BISON SHOOTING 



any trees met with on the track as he advances of 

 course in front of his men, for, as soon as there 

 is any chance of danger, the armed man's position 

 should be the van, and that of the unarmed men 

 the rear. 



It may be that the portion of the forest in which 

 the bull was wounded is open in the main, but with 

 an occasional thicket interposing here and there. 

 In such a case the track should be followed at 

 a good pace in the open portions, two trackers 

 (not encumbered by guns) being in advance, and 

 as soon as the tracks enter a thicket, the sportsman 

 should take the lead, rifle on full cock in hand, 

 and further progress be noiseless and cautious. 



If the thicket be one which is of small extent, 

 the shortest way is to "ring" it by going round 

 the outside and seeing whether the tracks lead out 

 of it again on the other side. If they do not, it 

 is obvious that the bull has pulled up in it, and 

 in such a case, if approached judiciously, he may 

 be slain ; but if blundered in upon, will very prob- 

 ably knock over or toss one of his pursuers, and 

 will once more retreat, when the following up 

 process will have to be repeated. 



Considering that a wounded bull bison will 

 sometimes travel for miles, and often escape after 

 all, it is obvious that every minute spent in un- 

 necessary precautions is to be deplored. 



There are very few rules without exceptions, and 

 I have come across one of the latter in the case 

 of a bullet through the lungs, which is ordinarily 

 fatal. I wounded a bull one day and it went off, 



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