430 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Dec. 19, 1889. 



DAYS WITH THE ELK.P- 



THE ELK. 



THE elk is exceeded in size by only one species of deer; 

 that is the moose. But while the moose is long-legged , 

 short-necked and big-headed, the elk is as delicately pro- 

 portioned as the Virginia deer, and no more thrilling 

 sight can be imagined than a band of these animals trot- 

 ting swiftly and gracefully through a mountain park. 



The elk is nearly as tall as a small horse, but is more 

 light of limb and shorter coupled. Its speed is great, and 

 it takes a very good horse to overtake one on the trot. 

 The elk's gallop, while faster than its trot, is also much 

 more fatiguing, and a running elk will soon tire itself 

 out; while the trot can be kept up all day without appar- 

 ent fatigue. The body of the elk is a rich cream color, 

 winch changes on the nock, head, legs and rump to dark 

 brown. On the rump about the tail is a large triangular 

 patch of pale cream color, which shows out very dis- 

 tinctly against its border of dark brown. The tail is very 

 Short, the ears small, and the horns widely spread, grace- 

 ful and branching. 



The range of the elk formerly extended over the greater 

 part of this continent. They were found from the Atlan- 

 tic to the Pacific Ocean and from the longitude of Hud- 

 Bon's Bay south to Mexico. This range is now greatly 

 restricted. It is possible that there may be a few in Min- 

 nesota, but there are now no localities where elk are 

 plenty east of the Rocky Mountains. In the Yellowstone 

 Parle, where all large game is protected, the elk may still 

 be found in large numbers. They still occur in western 

 Washington in moderate numbers. 



The articles which accompany the illustrations will 

 give a good notion of the habits of the elk. 



AN ELK HUNT. 



Dekp in the Rocky Mountains, not very far from Fre- 

 mont's Peak, and within sight of the Three Tetons, stands 

 a great mountain. High up on its eastern slope, from 

 among the rough blocks of lava, which lie piled up in 

 confused masses as they fell from the beetling cuff above, 

 flow tiny streamlets, which with cool tinkle and noisy 

 rush take their way down the slope, and joining to- 

 gether as they advance, at length form a mountain tor- 

 rent. It hurries on with never a pause, past giant bould- 

 ers, among tangled willow thickets, under oending 

 alders, by close groves of young pines, through gloomy 

 gorges and thick forests,' until at last, reaching the val- 

 ley, its headlong speed is slackened, and it flows with a 

 more even current, at length pouring itself into the Yel- 

 lowstone River and joining the flood which after watering 

 the wide plains and the States of the South finally empties 

 its drops into the great Gulf. In the wide rolling meadows 

 on the upper western s.ope of this mountain, rise other 

 springs of clear cool water. These flow toward the west; at 

 first gently, with pleasant shallow pools in which you can 

 see the tiny trout slowly oaring themselves against the cur- 

 rent, or if alarmed darting like silver flashes to the shelter 

 of the banks, or up or down the stream. By and by these 

 rills, like the others, come together; like the others form a 

 wild rushing torrent, and like them at length reach a 

 valley. But this stream pours itself into the Snake River, 

 and after long and devious journeying across the plains 

 of Idaho, Oregon and Washington, is lost at last in the 

 waters of the great Pacific. 



Here on the Continental Divide is still the home of the 

 elk. 



The Geologist and I had started out to climb this great 

 mountain, which, high as it is, has not yet been deemed 

 worthy to receive a name, since it stands among others 

 nearly as huge. We had ridden our unwilling horses 

 nearly to the summit, and then leaving them at the 

 foot of the rocks had dismounted and breasted on foot 

 the last of the steep ascent. At length we reached the. comb 

 of piled up lava blocks which formed the summit's crest, 

 from which we could see, far in all directions, mountains 

 piled on mountains. 



To the northwest the Three Tetons reared their pin- 

 nacles toward heaven, superb in their covering of 

 newly fallen snows, while to the south other mountains, 

 only less high, presented a jagged mass of gray, ver- 

 dureless rock, seamed here and there by canons, which, 

 though to us they looked like mere fissures in the 

 mountains, must be both deep and wide. To the east and 

 north were lower timbered mountains, separated from 

 each other by deep black gorges, with here and there a 

 gray rock peak, sometimes patched with snow, rising far 

 above the dark green of the coniferous forest. 



In the wider view there was nothing of the picturesque, 

 but its immensity, its grandeur and its majesty awed and 

 held speechless the men who looked upon it. For a while 

 they said nothing, for they were striving to take in the 

 view, and even when their wondering intelligences had 

 become somewhat accustomed to the scene, they had no 

 words in which to talk of it. At such times a gesture, a 

 hand pressure, or even a movement of the head, is more ex- 

 pressive than any language, if only there subsist between 

 the gazers that perfect sympathy which is necessary to 

 true companionship everywhere, but which is above all 

 needed in the mountains. Long they gazed on the 

 wide view spread out before them, thrilled by its immen- 

 sity. Gradually, as they became more accustomed to it. 

 they began to look at what lay closer to them and to take 

 m tu 6 details of the mountain on which they stood. 



On all sides, saveone, the mountain broke off sharply:but 

 oft to the south stretched for two or three miles a rolling, 

 grassy tableland, dotted here and there with thickets of 

 quaking aspens or with patches of low willows, and wa- 

 tered by many a tiny rill. The grass was sere and brown 

 now. and the leaves of the deciduous trees were yellow- 

 ing in the crisp September air. From the height on 

 which we looked down on this tableland we could see no 

 irregularities of surface; it looked like a great park, 

 ■ mi'oUih undulating, well kept, picturesque and charm- 

 ing. Looking at it more carefully, examining the aspen 

 thickets in detail, L .saw that this tableland was peopled 

 with elk. Some were so distant that it was only by care- 

 ful inspection with the glass that they could* be seen, 

 and then it would be necessary to watch the objects for a 

 little time until they uiovtjd hi order to be certain that 

 they were not rocks nor old stumps. Other groups, nearer 



at hand, could be made out with the naked eye, and in 

 others, still nearer, the bulls could be distinguished by 

 their horns, and each movement detected. 



Less than half a mile from where we sat on the moun- 

 tain crest, and almost at the base of the great cliff which 

 fell away from beneath our feet, was a grove of aspens 

 which gave shelter to a family of elk. We could see a 

 number of cows lying in the shade of the trees, and 

 several heifers and calves picking at the grass or drink- 

 ing at the little brook, but the master of the herd, the 

 great bull that ruled it, was nowhere visible. Although 

 we could not see him, we knew that he was near at hand, 

 watching his family, and ready to do fierce battle for his 

 rights as its lord. He was feeding on the other side 

 of the trees, or was lying down in some dense thicket 

 among them, or perhaps he was cooling his sides in the 

 thick black mud of some spring which gave rise to the 

 little brook that flowed out of the timber. Even as we sat 

 there intently scanning the scene, his appearance was her- 

 alded by a distant bugle call, like the whispered strain of an 

 ^Eolian harp, or the faint trumpet tone of some elfin horn 

 sounded by gnomes who dwelt among the crannies of the 

 piled up rocks about us. A moment later the grand bull 

 appeared among the trees. He paused for a moment and 

 then walked slowly out into the open and drove back to 

 the edge of the thicket one or two cows that had strayed 

 further away than he. liked. As he walked toward his 

 cover he stopped, and facing the west threw back his 

 head and looked long toward the distant mountains, 

 while his smooth coat glistened in the sun, and the white 

 polished tips of his mighty antlers reflected its rays. He 

 made a fine picture. 



The elk which we were watching could have been 

 readily approached by a careful hunter, but we did not 

 disturb them. Our camp and our horses were on the 

 other side of the mountain, and to have killed an elk on 

 the south side would have meant a long climb carrying 

 heavy loads up one side of the mountain and down the 

 other, with every probability that we would not reach 

 camp that night. We contented ourselves, therefore, 

 with watching the unconscious animals, an occupation 

 to my mind always far more interesting than killing 

 them. 



At length it was time to move, and putting up our in- 

 struments we walked, scrambled, slipped and slid down 

 the mountain side to where our horses were tied. The 

 way was so steep that we led the animals instead of 

 riding them, and down the hill we plungad. Over steep 

 grassy hillsides, through patches of cool green timber 

 and down slippery dirt" slides we took our way until we 

 had gone down perhaps 2,000ft., and were just passing 

 out of a piece of green timber and about to start down a 

 long sharp slope, rough with the fallen trunks of great 

 trees killed by some fire of long ago. At the foot of this 

 hill was a little grassy bench, and beyond this could be 

 seen the tops of evergreen trees, showing that the moun- 

 tain fell off sharply below. As we were about to pass 

 out on to this open hillside, my eye was caught by a little 

 yellow patch on the yellower grass of the bench at its 

 foot. It looked like the back of an elk, but the head 

 could not be seen. I made a sign of caution to my com- 

 panion, who stopped; dropped my horse's bridle to the 

 ground and ran cautiously to the top of a little knoll near 

 by. Here raising my head very slowly and looking 

 through the dead branches of a fallen tree, I could see 

 two cow elk. one of them feeding, the other walking up 

 the hill. 



Returning to my friend I told him what I had seen 

 and asked him if he wished me to kill an elk. ''By all 

 means get one if you can," said he. "Trout are very 

 good, but it is possible to get tired even of trout. We 

 need some fresh meat in camp." 



"Very well," said I, "I will do the best I can, but 

 the wind is wrong and they may catch my scent before I 

 can get within range." Slipping off my coat, glasses and 

 barometer, I tied the lot to the saddle, and then with 

 rifle in hand, started down the mountain. For the 

 first few hundred yards there was xio difficulty in keeping 

 out of the elk's sight, for the hillside was seamed with 

 little gulches, whose crests were rough with rocks and 

 fallen timber. The wind gave me some anxiety; it 

 was blowing eliagonally up the mountain side, but as yet 

 the currents of air which passed me went well to the 

 right of and above the point where a part of the band of 

 elk were probably lying. I could now guess at the prob- 

 able distribution of the herd. 



On the mountain side above the little grassy bench 

 already referred to and overhung on three sides by ver- 

 tical cliffs, was a shallow basin, timbered with pines, 

 spruces and aspens. From this basin a little brook flowed 

 across the grassy bench, scarcely more than 200yds. from 

 where I then was. Beyond this brook rose a steep knoll 

 100ft. high and plainly marked by half a dozen game 

 trails. I made up my mind, judging from the time of 

 day and the general surroundings, that most of the elk 

 were lying down in the timber, and that those which I 

 had seen were only some outlying members of the herd. 

 This made the matter of approaching within shot still 

 more difficult, the animals being scattered, and some of 

 them no doubt above me on the mountain side. It ap- 

 peared probable, however, that when the elk ran they 

 would either have to pass down the draw near me or else 

 over the high knoll beyond the brook, and as they had 

 200 or 300yds. to run from the timber before they could 

 pass me, 1 should very likely be able to race down, cut 

 them off and get a shot at 100yds. Keeping as high up 

 the hillside as I coultl without exposing myself to 

 the view of the keen-eyed sentinel, I worked my way 

 along toward the stream. In crossing the little ravines 

 I only had to stoop low, but over the rielges I wornied 

 myself along on my face, careful never to crack one of 

 the dry sticks with which the ground was strewn, creep- 

 ing under logs, around great rocks, by tangled clumps of 

 sage brush, until I began to see that whatever the posi- 

 tion of the elk I should surely get a shot. 



I was still a huudred and fifty yards from the brook 

 side, when I heard among the trees a shrill note of alarm 

 that told me that the game had either seen or windedme. 

 At the same moment there was a tremendous cracking 

 of sticks and a hammering of many hoofs upon the 

 ground, and there burst forth from the clump of timber 



thirty-five or forty elk — all cows and calves — which in a 

 close body trotted like the wind down the valley toward, 

 the high knoll. A moment later these were followed by- 

 two or three others, and immediately behind them came 

 a splendid bull, traveling with great speed, and threaten- 

 ing with his long horns any one of the herd that showed 

 the slightest disposition to lag. As they rushed from 

 their cover I left mine, and raced down the steep slope 

 toward the brook to cut them off. I had little more than 

 a hundred yards to go before coming within shooting dis- 

 tance, and they had three hundred to cover before passing 

 over the crest of the hill and out of sight. By shooting 

 at the thick of the herd from where I was I could prob- 

 ably have killed three or four, as they strained up the 

 slope broadside to me, but I never like to take shots of 

 this kind. Besides what you may kill, you are almost 

 sure to break legs, shoot through the pa,unch, or in some 

 other way to maim and cripple from two to half a dozen 

 animals that you do not get. In this case I was not obliged 

 to " brown " the herd. 



After running perhaps fifty yards as hard as I could, 

 jumping gullies, bounding over logs, and in all ways mak- 

 ing the best time that I could, I had thrown myself on the 

 ground about a hundred and twenty-five j^ards from where 

 the elk would pass. I hael a brief space to look them ' 

 over before they reached the crest of the hill, and was 

 trying to select my meat. The bull I did not want, for 

 as the rutting season was well advanced, his flesh, though 

 fat, would have a strong taste. As I looked at them and 

 threw up my rifle to draw down upon a fat cow, I saw^ 

 out of the corner of my eye two other cows to my left, 

 and hardly seventy-five yards from me. They had evi- 

 dently been lying clown away from the main bunch, and , 

 were probably the two that I had first seen on coming! 

 out of the timber. They were apparently not themselves^ 

 alarmed, but were running because the others ran. Just 

 as I saw them, the hindmost, a fat two-year-old heifer,", 

 slackened her pace, and in a moment stopped and looked, 

 over toward the bull, which seemed surprised at the ap- 

 pearance of these two, and a little undecided as to what he 

 should do. The position in which the heifer waffl 

 standing was a bad one. A single dead pine tree, 

 two feet in diameter, stood on the knoll, and thee 

 cow had stopped just behind this, so that her wholeu 

 body from tail to shoulder was covered. In turning heis 

 head to look at the bull, however, she exposed the whole 

 neck. The distance was only about seventy-five yards! 

 and I felt pretty sure that even if I missed her neck, P 

 could kill her before she reached the top of the hill. 

 Throwing up the rifle, and catching a fine sight for a . 

 point on the neck vertebras about ten inches below the-; 

 ears, I fired , and through the clearing smoke could see tha] 

 cow rolling down the hill, now with all four legs in th<M 

 air, and again tumbling end over end down some steera 

 bank. 



I lost no time in hurrying toward her, for I thought if> 

 possible that she might be merely creased; that is to say, 

 that the ball might have passed so close to the neck bone] 

 as to merely stun the animal, instead of breaking the" 

 vertebral column aud killing her. I have lost not a few' 

 head of game at which I have taken the neck shot, by. 

 slowness or carelessness in going up to them, and I 1 

 wished to make sure of this cow. As I walked towaril 

 her, I saw that a number of the herd had stopped aud 

 were looking back at me. while the bull had come up to 

 within 50yds. of where the cow had stood when I shot 

 her, and seemed disposed to approach still nearer. Find- 

 ing that I paid no attention to him, and continued to ad- 

 vance, he at length thought better of it, trotted off a little' 

 distance, stopped and looked back again, and then toss- 

 ing his head defiantly, gathered up his scattered cows 

 and drove them off before him. 



It proved that there had been no need for haste in going 

 to the cow — she was stone dead, her neck broken. As I 

 rolled her over and drew my keen knife to take off the 

 meat, I looked back at the hillside and saw my friend 

 slowly approaching w r ith tbe horses. By the time he had 

 reached me, I had removed both hams, anel it did not take 

 long to cut out the sirloins. Then taking the lariat and 

 putting it through slits cut between the tendon achilles 

 and the bone of each leg, just above the hock, I lashed, 

 the hams firmly together at this point. The cinches of 

 my saddle were now loosened, the saddle set well back, 

 since we were going dowm hill, and the latigoes drawn, 

 pretty tight. I then tied the sirloins behind the saddle 

 by its strings, and with some effort drew one of the hams 

 across the seat of the saddle, so that the two would bal- 

 ance each other and rirle well. With the remainder of 

 the lariat I lashed the load on, so that I felt quite sure 

 that it would *e secure; and then, after a wash and a 

 drink of the cool water — for the butchering was warm, 

 disagreeable work— we started on toward camp. Yo. 



AN ELK FARM. 



The fact that elk are readily captured, tamed and reared, 

 has suggested to a number of ranchmen who live in an 

 elk country, the idea of raising these animals for beef, 

 and we know of several ranches where there are small 

 bunches of these animals. One such is mentioned in a 

 Wyoming newspaper which bears the suggestive name of 

 the Platte Valley Lyrv. 



"Between the two forks of the Grand Encampment: 

 Stream, in the upper portion of the Platte Valley, lives, 

 Cushman. the hunter. Mr. Cushman , known to his many 

 friends as 'Gush,' owns a magnificent hay ranch, compris- 

 ing 250 acres, all under fence. But Mr. Cushman owns 

 something else besides this noble ranch, and that some-, 

 thing else is his dog Thong. And now you see that spot; 

 of fifteen acres in the midst of Gush's hay lands, and.' 

 which is inclosed by a fence fourteen poles high? Well, 

 it is entirely owing to Thong, the dog, that those fifteen, 

 acres are so inclosed and that they graze the stock they 

 do. In that inclosure there feed and thrive five elk, and; 

 they were all caught by Thong. 



" In one spring Thong caught seven young elk. Two 

 of them his master sold for fifty dollars each, and thej 

 other five are inside the 14ft. fence. From these five elk; 

 Cush proposes to breed, and in a few years his magnifi- 

 cent hay ranch will have attained the unique and profita-j 

 ble distinction of an elk farm. The five elk now possessed! 

 by Cush are thoroughly domesticated. They will cornel 

 at his call, eat from his hand, and in the winter occupy! 

 stalls in the stables, and feed from hay racks with the 

 same facility an 'I fattening results as do the horses ana 

 cattle. 



"Cush's ranch is finely adapted to the purpose of elk 



