56 THE WILDERNESS HUNTERS 



antic of my horse ; a half-broken bronco is 

 apt to become unnerved when a man with 

 a gun tries to climb on him in a hurry. On 

 one hunt in 1890 I rode a wild animal named 

 Whitefoot. He had been a confirmed and 

 very bad bucker three years before, when I 

 had him in my string on the round-up ; but 

 had grown quieter with years. Nevertheless 

 I found he had some fire left; for a hasty 

 vault into the saddle on my part, was followed 

 on his by some very resolute pitching. I 

 lost my rifle and hat, and my revolver and 

 knife were bucked out of my belt ; but I kept 

 my seat all right, and finally got his head up 

 and mastered him without letting him throw 

 himself over backwards, a trick he sometimes 

 practised. Nevertheless, in the first jump 

 when I was taken unawares, I strained my- 

 self across the loins, and did not get entirely 

 over it for six months. 



To shoot running game with the rifle it is 

 always necessary to be a good and quick 

 marksman ; for it is never easy to kill an 

 animal, when in rapid motion, with a single 

 bullet. If on a runway a man who is a fairly 

 skilful rifleman, has plenty of time for a 

 clear shot, on open ground, at comparatively 

 short distance, say under eighty yards, and if 

 the deer is cantering, he ought to hit ; at 

 least I generally do under such circum- 

 stances, by remembering to hold well forward, 

 in fact just in front of the deer's chest. But 

 I do not always kill by any means ; quite 

 often when I thought I held far encu^h 

 ahead, my bullet has gone into the buck's 

 hips or loins. However, one great feature 



