2i6 THE OX FAMILY 



horn. The chances are all in favor of the game, and 

 the sportsman who at last secures a fine head, with 

 massive, curved horns, has a trophy as valuable, yes, 

 more so, I think, than any to be taken in America. 



There is no danger from the animal, as there is 

 sometimes when the grizzly bear is the quarry, but I 

 am inclined to regard the ram's head as representing 

 more than the robe of a great bear. 



The journey into the mountains and the camps 

 beside the lakes and streams is delightful. The hard 

 work begins when the higher levels are reached, and 

 one disappointment follows another as the wary ani- 

 mals see, hear or smell their pursuer and go bounding 

 away. 



Many stories are told of the animals bounding off of 

 high precipices and alighting on their horns, and the 

 broken horns were said to attest the fact that they did 

 jump so as to alight head down. The rams, however, 

 are great fighters, and the battered horns are the result 

 of fierce encounters during the rutting season. The 

 animals do go bounding down steep and high places, 

 where no man can follow them, but they use their feet 

 as they go and alight on their feet at the bottom of the 

 incline. 



