1 62 Deer and Antelope of North America 



I was sure the herd would not stop for some 

 miles, and accordingly I resumed my chase of the 

 single bull. He walked for certainly three miles 

 before he again halted, and I was then half a mile 

 behind him. On this occasion he struck a small 

 belt of woodland and began to travel to and fro 

 through it, probably with an idea of lying down. 

 I was able to get up fairly close by crawling on 

 all fours through the snow for part of the dis- 

 tance; but just as I was about to fire he moved 

 slightly, and though my shot hit him, it went a 

 little too far back. He plunged over the hill 

 crest and was off at a gallop, and after running 

 forward and failing to overtake him in the first 

 rush, I sat down to consider matters. The snow 

 had begun to melt under the sun, and my knees 

 and the lower parts of my sleeves were wet from 

 my crawl, and I. was tired and hungry and very 

 angry at having failed to kill the wapiti. It was, 

 however, early in the afternoon, and I thought 

 that if I let the wapiti alone for an hour, he would 

 lie down, and then grow stiff and reluctant to get 

 up ; while in the snow I was sure I could easily 

 follow his tracks. Therefore I ate my lunch and 

 then swallowed some mouthfuls of snow in lieu 

 of drinking. 



An hour afterward I took up the trail. It was 

 evident the bull was hard hit, but even after he 

 had changed his plunging gallop for a trot he 



