Hunting A nierican Big Game 



ranges. Among other favorite resorts are 

 springs, which make on steep wooded 

 slopes a delightful boggy wallowing-place. 

 The bulls revel in these from August to 

 the middle of September. It is not an 

 uncommon thing to kill them just as they 

 emerge from their viscous bath coated 

 with mud. The elk has a great deal of 

 natural curiosity, and I have seen instances 

 of it to an extraordinary degree where they 

 have been but little hunted or alarmed. 

 My friend Phillips of Washington, who 

 was with me, will vouch for the veracity 

 of this story, which I give as an example. 

 We were wandering along the top of the 

 mountain, some nine thousand feet up, 

 trying to stalk some elk, not to shoot them, 

 but to photograph them. We jumped a 

 small band of bulls numbering about six- 

 teen. They trotted slowly off, stopping to 

 look back frequently, until all but two 

 large bulls had disappeared. These walked 

 slowly back to within fifty yards of where 

 we were standing, and stopped, facing us. 

 It was truly one of the most charming 

 sights one could have wished for, to have 

 those graceful, sleek creatures almost close 

 enough to caress. Presently, with a defi- 

 ant snort, and with a succession of short 

 barks, they would move away and come 



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