346 SPORTING ADVENTURES 



would feast on wild cutlets should then seek them amid the 

 crags and chasms of their exalted retreats. 



The best time to hunt them is early in the morning- or 

 late in the evening 1 , as they are then out feeding- and playing-, 

 or searching- for water, and, as they are prominent objects in 

 a landscape, they may be seen by the contrast they present to 

 their surrounding's, or they may be tracked by their "signs" 

 or droppings. There is only one way in which they can be 

 hunted with any degree of success, and that is to stalk or 

 "still hunt" them up wind, taking- care to use every rock and 

 shrub for shelter, to move as noiselessly as possible, as their 

 ears are as sharp as their eyes, and they are very suspicious of 

 the least disturbance of the mountain stillness ; and not to be 

 too anxious for a shot, as impatience is apt to lead to many 

 disappointing- and weary tramps. They should be stalked from 

 above, if possible, as they do not expect any dang-er from that 

 direction, all foes being supposed to come from below. If 

 alarmed from above, instead of running down, they scamper 

 obliquely upward and against the wind, and this habit often 

 leads them to death, as hunters conceal themselves behind 

 boulders, and as the terror-stricken flocks rush past they pre- 

 sent an excellent opportunity for close shooting 1 . The best 

 weapon that I ever used against them was a Winchester 

 magazine rifle, as it enabled me to fire in rapid succession, and 

 its charge of powder, which might be considered too small for 

 larger game, was strong enough to send a bullet crashing 

 through the body of a bighorn at a distance of three or more 

 hundred yards. As they arc rarely stalked under one hun- 

 dred hards, except by unusual fair fortune or accident, a 

 good and accurate rifle is an indispensable necessity to sue- 

 cess in hunting them. The novice would find a field-glass 

 an excellent aid in discovering them among ledges ; and 

 should he be accompanied by a guide he may, through its 

 advantages, get several shots to the other's one, as it is 

 seldom that two hunt close together, and he who has the best 

 range of vision is the person most likely to see them first, and 

 to be the first among them. As they are quite numerous 

 in Montana, Idaho, and in Klamath Basin in Oregon, any 



