476 BIG (JA.ME OF NORTH AMERICA. 



while we stood at a safe distance. This method was effect- 

 ive in the whelping-season, and men were employed spe- 

 cially for this work on the ranch where I was then working 

 one of the largest in that section. There is, however, 

 little sport in this; but, with the proper accessories, the 

 Wolf furnishes as exciting a run as the most enthusiastic 

 rider could wish. 



To my mind, there is always something lacking in a 

 sport where the game is helpless when caught. No matter 

 how the pulses throb during the wild chase, there is always 

 a sharp revulsion when the hoarse, agonized bleat of the 

 Antelope tells that the fangs of his fierce pursuers are rend- 

 ing his fleet limbs, or even when the sharp scream of the 

 jack-rabbit ends the chase; but there are no such com- 

 punctions when the cruel Wolf feels the tortures he has so 

 often inflicted on others; and he is a formidable adversary 

 when, grim and bristling, he turns at bay. 



As to the question of speed, it is mostly a matter of 

 condition. A gorged Wolf is not fast, and I have shot 

 several in this state by running up to them on average cow- 

 ponies; but when properly "gaunted," few horses can catch 

 a Gray Wolf; and they have tremendous endurance. 



On the ranch I mentioned, we had seven cross-bred Stag- 

 hounds and Greyhounds that ran and fought well together, 

 and we all looked forward each season to the brief interval 

 between the close of winter work and the spring round-up, 

 when we would have leisure for hunting. Though we killed 

 many Gray Wolves, it was always necessary to shoot them 

 after the dogs overhauled them. They could keep the 

 Wolves down, but could not kill them. 



I shall never forget the first one they caught. Wolves 

 had shown up numerously that winter, and in my camp we 

 were all eager to go into headquarters in spring and take 

 the dogs out after them. Many were the speculations as to 

 how the dogs would come out whether they would tackle 

 the Wolf, etc. 



At last the momentous day arrived; and behold us, six in 

 number, mounted on our ''top-horses," sallying forth in 



