BIG GAME OF NORTH AMERICA 377 
Sees as I can offer as to the mode in which the buffalo 
_ was hunted must of necessity be hearsay evidence, collected, 
however, at first hand, principally from an Indian confined, at 
_ the time I saw him, at the Stony Mountain Penitentiary, and 
_ from a white skin-hunter, whose last hunts were conducted in 
1880, 1881 and 1882, in Montana and North Dacota. 
A white skin-hunter’s ‘outfit’ of the most modest kind 
consisted in those days of one hunter carrying a Sharp’s rifle 
(with bullets weighing 500 grains), two skinners, and an extra 
man for camp work and odd jobs. 
During the rutting season (from July 20 to September 16) 
the buffaloes all ran together, but during the rest of the year 
- the old bulls kept together, apart from the cows and young 
bulls. Except during the rutting season, the bands were com- 
paratively small— from 20 to 200—led, if consisting of cows and 
__ young beasts, by an old cow. In hot weather the bands would 
_ lie quiet during the heat of the day, but in windy weather they 
would keep travelling all day against the wind, feeding as they 
went. As soon as the herds had been found the hunter would 
_ begin operations, shooting at long ranges, and keeping out 
of sight as much as possible. The first beast shot was the 
leader of the band, and as often as the band seemed to have 
selected another leader he, too, had to be dropped in his tracks. 
Without a leader, and with no enemy in sight, the remainder 
_of the herd would generally become confused, and allow the 
hunter to shoot down a large number ‘at a stand,’ as he called 
it. Having killed as many as he could, the hunter left the 
: carcases where they lay, his assistants coming to skin them the 
next day. Fifteen head a day was, so my informant stated, a 
_ fair average for one man to kill and two to skin, although in 
the fall of 1880 and spring of 1881 he and his party averaged 
_ twenty-four heads per diem. 
The best shot was low down behind the shoulder, about 
_ ten inches from the brisket. A ball placed there would pene- 
trate the lungs, and, after a few plunges, the beast would drop 
and die. 
