222 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Oct 18, 1883. 



A LOAD OF MEA'l. 

 r T , IIE aim Was just shewing his face above the eastern 

 -*- horizon, and all the broad valley was Hooded with yellow 

 light. Behind each little bunch of sage brush, even though 

 it was only a few inches in height, lay a long shadow, while 

 those of the larger biislies were broad and extended as if 

 cast by great trees. Down nn the prairie toward the Muddy, 

 a "band of antelope -were feeding, undisturbed by the pros- 

 irnity of the ranch, from whose door Ihey were distant less 

 than a rifle shot. The hei s bad descended from their perches, 

 nnd were picking about the stable door, or squabbling with the 

 blackbirds overall elk leg, lying on the grass near the corner of 

 the house, from which the meat had all been cut. Down in 

 the buck pen the rams stood by the. bars, waiting for them to 

 he let down, so that they might start for the hills. Far off, 

 on the mountain side, were a cluster of dark objects in rapid 

 motion — the horses— and behind them the herder, dash- 

 ing from side to side on his fleet pony, and urging on the 

 hand toward the corral. Soon the door of the house opened, 

 and one after another, disheveled individuals appeared, went 

 through their ablutions, and re-entered the house. The band 

 of horses came thundering along over the prairie, and 

 crowded into the corral. The bars were put up, and the 

 herder unsaddled and went in to get his breakfast. 



Two of the hoys had been ordered by the boss to go hunt- 

 ing, for the ranch was out of meat. As soon as breakfast 

 was over. Grizzly Jake and the Scout went down to the 

 corral, and roping the Bell mare and Old Roaney, saddled Up 

 and started for the hills. Bell is a beautiful brown Ameri- 

 can mate, swift as the wind and gentle as a dog. She delights 

 in hunting above everything, You cau leave heron a hill- 

 side and go off and hunt for hours, and on your return she 

 will be found quietly feeding just where you left her. If 

 you ride suddenly on game and jump otf to shoot, she 

 watches the effect of your shot with the greatest interest, 

 and she }Mls been known to run away with her rider, and 

 not slop until she had carried him into the very midst of a 

 herd of fleeing elk. Although she takes such pleasures in 

 the ehase. she is not without certain feminine foibles. For 

 example, if you have killed an antelope or a deer and ride 

 her up to it, she will pretend to feel the greatest alarm, and 

 Will snort and curb her neck as if she had never smelleel 

 blood before. But it you pay no attentiouto this little affecta- 

 tion, she goes to feeding, and when you have butchered and 

 lead her up to the meat to lift it on her back, she pays no 

 more attention to it than if it were a saddle. She will carry 

 an elk into camp with the greatest ease, and she rarely goes 

 hunting without returning with a load of meat. Roaney is, 

 as her name implies, roan in color. She is an easy-riding 

 mare, old enough to vote, and grave and dignified as. becomes 

 the mother of many colts. She, too, is a good hunting horse, 

 steady and careful, and always willing to carry her load of 

 meat. 



There is a trail up the mountain side behind the house, 

 which is the shortest way into the hills, but as the men had 

 been chopping there for several days, it was thought better 

 to keep along the foot of the hills for four or five miles as 

 far as the point of the mountain, where another trail ascends 

 by a gradual slope up to the rolling plateau two thousand 

 feet above the vailey. from which rise again higher peaks of 

 rough granite. So the men started off north, keeping pretty 

 well away from the hills, so as to avoid the steep ridges 

 which run down to the valley, and arc strewn with great 

 blocks of stone which in past ages have tumbled down 

 from the cliffs above. As they crossed the upper end of the 

 broad hay meadow which stretches up from the blue lake on 

 whose surface rode gicat rafts of ducks, half a dozen Wil- 

 son's snipe were startled from among the short grass by the 

 heavy tread of the horses, and darted away, uttering, as they 

 flew,' their curious, squeaking cry of alarm. Up toward the 

 head of tho vallej the riders' eyes caught the distant forms 

 of fifteen or twenty antelopes which were there feeding on 

 the tender grass. They are never shot at so close 

 to the house, and so manifest no alarm at the approach 

 of the horsemen, only walking up to the top of 

 the bluff and scrutinizing them as they pass by. Down at 

 the edges of each little valley which they crossed, broods of 

 sage hens were encountered, and sometimes, if the horses 

 walked into their vety midst, two or three of them took to 

 flight lather than wait to be stepped on. Usually, however, 

 they merely stalked slowly to one side and paid no atten- 

 tion whatever to men or horses. They are generally ex- 

 tremely tame and unsuspicious, and often a brood will walk 

 along unconcernedly in front of a man who is shooting at 

 them with rifle or pistol until half their number have fallen. 

 The jack rabbits, too, are very tame here, and hop off very 

 deliberately if the horses disturb them. Or sometimes scramble 

 quickly to one side a few feet and then crouch flat on Die 

 ground, from which their gray backs can scarcely be dis- 

 tinguished. They are extremely abundant inthisvalle, 

 fact which is, in part, accounted for by the almost entire 

 absence of wolves, which prey very largely on rabbits. It 

 will be observed throughout the West that where coyotes and 

 gray wolves are few in number, jack rabbits and cotton tails 

 are abundant, and conversely, where rabbits are seldom seen 

 Wplves are numerous. 



Keeping along the foot of the mountain, and crossing the 

 dozen little willow-fringed streams of clear water which flow 

 down from the heights, the two hunters ascended the low 

 m e which runs out from the hills, and. turning into a nar- 

 row ravine, look a game trail leading into the bills. PreSB 



tracks of elk and antelope indicated that many animals had 

 followed this same route within a day, and indeed, even as 

 they rode along, the men saw a number of antelope feeding 

 on the bald hills on either side of them. Higher iqi in the 

 mountain, however, they fell sure of fiudiug the elk, which 

 was the game they desired. The trail was an easy one, as 

 game trails often are, and wound along the hillside, some- 

 times dipping down to the bottom of the ravine and follow- 

 ing the dry stream bed, and at others, when the rocky walls 

 drew too close together and the watercourse was too rock)' to 

 be easily traversed, rising and leading over broken ridges, 

 whose sides and summits were rough with angular masses 

 of granite or quartz or trachyte. Here and there at the bot- 

 tom of the ravine are little groves of quaking aspens. The 

 frosty nights of early autumn have painted their foliage 

 golden and brown, and the silvery trunks of trees and sap 

 lings shine out white among the ripened leaves. Sometimes 

 the dark green branches of pines and spruces rise among the 

 paler deciduous trees in striking contrast with them. Little 

 patches of mountain maple show their brilliant red leaves 

 along the brown hillside and serve to brighten the scene. In 

 the quaking aspen groves the elk like to feed, and iu these 

 shady spots, too, they lie at mid-day; for often there are 

 springs and pools where they may quench their thirst and in 

 which the bulls wallow, emerging with their hides thor- 

 oughly besmeared with a thick coating of black mud. 



The sun was high in the heavens when the hunters reached 

 a little spring flowing from a grassy hillside, high among 

 the mountains. The damp ground supported a thick growth 

 of muss, and here the hunters hailed and removing the 

 saddles from their animals, turned them out to graze on the 

 rank herbage. 



It is a question as to whether, in the Rocky Mountains, 

 one can hunt more satisfactorily on foot or on horseback. 

 Every experienced hunter knows well that game is more 

 likely to be seen and to be successfully approached by a foot 

 traveler, and that so far as the mere matter of securing meat 

 is concerned, a horse is a decided disadvantage. Bui there 

 are other points to be considered. If game is scarce the 

 extent of territory to be covered is a decidedly important 

 factor in one's hunting, and a horse becomes at once very 

 useful. Then, too, after the animal has been secured it. is 

 almost impossible to transport it to camp without a horse. 

 The hams of an antelope can.it is true, be carried easily 

 enough, but when it comes to those of an elk, or even 

 one of them, the complexion of affairs is changed Besides 

 that, in these days of game scarcity, thoughtful men do not 

 like to kill a deer or an elk and carry away merely the hams. 

 To say nothing of the violation of the laws which such an 

 act— in many of the States and Territories— would be. it 

 is repugnant to the feelings of many men to waste meat in 

 this fashion. A sentiment against the unnecessary killing of 

 game is growing up in the West, especially among stockmen, 

 and those who are permanently settled in the country These 

 men are beginning to realize that while they can supply their 

 ranches and camps with wild meat they are putting a certain 

 amount of absolute cash in their pockets: that every time 

 they bring in an elk, it saves them a steer, aud whenever an 

 antelope or a deer is hung up they are adding a fat wether to 

 the flock. Now, as a fat steer is worth forty-five dollars, 

 and a marketable sheep five dollars, it is evident that in a 

 region where game is abundant it may save to the ranchman 

 a considerable outlay for meat during the year, and on many 

 of the stock farms of the West the shrewd owners realize 

 this and .n.ilo what t.he.\ can to prevent the wanton slaughter 

 of the game in their vicinity. It is, however, a difficult 

 matter in a country so thinly peopled as is the Far West, and 

 where the means of communication are so slow as they are 

 there, to do much to prevent this wanton and useless killing. 

 Often the most that can lie done is to request hunters not to 

 shoot in the. vicinity of the ranch. The stockman is always 

 busy, and he can scarcely be expected to leave his work and 

 attempt to arrest men who are killing game for their hides 

 or for the mere excitement of the slaughter. Still there 

 Certainly is a sentiment, the growthof whichmay be noticed 

 from year to year, in favor of more active steps in the way 

 of protecting the game, aud on the increase of this feeling 

 depends the length of time which shall elapse befoiethe elk, 

 the deer and the antelope shall wholly disappear before the 

 ever increasing herds of horses, cows and sheep. 



Jake and the Scout, while all this is being said, had un- 

 saddled, and started off over the rolling prairie toward the 

 timber-crowned ridge which formed the southern bonndary 

 ot the open park i. whu.I: the spang UW. Half i mile to 

 the eastward the mountains fall off sharply to the valley 

 fiom which they had come, and the ranch was not more than 

 two miles audabalf from where they were, all tugl 

 reach this point they had traveled eight or ten. Crossing 

 the ridge, they found themselves in a rough, broken country, 

 almosfon the'edge of the hills. Deep, narrow ravines, run- 

 ning down toward the valley at right angles to the course 

 they were pursuing, were crossed, one alter another, anil 

 everywhere were abundant ' 'sign" of elk. Some of the tracks 

 were old, dating back to the spring, when the ground was 

 soft, and the hoofs had sunk deep into the rnud ; o 

 been made iu the late summer, and had perhaps been exposed 

 only to some slight drizzle of rain; in others, still more re- 

 cent, the wind had stirred the dust so that the footprint 

 looked dull, while many were bright and glistening, show- 

 in" that the animal hael passed along .ally a short time be- 

 fore. The experienced eyes of the hunters took in all these 



indications of the presence of game, and as each ridge was 

 reached, a pause was made, and every portion of the ravine, 

 before them carefully looked over before they showed them- 

 selves above the hill. ThegTeat masses of red granite, and 

 the scattering growth of pines, and quaking aspens, formed 

 excellent, cover, but erne that required most careful inspec- 

 tion at short intervals. Many of the ravines contained springs 

 and tiny brooklets, which would prove attractive to the 

 game. For some time nothing was seen, and no sound save 

 the crunching of the feet upon the hard gravel was heard. 

 Now and then a magpie or a meat-hawk would fly from 

 some tree toward which the men were walking, but without 

 uttering their usual harsh cries. The Clark's crows, so abun- 

 dant; in these mountains, were neither seen nor heard. 



More than two miles had been traversed in this way, the 

 men walking one behind the other, seldom speaking, and 

 when they did so, in subdued tones. A very fresh trail, 

 made by eight or ten elk, was just before them, and this trail 

 was carefully lollowed. Sometimes the individuals of the 

 baud w ould scatter to feed here and there on the shoots of 

 erass growing: among the rocks, or to crop the tender twigs 

 of the yOullg aspens, but they did not loiter much and it was 

 apparent that the bull which had charge of the little com- 

 pany w-as driving them along somewhat faster than a man 

 would Walk, The tracks showed pretty conclusively that 

 they had been made within a few hours — since sur/rise, iu 

 fact — and the hunters hoped to come up with the game, while 

 they were lying down at noon or soon after. Tin--, of 

 course, is the worst time of the day at which to approach a 

 wild animal, for it has then nothing to do but to watch for 

 the approach of its enemies. The hunters trusted, however, 

 to their eyes to enable them to locate their game before it saw 

 them. In this confielence they were disappointed. They 

 had descended into a valley somewhat wider than most 

 of those that they had crossed, and were approaching the 

 little watercourse which flowed down its midst. Along 

 this stream bed grew a belt of tall pines only about thirty 

 feet iu width, and beyond these could be distinguished a 

 growth of dead standing timber with young pines, but three 

 or four feet in height, growing among it. As the hunters 

 approached the belt of green timber a stick was heard to 

 crack just beyond it, and at the same time something was 

 seen indistinctly ro move. An instant later an elk showed 

 itself to Grizzly, who was a little to the right of and behind 

 his companion. Without a second's delay his rifle was at 

 his shoulder ami a moment later the report echoed among the 

 rocks and through the. trees, and the elk, its lungs pierced 

 by the hall, hobbled painfully off a hundred yards and fell 

 among some low junipers. Meanwhile the Scout had dashed 

 through the belt of timber, and saw amoug the dead trees 

 beyond half a dozen more elk. The bull with a cow and a 

 calf were directly iu front of him running to the left, two 

 more cows were a little further off and lo the right, wlu'le 

 still fuither iu that direction were three or four other COWS 

 and yearlings. At the sound of Jake's gun the startled ani- 

 mals dashed here and there in wild confusion, and as they 

 paused to look for the danger the Scout caught the fore part 

 of the bull's shoulder through a narrow opening between two 

 trees. The heavy rifle was pitched lo the shoulder and the 

 eye glancing along the barrel caught the tip of the white 

 sight in the notch, and at the report of the gun the splendid 

 bull fell as though smitten by a boll, of lightning. His 

 superb head of horns had caused his death. Bui it was 

 necessary that a cow should be killed, because at this season 

 of the year the bulls are not good to eat, So slipping in 

 another cartridge the Scout fired at a fat cow that was 

 dashing along through the low brush aud over the down. 

 timbl r at a rate that would soon have carried her out of gun- 

 shot. The ball told, and the cow, after going a short dis- 

 tance, stopped with a broken shoulder. Grizzly Jake, the 

 younger man of the two, would have continued to shoot at 

 the remaining elk, but Scout called to him to cease firing, 

 for already more meat had been killed than they could pack 

 down from I lie hills id, a single load. As they walked up 

 toward where the crippled cow stood she started otf across 

 the open valley, and it-was evident that the shot which 

 broke her shoulder had not gone through the lungs. She- 

 had been running almost directly away when it was fired, 

 aud Scout, anxious to avoid shooting her in the hams, had 

 fired BO far to the right that flic ball laid merely fractured 

 the right shoulder without touching lungs or heart. As she 

 was crossing the open, therefore, and running diagonally 

 from them, Scout tired another shot which pierced her 

 lungs, and she fell prone on the ground. 



After the game Had been bled, Jake started back for the 

 horse,, while to Scemt remained the more laborious task of 

 butchering and cutting up the elk and securing the head and 

 antlersof the bull. This work occupied considerable time, and, 

 when it was over, the old man sat him down in the shade of 

 a little pine, and drawing from his pocket his well-browned 

 pipe per fumed the air with fragrant tobacco and awaited the 

 return of his comrade. It w as very still. No breeze stir. -. 1 

 ih,, sprays of the pine and even tin: leaves of the aspens hung 

 motionless. Tbahot September >am looked fiercely down 

 out of the cloudless sky and the warm air above the red 

 granite rocks quivered and gave a dancing motion to objects 

 seen through it. A little opening in the trees gave a view of 

 the broad valley where the ranch stood, a wideexpa, 

 gray, and brown, and yellow, marked here and there with 

 irregular lines of vivid green showing the course of tin- little 

 brooks. The lakes, as blue as the sky which they reflected. 



