ELK. 165 



in crossing a bog. He has a faculty of spreading out his 

 hoofs and false toes, and getting down on his legs, so that 

 his track in the soft mud is of the most nondescript 

 character, at least eighteen inches long and of no shape. 



In going through bush or timber, he sticks his nose in 

 the air, throwing back the points of his huge antlers on 

 each side of his body, and makes about as good time as if 

 in the open. 



For doubling, dodging, and hiding, this huge animal 

 is, considering his bulk, far superior to the hare, or even 

 the fox ; and the facility with which he will squat and 

 conceal himself in the slightest possible cover, is really 

 most remarkable. 



It is this peculiarity which makes him so difficult to 

 bag in thickets and wooded countries. The hunter may 

 have the wind and be ever so cautious. The cracking of 

 a dry twig or the rustling of withered leaves will put the 

 elk on the alert and send him noiselessly out of danger. 

 If, however, he finds his enemy very near, he relies on 

 his skill in hiding, and will remain motionless, though the 

 hunter pass within a few yards of him. Two hunters of 

 my command, in September 1875, followed a trail of elk 

 into a little valley filled with a jungle of quaking asp. 

 All at once one of the hunters found himself so close to 

 a huge buck that he could almost have touched him with 

 his gun. The animal was perfectly motionless, had his 

 head down, but was watching the hunter steadily, and 

 with so fierce an aspect, that the man was, though an 

 excellent shot, actually frightened into a miss at that dis- 

 tance. At the report of the rifle the whole valley sud- 

 denly became alive with elk. The men were in the very 

 midst of a herd of at least a hundred, many of them within 

 a few yards. 



Nothing is more provoking than to trail an elk into a 

 beaver dam thicket, to know he is in there, within a few 

 feet of you, whilst you can neither see nor get him out. 

 In such a case a well broken dog is invaluable. 



