BIG GAME OF NORTH AMERICA 377 



evidence as I can offer as to the mode in which the buffalo 

 was hunted must of necessity be hearsay evidence, collected, 

 however, at first hand, principally from an Indian confined, at 

 the time I saw him, at the Stony Mountain Penitentiary, and 

 from a white skin-hunter, whose last hunts were conducted in 

 1880, 1 88 1 and 1882, in Montana and North Dacota. 



A white skin-hunter's ' outfit ' of the most modest kind 

 consisted in those days of one hunter carrying a Sharp's rifle 

 (with bullets weighing 500 grains), two skinners, and an extra 

 man for camp work and odd jobs. 



During the rutting season (from July 20 to September 16) 

 the buffaloes all ran together, but during the rest of the year 

 the old bulls kept together, apart from the cows and young 

 bulls. Except during the rutting season, the bands were com- 

 paratively small from 20 to 200 led, if consisting of cows and 

 young beasts, by an old cow. In hot weather the bands would 

 lie quiet during the heat of the day, but in windy weather they 

 would keep travelling all day against the wind, feeding as they 

 went. As soon as the herds had been found the hunter would 

 begin operations, shooting at long ranges, and keeping out 

 of sight as much as possible. The first beast shot was the 

 leader of the band, and as often as the band seemed to have 

 selected another leader he, too, had to be dropped in his tracks. 

 Without a leader, and with no enemy in sight, the remainder 

 of the herd would generally become confused, and allow the 

 hunter to shoot down a large number ' at a stand,' as he called 

 it. Having killed as many as he could, the hunter left the 

 carcases where they lay, his assistants coming to skin them the 

 next day. Fifteen head a day was, so my informant stated, a 

 fair average for one man to kill and two to skin, although in 

 the fall of 1880 and spring of 1881 he and his party averaged 

 twenty-four heads per diem. 



The best shot was low down behind the shoulder, about 

 ten inches from the brisket. A ball placed there would pene- 

 trate the lungs, and, after a few plunges, the beast would drop 

 and die. 



