CHAPTER III. 

 BISON SHOOTING 



" | " H ERE are few forms of sport, with the grooved 

 JL or smooth barrel, more exciting, and from 

 every point of view more enjoyable, than the pur- 

 suit of this grand specimen of the genus Bos. 

 Whether the forests of the low country, or one 

 of the hill ranges be the scene of action, the sport 

 is one which pre-eminently demands all the pursuer's 

 powers of endurance, and all his knowledge of the 

 habits of the game ; and, large though the animal 

 be, and consequently easy to hit, hitting a bison 

 in the wrong place is only useless cruelty, since the 

 poor beast so often escapes at the best to suffer 

 great pain for a considerable time, and too often to 

 die a lingering death in solitude. 



In the low-country forests the modus operandi is 

 as follows. An early start is made, and the sports- 

 man, taking with him men enough to carry his 

 luncheon, drinkables for the day, and his battery, 

 usually proceeds towards any well-known salt-licks 

 (or places in which salt earth is exposed) in the 

 hope of finding fresh tracks made during the 

 previous night or at early dawn. Possibly he may 

 come upon such tracks, as he traverses alternately 



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