54 CAMP FIRE REMINISCENCES 
retired early. Long before sunrise the more 
energetic members of the party were astir. 
Horses were saddled by breakfast time, and im- 
mediately after that meal we started. 
As there were not enough guides to go around, 
H. and myself were obliged to hunt alone. I 
rode about half a mile back towards the divide and 
then struck up a very steep, scrub-oak grown gulch 
to my right. The end of this gulch was almost at 
the top of a range of hills several hundred feet 
high. The first glimpse of sunshine was lighting 
the tops of the hills as I neared the summit, so 
dismounting and leading my horse I cautiously 
climbed up and looked over. Before me on a 
plateau a hundred yards across were six deer, 
probably not fifty yards away. They were does, 
but as I had never before been so close to a wild 
mule deer it was a pleasure watching them in the 
sunshine. Presently they winded me and bolted. 
Had I been looking for venison only I could have 
killed one and brought it back to the ranch before 
the sun shone on the valley. Certainly this was 
luck and very encouraging. 
Crossing the plateau the other side of the hills 
was seen. It was covered with scrub-oak, and 
from it a low range branched off at right angles. 
Draws and gulches ran down these hills, having: 
oak on the sides facing north, while on the south 
they were almost bare. I decided to travel along 
the top of this range and carefully hunt the draws 
running down from it. Leading the horse through 
