STILL-HUNTING THE ANTELOPE. 



BY ARTHUR W. DU BRAY ("GAUCHO"). 



HAVE been requested by our brother sportsman, 

 "Coquina," to write a chapter for his book, and 

 have been .intrusted with the one on the Antelope. 

 I therefore cheerfully submit the following, and 

 throw myself on the tender mercies of my readers, know- 

 ing that several men who have written on this beautiful 

 and interesting animal before me have left little that is 

 new to be said. Still, I have had an extensive experience 

 in hunting and studying the Antelope, and trust that I 

 may be able to give some hints and suggestions that may 

 be useful to beginners in this most delightful sport. 



The Antelope is one of the wariest and fleetest animals 

 on this continent, and the sportsman who would hunt it 

 successfully must study, carefully and patiently, its nature, 

 habits, and characteristics. A brief description of it may 

 not be amiss here, and this can not be given more tersely or 

 accurately than in the words of that careful naturalist and 

 graceful writer, the Hon. John Dean Caton, who, on pages 

 22 and 23 of his charming book, u The Antelope and Deer 

 of America," says: 



Its size is less than that of the Virginia Deer. Its form is robust; body 

 short; neck short, flexible, and erect; head large and elevated; horns hollow 

 and deciduous, with a short, triangular, anterior process about midway their 

 length, compressed laterally below the snag, and round above horns situate 

 on the superior orbital arches;, tail short; legs rather short, slim, and straight; 

 hoofs bifid, small, pointed, convex on top :md concave on sides. Xo cutaneous 

 gland or tuft of hairs on outside of hind leg. No lachrymal sinus or gland 

 below the eye. Mucous membrane very black. Lips covered with short, 

 white hairs, with a black, naked dividing-line in front of upper lip, 

 extending from the mouth to and surrounding both nostrils. Face brownish- 

 black, with sometimes reddish hairs upon it. Top of head, above the eyes, 



C 313 ) 



