AFTER BIG-GAME IN WYOMING 221 



He had been lying guarding his harem down the hill 

 below him, and keeping the younger bull I had just 

 killed at a respectful distance. One stride would 

 take him out of sight down the hill ; this I knew. I 

 also knew that he carried a magnificent head, the best 

 I had seen that season. I was, therefore, overkeen 

 and jumpy. With eye glued on the broad yellow side 

 6 inches behind the shoulder, I fired a rapid right and 

 left, loaded and fired again as he staggered forward, 

 stumbled, and then fell, with a crash, stone-dead. 



My first shot I knew at the time that it was high 

 had just grazed the back, and was to all intents 

 and purposes a miss. Fortunately, a quick second 

 barrel had pierced his heart, and the last two shots 

 were really unnecessary. He carried a noble four- 

 teen-point head of 58 inches that now adorns the 

 house in which I write. Bob had correctly and 

 rapidly diagnosed the situation. Had I not killed the 

 smaller bull and run in at once, we had never seen his 

 lordly rival and master. 



One of the more exciting methods of elk -hunting 

 that I frequently practised was to run them on horse- 

 back. This could best be done in the rutting season, 

 when the bulls kept with large herds of cows in more 

 open ground. A good horse was absolutely necessary 

 for this work, and some judgment was also required 

 in riding cunning and choosing the ground. To run 

 a solitary bull was usually a hopeless task ; but where 

 they were with a large herd, and the ground was 

 favourable, a shot could often be obtained this way 

 better than by still-hunting. A large herd could, some- 

 how, never travel so quickly as the solitary animal, 

 and when going at speed the master stag of a herd 

 was, owing to his heavier weight, invariably last. 



