The Antelope. 311 



the position of the game, for from a different point of view the bluffs 

 and landmarks may look so differently that you may have to look a 

 long time for the animals, and while doing so may expose yourself to 

 their view. Remember to watch the wind, for the antelope's nose is a 

 good one and will tell him of your presence if you come between him 

 and the breeze. Perhaps the band may be at a distance, and there 

 may appear no way of approaching it. In this case, it will be worth 

 your while to sit down and wait a little, to see if they will not feed 

 up nearer to you, and so give you a shot. Do not be too anxious 

 to know just what they are doing. Every time you raise your head 

 above the bluff, some one of the animals will be likely to see it, and, 

 unless they are frightened by you, they are not likely to make any 

 sudden movement. Do not be too impatient to get your shot. 

 Deliberation will serve you well. When you shoot, aim close behind 

 the fore shoulder and just about where the white and the red meet ; 

 for the antelope's heart lies low, and, if you hold true, you will have 

 meat in camp that night. 



In hunting antelope, it is best always to travel upon the higher 

 ground, since the game is much less likely to see an object above 

 than below or on the same level with it. Keep to the ridges, there- 

 fore, and as you surmount each one, scan all the ground with care 

 before you show yourself. There may be an antelope lying down 

 behind some little rise of ground very near you ; or perhaps a red 

 back or the black tips of a pair of horns may be just visible over the 

 edge of some ravine, and may at first escape your eye, if you are in 

 a hurry. 



Although, where antelope have been much hunted, the sight of a 

 man, even if a long way off, will cause them to run, there are other 

 localities where they are so tame as to permit one to ride within 

 three or four hundred yards without manifesting much uneasiness. 

 In such cases, the animals are curious rather than timid, and will 

 sometimes run toward the hunter; and if he throws himself flat on 

 the ground, they may approach within one hundred yards, or even 

 nearer' This only takes place when they have been but little hunted. 

 In a buffalo country, or where there are cattle, they are sometimes 

 very unsuspicious. The old bucks ordinarily manifest more curios- 

 ity than the does, but with it is mingled an astonishing amount 

 of shrewdness, and many instances of their cunning might be 



