Hunting American Big Game 



antlers, they will come back to the vicin- 

 ity of the bands of cows. I have seen 

 bulls as late as Sept. 4 peaceably feeding 

 or resting among the bands of cows. Usu- 

 ally, in a band of fifty cows there would 

 be three or four males, including, possibly, 

 one or two spike-bulls.* I have seen 

 these spike-bulls in the velvet as late as 

 Sept. 4, though by that time the older 

 bulls had mostly rubbed the velvet off. A 

 little later, about Sept. 7, the bulls begin 

 to challenge each other, — in hunting par- 

 lance, whistling. This, on a clear, frosty 

 night, is sometimes extremely melodious, 

 and it is one of the most impossible sounds 

 to imitate. Hunting elk, if I may be par- 

 doned for saying it, I do not consider very 

 exciting sport to a man thoroughly versed 

 in the woods. They are far too noble an 

 animal to kill unnecessarily ; and if one 

 hunts them in September, when they are 

 whistling, it is a very easy matter, guided 

 by the sound, to stalk them successfully. 



Elk, like the rest of the deer family, are 

 excessively fond of saline matter. Their 

 trails may be seen leading from every di- 

 rection to the great alkaline licks that 

 abound in certain parts of their mountain 



* A spil<e-bull is a young elk carrying his first or dag antlers. 

 These are single-tined, though in rare instances they are bifurcated. 



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