PREFACE. 



FOR a number of years much of my life 

 was spent either in the wilderness or on 

 the borders of the settled country — if, indeed, 

 " settled " is a term that can rightly be ap- 

 plied to the vast, scantily peopled regions 

 where cattle-ranching is the only regular in- 

 dustry. During this time I hunted much, 

 among the mountains and on the plains, both 

 as a pastime and to procure hides, meat, and 

 robes for use on the ranch ; and it was my 

 good luck to kill all the various kinds of large 

 game that can properly be considered to 

 belong to temperate North America. 



In hunting, the finding and killing of the 

 game is after all but a part of the whole. 

 The free, self-reliant, adventurous life, with 

 its rugged and stalwart democracy ; the wild 

 surroundings, the grand beauty of the scenery, 

 the chance to study the ways and habits of 

 the woodland creatures— all these unite to 

 give to the career of the wilderness hunter its 

 peculiar charm. The chase is among the best 

 of all national pastimes ; it cultivates that 

 vigorous manliness for the lack of which in a 

 nation, as in an individual, the possession of 

 no other qualities can possibly atone. 



No one, but he who has partaken thereof, 

 can understand the keen deliglit of hunting in 



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