SKINNER — THE PRONG-HORN 
93 
1911— “450 counted.’^ 
1912— “500.” 
1913 — “Increased slightly.” 
1914— “600 counted.” 
1918— “350.” 
1920— “300.” 
While the reports of the earlier years tell of thousands of prong-horns 
in the Yellowstone, it must be remembered that then there was nothing 
to prevent the animals from flocking up from the plains. Gamekeeper 
Young states in 1881 that “very few of the deer or antelope wintered 
anywhere in the park.’’ A migration now to the plains would be 
slaughter, for if an antelope gets out of the park, it is gone as if swallowed 
up. The 1887 report is the earliest one mentioning that it was found 
necessary occasionally to drive the antelopes back from the boundary. 
From 1872 to 1883 it is reported that antelopes were killed each 
year in the park “by the thousands.” The Rules and Regulations of 
those days read: “All hunting, fishing, or trapping within the limits 
of the Park, except for purposes of recreation, or to supply food for 
visitors or actual residents, is strictly prohibited.” And even these 
extremely wide-open rules were not enforced; it rather seems to have 
been the policy of the superintendents and their assistants to beg (!) 
the shooters to be moderate in their activities. With the incoming of 
the military regime in 1886, the rules (grown more stringent) were 
enforced, but there was no punishment provided for illegal hunting 
until 1894. 
As a rule prong-horns confine themselves to the great open plains and 
the broader interior valleys of the mountains. They do not browse, 
the forest does not contain their food, and the great open ranges give 
their marvelous speed and matchless eyesight full scope to serve them. 
Still, like most rules, this has its exceptions. Frequently I find prong- 
horns in more or less open, stunted growth consisting of aspen, willows, 
or Douglas fir; often when surprised in restricted areas they show no 
hesitancy in entering timber to escape. Stranger still, it is reliably 
reported that in the southwest, prong-horns habitually lived in the 
open yellow pine forests of certain elevated sections. 
Unless there is a scarcity of food, individuals of the antelope tribe 
remain within a small area of a few hundred acres. Usually they are 
to be found lying on some favored knoll, where they can see in all 
directions and can give their sense of smell full play to discover an 
enemy. In winter, the hilltops have the added attraction of being 
