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THE OUTFIT 



Photo by A. Linton 



AN ELK HUNT IN THE BIG HORNS 



By RICHARD MADISON 



E started at eleven 

 o'clock, one morning 

 in December, from 

 a busy little town in 

 central Wyoming, 

 which was at that 

 time a railroad ter- 

 minus. There were 

 four of us in the 

 party, and our des- 

 tination was to be a 

 certain point in the 

 Big Horn Moun- 

 tains above Houch's 

 Ranch. We were to pass through the 

 famous Hole-in-the-Wall on the way, 

 and this fact added interest to the trip 

 for me, though the primary one, an elk 

 hunt, was incentive enough for me to 

 ride the one hundred miles to the Big 

 Horns and camp out in a Wyoming 

 winter and risk getting snowed in. 

 Our outfit consisted of two wagons, 



one with a canvas cover, three teams 

 and three saddle ponies ; three of us 

 were armed with .30-. 30 Winchesters 

 and the other with a .303 Savage. 



Like almost every other day in Wy- 

 oming, the sun was shining bright and 

 we did not notice the dry cold at all. 

 Every one was in fine spirits (especially 

 Marshall). Walker drove the front 

 wagon and Marshall rode with him. 

 Walker and Marshall were old-time 

 hunters ; they had hunted all over the 

 West, furnishing meat to the construc- 

 tion gangs who built the "Pacifies" and 

 other roads. Like all men of their class, 

 they were never lost on the prairie or 

 in the mountains, but were as much at 

 home there as the Indian, and just as 

 keen of sight and probably better rifle 

 shots. 



The second wagon, with the saddle 

 ponies following, carried Jeff and my- 

 self. Jeff had been a county officer back 



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