6 4 



RECREA TION. 



" WITHIN AN HOUR I HAD AN ELK." 



one I saw, a spike buck, I fired at and it 

 disappeared through the trees. I moved 

 along to get a better view of the game, 

 and presently saw the buck cross an 

 opening, just ahead of where it had dis- 

 appeared. I fired a second shot, and 

 not seeing it drop began to distrust my 

 marksmanship, or to think there was 

 something wrong with the sights of the 

 rifle, which I had not used before for 

 two years. Just then out jumped the elk 

 again, some forty yards farther down the 

 draw. I fired a third time and he 

 dropped. Upon examining the ground 

 I found that there were three dead ani- 

 mals, all spike bucks exactly alike, each 

 shot through the shoulders. Their simi- 

 larity accoLinted, in a measure, for my 

 .mistake. I atoned, so far as I could, for 

 this useless slaughter, by refraining from 

 killing any more elk that trip, confining 

 my attention thereafter to the antelope, 

 which were rather plentiful at no great 

 distance from camp. This to my mind 

 is the finest sport of all. One can exer- 

 cise skill in stalking, if he cares to do so, 

 or he may elect to try his marksmanship 

 at long range. Of this he will have un- 

 limited opportunities, and may use up 

 many a box of shells and yet do little 

 damage to the game, or waste much 

 meat. 



The old hunter, in spite of his cun- 

 ning, is often no match for the luck 

 which seems always to be the portion of 

 the tyro. Of this J recall an instance 

 where a harum-scarum lad, who had 

 never before seen a wild beast larger 

 than a rabbit, was the first to bring meat 

 into camp; while his uncle, a seasoned 

 hunter, tramped unsuccessfully over the 

 mountains for days, and finally shot a 

 bear that the nephew saw first and 

 pointed out to him. This youth had, a 

 day or two before, seen another bear, at 

 which he immediately fired, then threw 

 his hat at the beast, which was quite 

 close. Failing to stop it in this manner, 

 he sought, I suppose, to frighten the 

 creature to death by chasing it down 

 the mountain side, all the while howling 

 like a Chinese warrior. 



The hunter is usually greatly over- 

 charged for the horses he hires. To be 

 asked to pay two or three times as much 

 for a month's use of a thing as the thing 

 itself is worth, when the damage is slight, 

 or nothing at all, is preposterous. The 

 average plains pony can be bought for 

 $10 to $25, and to ask more than $5 a 

 month hire, for him, is clearly exorbi- 

 tant. Yet your guide will be quite 

 likely to try to stipulate for a dollar a 

 day for each horse he furnishes to the 



