252 SPORTING ADVENTURhS 



nor are the woods so prompt in echoing 1 it. It sounds more 

 like the crash of a branch than an indication of danger, hence 

 the deer are not so readily alarmed by it. T heard of a man 

 who killed over a hundred on one stand in a mountain pass 

 in Colorado, and he would have probably slain as many more 

 had he not been injured seriously by the charge of a furious 

 buck he had wounded, and disdained to avoid, until it was too 

 late to escape a thrust. 



It is nothing- unusual for an experienced hunter to bag from 

 two to five deer in a day if they are at all numerous ; and I 

 heard of a hunter who killed ten between sunrise and sunset, 

 and I knew a French half-breed to claim the death of fifteen 

 after an absence of fifty-six hours. 



The number killed in a week by those who supply the mar- 

 ket or hunt for others under contract, is almost incredible to 

 persons whose greatest exploit has been to bag a stag in a 

 week perhaps, or who do not know how abundant deer are in 

 portions of the West. Were they told that a man has killed 

 230 wapitis, 80 deer, and several buffaloes in two weeks, they 

 would be likely to consider the matter for awhile at least before 

 giving it credence, yet it has been done, I understand, by Dr. 

 Carver; and I knew a stock-raiser who was said to have killed 

 thirty mule deer from Monday to Saturday in Idaho Countv, 

 Idaho Territory ; but there the animals were numerous indeed, 

 and, according to his statement, ie were almost as thick as flies 

 in June/' This is one of the best game regions in the West, 

 as nearly every large quadruped peculiar to the country may 

 be found there. 



One of the most interesting week's sport that I had in the 

 West was in that section of country. The party was limited 

 to two, as our purpose was to devote our attention specially to 

 the mule deer, which was said to be very abundant, and little 

 hunted, My companion was a veteran Nimrod who had, in 

 former years, lived by trapping, but who, when the country 

 began to get settled up, and gold and silver were discovered 

 there, turned miner, only to change after awhile to a stock- 

 raiser and rancher. His career had been one of arduous toil 

 and bold adventure, and he had had more than one contest 

 with Indians and wild annuals, vet. notwithstanding his hard 



