Antelope Hunting Thirty Years Ago and To- Day 201 



ant that usually it made no great differ- 

 ence whether the man in need of meat got 

 his shot early in the morning, or at mid- 

 day, or in the afternoon, this was not al- 

 ways the case; and sometimes food was 

 needed very badly. When hunting I 

 commonly rode almost to the crest of 

 each prairie swell and then dismounting, 

 and removing the hat, advanced very 

 slowly toward the ridge, stopping every 

 two or three steps and carefully scrutin- 

 izing the ground that came in view be- 



made except when their heads were down 

 and they were feeding. Often his whole 

 head might be in plain sight, and if, when 

 the antelope looked at the hunter, he re- 

 mained motionless, it would stare long 

 and then put its head down and resume 

 its feeding. There was thus often time 

 to select the animal, and even to wait until 

 it had put itself into the precise position 

 desired. A side shot was always pre- 

 ferred, for there was then no danger of 

 spoiling the meat, and I long ago learned 



' Usually the dues seem to lead the band, the bucks following: along behind, sometimes grazing, sometimes scratching 



heads and necks.^' 



yond the ridge. If an antelope was seen 

 it was hkely to be one of several, and the 

 more there were in the bunch the greater 

 likelihood that one of them would detect 

 the hunter. After creeping forward as 

 far as possible, the head was raised very 

 slowly until it was so high that the eyes 

 could cover much of the slope which be- 

 gan to fall away just beyond it. The im- 

 portant thing was to move very slowly, 

 studying each foot of the ground as it ap- 

 peared. If there were one or two ante- 

 lope now in plain sight, no motion was 



to shoot at the little curl of hair just back 

 of the elbow, through which the black 

 skin shows. As in most herbivores, the 

 heart in the antelope lies low, and usually 

 the creature drops to a well-placed ball. 

 At the same time I have seen an antelope 

 run four hundred yards with its heart 

 torn to pieces. 



If a man on foot suddenly comes in 

 view of antelope not far off, and they see 

 him, he may often bring them within shot 

 by dropping immediately to the ground 

 and lying flat. They see something — 



