March 14, 1908.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
417 
ON THE TRAIL. 
From a photograph by Jack Ronan. 
Hunting Spike-Horn Elk. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
Pleasurable, novel and most exciting sport was 
‘ound in hunting the young spike horn and three- 
,ear-old bull elk in mid-October in a mountain 
:ow country, such as the Big Horn Mountains 
vere in the early nineties. 
The elk bands hunted and herded by their 
cind, the master bulls—the cows then being in 
he rut—pursued and harried in daylight hours 
>y the gun-bearers, passed their lives in a state 
)f almost constant alarm. Ever and anon the 
nuzzles of the old cows would be lifted high to 
aste the wind, the light eddies and puffs of 
vhich seemed to inform them whenever enemies 
vere abroad, and then the bands swung about 
n a mighty ellipse on the eastern and western 
ides of the Ten Sleep-Brokenback-Paintrock 
livide, which trending north and south, separated 
hese three mighty mountain basins. The west- 
■rn slope of the divide was gradual, the eastern 
iibrupt and montane in its drop of almost half a 
nile down to the beautiful Ten Sleep Lake. 
The young bulls, driven out of the bands by 
heir physical betters, paired off for company 
tnd mutual protection, were fattening and had 
gown lazy loafing and sleeping. We noted that 
1 goodly number of horses were scattered 
hroughout the mountain basins, and as the elk 
vere used to them, we determined to hunt these 
;pike horns on horseback, believing if we rode 
vith the wind in our faces, that they knowing 
he approaching noise to be made by horses 
vould be seen before running. Hear us, they 
:ertainly would, although they could neither 
;mell nor see us. 
And so one morning Dave Spalding and I sad- 
lled our favorite hunting horses, old “Seal” and 
he black stallion, rode to Ten Sleep Lake, 
•ounded its southernmost end, and crossing its 
outlet, laid a course against the wind and up one 
)f the mighty ridges which head in the northern 
lart of the basin in the direction of Cloud’s 
Peak. 
Directly the black stallion whistled, and the 
tisles of the forest for a second seemed to be 
ull of snorting horses, jumping men, crashing 
•ifles and running elk. We had been moving 
■lowly through the forest on an old elk trail, 
md had jumped a pair of youngsters from their 
)eds and had shot in line with the vanishing 
tame. Such hunting requires quick work, and 
ine’s game has a chance for its life. My hunt- 
ng partner was a past-master in the art of 
railing. The sign said that one of the two 
■hots fired had taken effect, so tying our horses, 
Dave led off on the trail, and I kept close be- 
find him. 
The trail led over, through and among the 
lebris of the forest, now zig-zagging aimlessly 
lere and there. How it all happened I hardly 
enow, but the old .45-caliber roared out and we 
iad a dissolving view of the great elk as it sat 
>n its hams like a dog and wilted. Partner, ris- 
ng from the hunter’s last act, said: “Well, doc- 
or, we have found out how to circumvent these 
at young spike horns all right. We’ll keep a 
und quarter of this one for present use and 
erk the rest.” 
Turning the magnificent creature on its back, 
ve skinned, gralloched and quartered him upon 
fis hide, and leading up the black stallion, we 
leaved on one of the hind quarters until it 
slipped over the saddle and balanced its fellow 
to which it was securely fastened by one of our 
ropes, and the head was added to the load. The 
lighter horse was packed with the forequarters 
and hide with far less effort, and, bridle reins in 
hand, rifles unloaded and in their holsters, in 
single file we began the long climb up the moun¬ 
tain to camp. 
And so we killed the major portion of our 
winter grub-stake, each hunt varied by its dis¬ 
tinctive environment, and incidents of the 
chase, a description of one being in a great 
measure descriptive of all of them. 
A. J. Woodcock. 
Senator Redfield Proctor. 
By the death of Senator Redfield Proctor of 
Vermont, this country has lost a patriot and a 
statesman. 
He was born in 1831 and graduated from Dart¬ 
mouth College in 1851, afterward studying law 
and being admitted to the bar. 
In the war between the States he enlisted and 
fought through to the end, later he practiced law, 
lived on a farm, went into business, reorganizing 
the marble quarry industry of Vermont, was 
elected Lieutenant-Governor and Governor, be¬ 
came Secretary of War and in 1891 succeeded 
Senator Geo. F. Edmunds, as United States 
Senator from Vermont. 
It was about ten years ago that Senator Proc¬ 
tor, after a journey to Cuba, spoke in the Senate 
in simple, temperate, but most effective language, 
of some of the horrors that he had seen in that 
island, the efforts by Spain to put down the re¬ 
bellion of the Cubans. This was after the blow¬ 
ing up of the Maine, and it was Senator Proc¬ 
tor’s simply told story of what he himself had 
seen that brought home to the people of the 
United States actual conditions in Cuba, and led 
to the declaration of war with Spain. 
Senator Proctor was one of the keenest of 
sportsmen and devoted himself especially to big 
game hunting. He was long a member of the 
Boone and Crockett Club, and for a number of 
seasons was one of' the group of men who held 
the right to shoot over the Corbin preserves in 
New Hampshire. In the Senate of the United 
States he was always an active force in behalf 
of good laws for the protection of our forests 
and our game, and he was influential in securing 
good game laws for the District of Columbia. 
Of Senator Proctor’s lofty integrity and of the 
personal charm which he exerted over all those 
with whom he was brought in contact little need 
be said. The first quality gave extraordinary 
weight to his lightest word, while the second se¬ 
cured for him an attentive hearing from his most 
aggressive opponents. 
In a short time Forest and Stream Publishing 
Company will bring out a small volume which 
will contain the charming serial recently con¬ 
tributed to these columns by Mr. S. T. Ham¬ 
mond. The book will contain not far from one 
hundred and fifty pages, and will be illustrated 
by a number of engravings , All readers who 
enjoyed the serial as it appeared in the Forest 
and Stream are likely to desire this book in 
order to keep in permanent form these charming 
accounts of New England shooting. Orders will 
be received for the book at any time. It will be 
sent postpaid for the sum of $1.00. 
