u8 



RECREA TION. 



bution to offer. Last fall while riding on 

 the upland, near Tower creek, he heard a 

 great noise of conflict, rattling antlers, 

 crashing branches, etc.; and on drawing 

 near he saw 3 pairs of bull elk fighting. 

 Two pairs were fencing in a harmless way, 

 but the other pair were " right into it for 

 blood; " i.e., it was evidently a fight to a 

 finish and no quarter. 



They were so engrossed he could have 

 touched them; but he left them to settle it 

 among themselves. 



Woody told of another affair. Not long 

 ago he came on a scrubby, open place, of 

 about 5 acres, which was everywhere rooted 

 up, trampled down and ploughed over by a 



reach the lush grass, with which he was sur- 

 rounded, told a sad tale of prolonged and 

 dreadful suffering. 



Other mountain men told tales that 

 showed it is a common thing for stags to 

 be killed in these duels; and it seems death 

 usually results from one having his neck 

 broken, or else from inadvertently expos- 

 ing his flank to a single thrust from his ad- 

 versary's antlers. 



While exploring a little ravine, yesterday, 

 I found a magnificent pair of antlers, hid- 

 den under a rock. I brought them to camp, 

 and found them no light burden. They 

 were the largest I have ever handled; 



THE HORNS I FOUND. 



pair of fighting elk. Small trees were 

 broken off, huge logs and rocks displaced 

 or broken and 2 Durham bulls could not 

 have made more havoc. And there, lying 

 prone in the middle of the battlefield was 

 the vanquished one; his neck broken and 

 his flank ripped open. Probably the latter 

 was the result of the conqueror's final 

 thrust. 



The vanquished was a large bull, but ap- 

 parently he had met a larger. 



A. A. A. said that near his ranch he once 

 found 2 large elk, with interlocked antlers. 

 Both were dead, and there was abundant 

 evidence of a prolonged and desperate 

 fight. One bull's neck was broken, but the 

 other, unable to free himself from his vic- 

 tim, had died of starvation. The indica- 

 tions of the unhappy victor's struggles to 



though I think I have seen larger in muse- 

 ums. 



Though very large these horns had but 

 the ordinary number of points, and were 

 without palmations or peculiar feature, ex- 

 cepting their absolute symmetry. 



This last is considered of prime impor- 

 tance, among hunters, though I never 

 could see any reason why it should be. 



While we were examining these antlers 

 Amos Hague, the guide, came up and said: 

 " Hello! you've got my antlers. You 

 found them at such a place " (describing 

 the exact spot). " I can tell you their 

 whole history. A year ago the elk that 

 grew them wintered in this barnyard, with 

 about 50 others. He was not by any means 

 the largest bull in the bunch, but he had the 

 finest antlers; and I says to myself if I can 



