THE CHASE. 373 
ing the Elk, the hunter must be particularly cautious not to 
stumble upon a deer, while his attention is intently devoted to 
another ; many are lost in this way. A thick bunch of willows, 
or tall bottom grass, may be selected as the object to cover his 
approach. Such is a most likely place for an Elk to make his 
bed, and he may spring up before you not ten feet away, when a 
single bound may take him beyond view, even if you see him at 
all. Jf it is an old buck a loud whistle of alarm may be sounded, 
but without this, his flight will alarm the whole band, and your 
sport is probably up for the day. 
When started, the Elk does not, like the moose and the car- 
ibou, push right away, without a pause and swiftly ; but most 
likely after running a few hundred yards, the whole band will 
stop on some commanding elevation to see what is the matter. 
If he does not see his enemy, as he probably will not, still he is 
not quite happy, and will not delay till he has placed many miles 
between him and the hunter. If a lone animal is thus started 
from his bed of willows or high grass, before he sees the pursuer, 
he is very likely to stop for a moment or two after making a few 
leaps, and that momentary pause has been the opportunity for 
many a fatal shot, which has laid low the head which bore mag- 
nificent antlers. 
The Elk is often found among the foot hills of the mountains, 
and in very broken, rocky ground. This is the most killing 
ground, I mean for the hunter to pursue him in, for you must 
leave your horse below and clamber through on foot, when you 
are liable to come upon a lone Elk suddenly, and close before 
you, when a quick shot settles the matter; or if you see one on 
considerably higher or lower ground, one hundred yards or more 
away, with a favorable wind, he may stand several shots, if your 
bad shooting allows it, before he will take serious alarm and 
make off. 
It is not easy to determine the highest altitude of the range of 
the Elk, but it is probable that they go to the utmost of the tim- 
ber line. I have found their tracks more than ten thousand feet 
above the sea level, on the Sierra Madre Mountains. Whether 
those that frequent these high altitudes ever visit the plains, or 
abide permanently in the mountains, I have no means of deter- 
mining. When the severe winter sets in they descend into the 
basins and cafions, where the mountain streams have their sources, 
and where they find grass beneath the snow, and in these pockets 
in the mountains the hunter seeks them, keeping on the higher 
