FLAGGING 
them and came running, her face aglow as 
‘she said, 
“My! what was the matter? I thought 
we should lose him! He must have been 
watching me and did not see you.” 
That we gave me my cue, and thence- 
forth it was * our’’ woodchuck. On our 
way home, she called out to a neighbor as 
we passed, “‘ Mrs. M , come out and see 
what we shot.” 
Mollie is now an enthusiast and wants a 

AINA TE LOPE. 
183 
16 gauge Parker for a Christmas present. 
In years to come, she may, when showing 
her friends the skins of the deer and bears 
she shot, point to the woodchuck and say, 
“Mate, Oh yessituat 1s) the skinvof a lit- 
tle woodchuck Mr. S—— shot; we only 
keep it on account of a laughable incident 
connected with it.” However, at present 
occupying the most prominent place in the 
dining-room is the big skin of our wood- 
chuck. 

FLAGGING 
H. M. 
ikeRe Vee ochtyler, im December 
RECREATION, I, too, have had some experi- 
ence in flagging antelope, and found that 
it was not all dime novel talk, either. It can 
be done, for the antelope is an animal that 
at times lets his curiosity get the better of 
this horse sense. 
In the summer of 1882, while in Trinidad, 
Col., I concluded to join a government 
surveying party, managed by 2 well-known 
contractors, Mr. Ed. Bright, of Trinidad, 
and Gen. Sopris, son of ex-Mayor Sopris. 
of Denver, Col. Our outfit consisted of 2 
wagons, 6 burros and 12 men, including 2 
transit men. We had a big contract ex- 
tending over a large part of the state and 
most of the work was in the high and wild 
parts of the mountains. 
While going from one location to an- 
other everything was loaded into the 2 
wagons and the burros were driven; but 
when an out-of-the-way place was to be 
surveyed we would go into camp, load 
enough provisions on our 6 burros to last 
us a week or Io days, and strike out over 
the mountain trails. 
I was “ burro man” or packer on these 
side trips, and when getting ready to start 
and while toiling up the steep mountain 
sides I had my hands full; but as soon as we 
reached our work and struck camp, I had 
only to drop off the packs, hobble my 
burros, and enjoy myself with the rifle and 
rod, for I was also the hunter for the party. 
One day while traveling from one loca- 
tion to another in the South Park, Colo- 
rado, I saw a single antelope grazing about 
% of a mile away. I thought this a fine 
opportunity to find if an antelope would 
approach a waving flag. 
Slipping down from the wagon I told the 
driver to drive steadily on and I would try 
to get an antelope for supper. There was a 
prairie dog hole close to the wagon trail 
with considerable dirt piled up around it. 
I lay down behind this, and tied a red ban- 
danna handkerchief around the muzzle of 
my rifle. stood the gun upright on top of 
the dog hill and awaited developments. 
JAIN I EAL OP 18: 
ne. 
By this time the antelope had moved 
away nearly % a mile but still in plain sight, 
and in a few minutes, as soon as the wagon 
had left, he turned his attention to that red 
thing fluttering in the wind. He looked 
hard for some time, but finally could stand 
it no longer, and determined to get a nearer 
view, started at full speed, in a circle, ap- 
proaching me gradually. He suddenly 
pulled up short and again looked long, then 
started once more at top speed going back 
and forth many times, at each turn getting 
a little nearer. 
He finally got to what I thought about 
400 yards, and I concluded that was close 
enough. 
While he was making one of his runs (he 
did not watch me while running) I quickly 
took the rifle down, slipped off the hand- 
kerchief, set the sight for 400 yards, got 
2 extra cartridges into my left hand, and 
resting the muzzle across the dog hill, 
waited for him to stop. Then J took de- 
liberate aim at his shoulder awd let go. 
Bang! and he was 20 feet in the air, it 
seemed to me. and then away! Slipping in 
another cartridge I plowed up the dirt 
right under his nose as he ran, which 
turned him in the opposite direction, and 
once more my .40-70 kicked up the dust 
near him—mighty near him—but that was 
all. 
In an instant I was standing alone in the 
midst of that great plain with nothing but 
a long streak of yellowish antelope in the 
distance, and my own lurid thoughts and a 
few muttered words that would not look 
well in print. 
I have never quite forgiven myself for 
having missed that first shot. for I had a 
fine Remington rifle, Hepburn model, 
single shot, 32 inch barrel, .40-70-330 
patched bullet, with good sights. I should 
have been able to touch a vital spot, especi- 
ally as I had a dead rest on the pile of dirt. 
However. I proved that an antelope can 
be successfully flagged, even if we did have 
only plain bacon and beans for supper that 
night. 
