II 



SPORT IN THE GOLD RANGE 



AFTER two days' travelling along dusty but well-kept 

 roads from the small village of Vernon, British Columbia, 

 at dusk of an evening early in November, 1900, our pack-train 

 reached Cherry Creek. Here the ranch of my guide, Dell 

 Thomas, was situated, among the high, timbered mountains 

 of the Gold Range. The next day, while Dell was arranging 

 some details about his affairs before starting with me on our 

 proposed trip to Sugar Lake after goats, his father and I 

 rode out from the ranch-house on a deer-hunt, accompanied 

 by his favorite hunting-dog — a collie. We trotted our horses 

 along the partially settled valley of the creek for several miles, 

 and then climbed up along a cattle - trail through the pines 

 to some bunch-grass slopes, where we expected to find the 

 blacktail deer at this season of the year. 



Several hours later, while picking our way along the grassy 

 slopes of a steep-side canon, we made out four does strung in 

 a line and gazing at us from about two hundred yards farther 

 up the caflon. As fresh meat was needed at the ranch-house, 

 I dismounted and fired my .30-. 40 Winchester at the nearest of 

 them, whereupon all four deer bounded down the slope. How- 

 ever, before they disappeared among the pines, we noticed that 

 one was evidently hard hit and struggling desperately to keep 

 up with its companions. At a signal from Thomas the eager 

 collie started down the slope in the w^ake of the crippled deer, 

 and for half an hour we sat in our saddles and listened to the 



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