4°4 



RECREA TION. 



the utmost care to keep out of sight 

 myself, as I knew perfectly well that 

 the first false move would send the 

 antelope out of sight in a jiffy. 



They kept advancing until their 

 leader was within ioo yards of me. I 

 had waved my flag for the last time 

 and lay perfectly quiet, waiting to see 

 how close the band would come. I 

 was prepared, however, to fire the in- 

 stant they showed any sign of break- 

 ing away. As I watched the leader 

 through the bunch of sage brush, I 

 could see him straining his eyes in a 

 vain endeavor to catch a glimpse of 

 anything wrong. His ears were thrown 

 forward to take in the slightest 

 sound, and his nostrils distended to 

 discover some taint in the air which 

 would disclose the presence of an en- 

 emy. He stood in this position for a 

 few moments and then, impelled by 

 "his curiosity, again moved toward my 

 hiding place. He came within 50 

 yards and stopped once more. 



His broad chest offered a beautiful 

 mark. I did not wait for him to give 

 me a side shot, but, sighting my rifle 

 across my knees, fired. Without 

 ' waiting to note the effect of my shot I 

 threw down the lever of my Winches- 

 ter and brought it back with a snap, at 



the same time springing to my feet. 

 The buck had received a mortal 

 wound but was making off slowly in 

 the direction the rest of the bunch had 

 taken. A second time I fired, the ball 

 striking him just back of the shoulder 

 and knocking him down. As he lay 

 dying, with his big black eyes looking 

 up into mine, I felt almost as if I had 

 committed murder. My wife, hear- 

 ing the shots, came out to meet me. 

 After skinning my prong horn I 

 packed the head and as much meat as 

 we could carry on our horses and 

 turned homeward. 



I have hunted all over the United 

 States and have killed a great many 

 deer. Of course I had heard of buck 

 ague or buck fever, but I never con- 

 tracted the disease until I lay under 

 the sage brush watching those ante- 

 lope. As they came closer and closer 

 to me, symptoms of that distressing 

 malady made themselves evident, and 

 it was with the greatest difficulty 

 I could steady my nerves enough to 

 make a reasonably sure shot. Flag- 

 ging or decoying antelope is the finest 

 sport in the West, and if those who are 

 fortunate enough to get into an ante- 

 lope country will try the flag I am 

 sure they will agree with me. 



PHOTO BY L. A. HUFFMAN, MILES CITY, MONT. 



•CUTTING OUT THE BEEF CATTLE; OLD BUFFALO WALLOW IN THE FOREGROUND. 



