290 © THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 
“T’ve seen bunches of them coming in the fall that at a distance 
I have taken for a bunch of sheep,” said Mr. Barry. 
“About how many antelope a you think there are in the country?” 
I asked him. 
“Well, it’s pretty hard to estimate the exact number, but if you 
turned a bunch of 10,000 sheep loose and scattered them you never 
would find them again.” 
“Then you think there are at least 10,000 antelope in Lake and 
Harney Counties?” I asked him. 
“Yes,” he answered, “J think 10,000 would be a very conservative 
estimate. 
“They are scattered at this time of the year, but in the fall, when 
they collect in bunches, I think I could show and count 10,000 for you 
very easily. Antelope are bigger fools when it comes to following a 
leader than sheep are; if the leader of the bunch passes a certain place 
the others will follow and it is almost impossible to turn them, and,” 
he continued, “I can get just as near an antelope with the slowest 
horse on the place as I can when riding the swiftest; they seem to 
know just about how far to keep ahead of a man on a horse. 
“T never have time to bother with them, and while I guess there 
are a few killed in violation of the law, I don’t think the number is very 
large.” 
I have no reason in the world to doubt Mr. Barry’s statements, 
and judging from the tameness of the sage hens about his place, I 
don’t think he hunts a great deal. Mr. Barry had no reason for exag- 
gerating the numbers of antelope in his estimate, and I think his word 
can be relied upon, and a man living in the country as long as he has 
certainly .ught to know. 
The next morning he gave us saddle horses, which, by the way, 
he wouldn’t charge a cent for, and we rode to a water hole about five 
miles from his place. He was busy haying and was unable to accom- 
pany us, but we found the hole all right and, leaving our horses tied 
to some juniper trees, we watched the hole. In the short time we were 
there we saw 10 or 12 antelope come in for water, and there is no 
telling just how many more wemight have counted had we stayed 
longer. 
They are very inquisitive creatures; one old buck in particular 
followed us at a distance for quite a way. 
And sage hens—I had heard of places where you could kill them 
with rocks, but never saw them thick enough until this trip. The 
desert is full of them; they feed with Mr. Barry’s chickens and were 
thick around the car, where we threw out a few scraps of bread. 
When we were ready to go Mr. Ramsby was throwing some stuff out 
of the car, among which was a dry, hard loaf of bread. He tossed it 
over his shoulder and actually hit a large sage hen with it. The bird 
squawked and dodged into the sage brush. Although we didn’t try it, 
I am confident a man could kill them with rocks or a long club. When 
shot at they would just run or fly 15 or 20 feet. We noticed more 
large birds in the bunches we saw out there than we saw nearer Lake- - 
view. Mr. Barry said this was because there were fewer birds killed 
and the birds had a better chance to get larger and older. All sage 
hen hunters when they flush a bunch of the birds pick the smallest 
ones, because they are younger and better eating than the old ones. 
All the sportsmen of Lakeview have the same ideas as to the 
numbers of antelope in Lake County and they: think it is unfair to 
them that the season is closed in Oregon, while just across the state 
