240 THE OX FAMILY 



and Oregon, lending animation to the scene. As we have 

 observed, they are seldom seen on the plains to-day. 



A familiar method of taking antelopes was " flagging " 

 them, as it was called. A handkerchief or other object 

 was placed on a stick and quietly moved about on the 

 summit of a ridge, the gunner, of course, being con- 

 cealed in the grass or behind some elevation. The 

 curious creatures could not resist approaching within 

 range to see what the strange object was, and many 

 were slain in this way. The hunters learned to "flag" 

 antelopes from the Indians, who brought them within 

 range by exhibiting a piece of tanned skin, colored 

 red or white. 



Grinnell says: "A tent or wagon would so puzzle a 

 near-by antelope that it would walk up close to the 

 strange object to discover what it was. On a number 

 of occasions I have killed antelopes from the camp, and 

 again while stopping in the middle of the day to cook 

 a little food have had them come to the hill-top, look 

 for a time, and then gallop toward me, until finally I 

 killed one within forty yards of the fire over which the 

 coffee-pot was boiling." Grinnell once walked up to 

 within one hundred yards of two buck antelopes and 

 shot one, but says he believed the antelopes, which 

 were looking directly at the sun, had no idea what sort 

 of an animal it was that was approaching, and were 

 ignorant as to whether it was man, cow, or elk. 



The antelopes were sometimes taken with hounds, 

 and this coursing over the limitless, fenceless plains 

 was magnificent sport indeed. Sportsmen to-day, 

 however, have only one method of pursuit — stalking 

 or still-hunting, the most difficult of all methods of 



