SPORT IN THE GOLD RANGE 



sounds of the chase as they drifted up to us. Then my com- 

 panion, who had noticed a change in the tone of the barking, 

 stated that the doe at last had been pulled down, and we descend- 

 ed on foot into the depths of the canon. We eventually dis- 

 covered the dog sitting beside the carcass of the deer, which it 

 had pulled down and killed in the shallow water of the creek. 

 A bullet-hole through the shoulders, too far back to be fatal, 

 indicated my share in the chase, while several long gashes about 

 the neck and shoulders told of the short but violent struggle 

 between dog and deer. 



We cut up the game and carried it to the horses, then mount- 

 ed and rode to the crest of the mountain, which was thickly 

 covered with small spruces. Here we found snow under a 

 noisy crust, and although we hunted carefully on foot, and 

 (as indicated by tracks) jumped numerous blacktail, I saw^ only 

 one large buck. While stealing through a thicket of saplings I 

 spied the head, antlers, and large ears of this animal faintly 

 outlined through a network of small branches forty yards 

 distant. I calculated where the shoulders of the buck should 

 be, and fired. Running forward after the shot, we found quan- 

 tities of blood on the snow and immediately released the collie 

 on the trail. We followed the tracks of dog and buck down 

 to where the snow failed us, but did not see or hear anything 

 more of our canine companion during the rest of the day. 

 The next morning, when our pack-train left the ranch en route 

 for Sugar Lake, the dog had not yet appeared. The old man 

 did not seem at all worried, but remarked that it had probably 

 pulled down the wounded buck, and would wait beside the car- 

 cass until disgusted and then return to the ranch. 



During the morning we jogged along a desultory wagon-road, 

 and all the afternoon followed a Siwash trail paralleling the 

 banks of the swift-running Smallumaheen River, which flowed 

 out of Sugar Lake. Late in the afternoon found Dell and 

 me riding some distance ahead of the outfit through the thickets 



239 



