelled by the mountain 

 sheep, and no heavy plains animal can compare with him 



