A GREAT MOUNTAIN SHEEP HUNT 245 



and their white rump-patches gave them the appear- 

 ance of two large pieces of paper blown along by the 

 wind. 



" The rearmost ram carried the larger horns, and at 

 him I fired three shots, but without result. Again I sat 

 down, and holding high above the white patch on the 

 seat of his pants, fired again, just as he disappeared in a 

 patch of green timber. 



" There were originally eight rams in that herd, and of 

 these, Norboe had seen two run down toward the creek. 

 Immediately following my first shots, the herd had di- 

 vided into three groups, which fled in three directions. 

 After the excitement was over, I proceeded to make ex- 

 planations to Mack, to account for the firing of nine 

 shots and a score of only one ram. The old fellow looked 

 at me with a merry glint in his keen gray eyes, and handed 

 me my hunting-shirt. 



" ( You and your big gun shorely had a full-grown 

 time stampedin' them sheep, and shootin' off a whole lot 

 o' timber.' 



" This observation was at the expense of my .405- 

 calibre gun, Mack being an advocate of the .33 high- 

 power gun. ' Them cannon guns,' he once said to me, 

 ' gives me the buck fever whenever I unlimbers 'em, 

 thinkin' of the roar, and the kick that's comin'! When 

 you shoots standin', they shoves you around like a monkey 

 on a stick; and if you sets down and turns 'em loose, they 

 move a feller along the ground so quick that it ain't 

 pleasant. If you're lucky enough to hit your game, it 

 tears his hide open; besides which, them big explosions 



