Hunting American Big Game 



back again, repeating these manoeuvres 

 over and over again, until we got tired of 

 trying to look like a brace of marble posts, 

 and sat down. We thought this would 

 frighten them, but it did not ; and once I 

 thought they were going to proceed from 

 curiosity to more offensive operations, so 

 close did they come to us. Even my 

 caterwauling, as my friend unfeelingly 

 characterized my attempt to imitate their 

 challenges, did not seem to alarm them ; 

 and not until a full half-hour had elapsed 

 did this pair of worthies jog off. 



Elk are vigorous fighters ; and while it 

 seems but seldom that their combats ter- 

 minate fatally, the broken points of their 

 antlers, and their scarred and bruised bod- 

 ies, bear testimony to the severity of their 

 encounters. A full-grown elk stands about 

 sixteen hands high, is about eight feet two 

 inches long from nose to tip of tail, and 

 with a girth around the chest of about six 

 feet. 



It was on the head of Wind River that 

 I secured my largest head. The regular- 

 ity of the points was somewhat marred, as 

 the bull had evidently been fighting only 

 a short time before I killed him. These 

 horns were not very massive ; but the 

 length, measured along the outside curve, 



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