SHEEP— BOTH WHITE AND DARK 



plain sight of him, we dismounted and sneaked 

 in the timber under cover (our horse out in plain 

 sight), from the openings of which we saw him 

 continue to feed and finally lie down; and yet, 

 under similar conditions except that we were 

 afoot, at about the same distance, 300 or 400 

 yards, I saw rams stand for a few seconds watch- 

 ing us, only to suddenly flirt away as I raised my 

 gun, and whom we trailed in the snow for three 

 days over the most difficult cliffs and precipices in 

 Montana — and then without success. 



I have seen rams take fright at what appeared 

 to be my "wind" at a distance of hundreds of 

 yards; and yet I successfully stalked a ram 

 while he was lying down, with a fairly strong wind 

 that carried my scent directly to him at a distance 

 of 150 yards. 



After that experience, coupled with others 

 that I have had in stalking rams, I am con- 

 vinced that they haven't the keen scenting 

 powers with which they are generally credited. 

 In fact (at least in the pursuit of ovis canadensis), 

 if I were to go on a sheep hunt again, and of 

 course I hope to do so, I believe I should prac- 

 tically eliminate the factor of wind in my stalk- 

 ing. I know I should pay very little attention 

 to it. This statement may cause a mild sensa- 

 tion among some sheep hunters, but before allow- 

 ing themselves to be convulsed with any violent 

 emotion over it, I would advise, even though 

 they may have had quite a little experience in 



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