250 SPORT AND TRAVEL 



this part of America, nor would it be possible to 

 enforce the laws without the assistance of a very large 

 staff of officials ; for you can't prevent men from 

 shooting wild animals in a wild country where other- 

 wise no fresh meat is obtainable; and my sympathies 

 are all with the settlers in this matter, as long as they 

 are not wasteful. If the Yellowstone National Park 

 could be somewhat enlarged, so as to allow of a more 

 extended winter range for the deer and elk, all the 

 great game of North America, with the exception of 

 the bison (which apparently does not thrive there), 

 could be preserved for all time ; but outside the 

 limits of the Park, game is bound gradually to be- 

 come scarcer and scarcer in spite of laws for its 

 preservation. 



On November 3 the weather was cold and stormy, and 

 in the afternoon fine snow commenced to fall. There 

 are, or perhaps I ought rather to say, were, still a few 

 white-tailed deer surviving in this part of the country, 

 and I was very anxious to obtain the head of a fine 

 buck of this species, but scarcely thought it likely that 

 I would be able to do so, as these animals were said to 

 be not only very scarce but extraordinarily cunning, 

 having been educated up to the highest pitch of wari- 

 ness to which it is possible for a naturally shy animal 

 to attain by constant persecution at the hands of the 

 ranchmen living along the river. 



In Wyoming white-tailed deer live in the dense 

 scrub which grows in the cottonwood bottoms, along 



