TWO OR MORE HUNTING IN COMPANY. 237 



All such hunting on the plains must, however be 

 done upon horseback. 



The use of a horse in general still-hunting is a 

 point upon which hunters differ. The truth of the 

 matter I take to be this: Wherever a saddle-horse 

 can be used to carry you to and from your hunting- 

 ground, to carry you from one point of it to another 

 and at the same time carry your game out, by all 

 means use one. For even then you will have all the 

 walking necessary for exercise, etc. And in general, 

 the more you can ride the more you can walk. 



But whether it will be worth while to remain in 

 the saddle while hunting is a vastly different matter. 

 In hunting antelope so much ground has often to be 

 traversed that a horse is almost a necessity. So some- 

 times with deer upon prairie and other open ground 

 of that nature. In such cases most hunters remain 

 in the saddle until they catch first sight of the game. 

 Then they dismount and proceed as is usual when 

 hunting upon foot. 



But others remain on horseback all the time and 

 shoot from the saddle or jump off and shoot quickly. 

 And this is what is really meant by hunting on horse- 

 back. Whether it is ever expedient to hunt antelope 

 in this way may be doubted. The shots are generally 

 so long that a horse would have to actually hold his 

 breath to allow you to take a fine enough aim. And 

 even by jumping off to shoot you would gain but 

 little if antelope were very wild, as a long running 

 shot would be about all you would get. 



It is now as hard to find antelope that do not know 

 exactly what a man on horseback means as it is to 

 find wild-geese that do not know what a man in a 

 boat means. Consequently the main reliance must be 



