48 THE DEER FAMILY 



northern and western parts of Wyoming and the 

 Rocky Mountain region of Colorado. There are areas 

 in western Washington, Oregon, and California where 

 the elk is shown to exist, and a small area on the line 

 between Arizona and New Mexico. A small area is 

 shown on the Manitoba — North Dakota line, and a 

 small area in Minnesota. These areas are decreasing, 

 excepting in the vicinity of the Yellowstone National 

 Park and other reservations. 



As late as 1880 I saw and shot elk, in the upper Mis- 

 souri region, in the open country, some distance from 

 the timber. Roosevelt says that in the early eighties 

 but few remained between the Mississippi and the 

 Rocky Mountains, and that they were being exter- 

 minated in this region as fast as the bison, and may 

 be said to have ceased to be a plains animal in 1883. 



The fact that the moose have held their own longer 

 than the elk, in localities where they were found asso- 

 ciated, would indicate that they are more difficult to 

 approach and kill, and such I believe to be the case; 

 but the experienced elk of to-day is difficult enough to 

 test the skill of the most experienced sportsman, and if 

 he be unattended by a guide, the chances are much 

 against his bagging the game. 



Mr. W. A. Wadsworth, I am aware, holds to the 

 contrary. " We have," he says, " heard so much of the 

 sport of elk-hunting from all sorts of writers, from the 

 President down, that it seems ungracious to find fault 

 with it. But the elk is a very large animal, a naturally 

 tame and stupid animal, and a gregarious animal. 

 With the wind in my favor and by keeping absolutely 

 still I have had a herd browse up so close that I could 



