710 " FOREST AND STREAM December, 1918 
AUTUMN MIGRATION OF THE 
PRONGHORN 
To the Editor of Forest and Stream : 
-r HE seasonal migrations of the ante- 
lope—once so abundant on the west¬ 
ern plains—were familiar to every old- 
time hunter. These movements took place 
just before the advent of cold weather, 
and might be in any direction. They were 
not necessarily from north to south, but 
rather from an exposed situation to one 
that was more sheltered. 
The vast numbers of antelope that sum¬ 
mered on the high Coteau des Prairies in 
autumn journeyed southwest and wintered 
in the breaks of the Little Missouri north 
of the Black Hills. Those summering 
among the mountains of the Yellowstone 
Park passed down the various stream val¬ 
leys out to the prairie and those in the 
high country—the mountains in the bend 
of the North Platte, and other mountains 
farther to the southward—came out in 
great herds and wintered on the Laramie 
plains. There were a hundred other winter 
ranges. 
On the Laramie Plains the herds were 
so numerous in the early ’70’s that men 
going out for meat often did not attempt 
closely to approach the herds, but dropped 
a dozen shots into the thick of a group 
of thousands of antelope, and then going 
forward recovered those that had been 
killed by these random shots. Such shoot¬ 
ing wounded many animals and these went 
to feed the eagles and the coyotes. 
Some months ago there appeared in 
Forest and Stream an editorial referring 
to the seasonal migrations of some of the 
large game animals of the plains and urg¬ 
ing that some naturalist take up and work 
out this subject. It is too late to do this 
now, by observation. The animals which 
once moved in such large bodies no longer 
exist, and their old migration routes are 
blocked by settlement. 
The hunters in what now seem early 
days on the plains know that there were 
seasonal shiftings by buffalo, elk, mule- 
deer and antelope. Whether such move¬ 
ments took place with the Virginia deer 
or the moose is doubtful, I think. Sheep 
moved down from higher to lower ground, 
but it must be remembered that in those 
early days the sheep usually did not live 
on the mountain peaks, but rather on the 
high plateaus and parks so often found 
just below the rim-rock. ,1 do not suppose 
that the sheep of the plains did much mov¬ 
ing, but about this I do not know. It is 
certain, however, that in rough, stormy 
weather the sheep gathered in considerable 
groups, and sought shelter from snow in 
caves and hollows in the rock and under 
steep ledges. Signs of their presence in 
great numbers were frequently seen in 
such situations. 
LETTERS 
QUESTIONS, 
AND ANSWER 
The Indians whose lives were devoted in 
large measure to the study of the wild 
animals on which they in part subsisted 
were, of course, familiar with the regular¬ 
ity of these migrations, and at the proper 
season spread themselves out along the 
routes the antelope followed to intercept 
and take toll of the migrating animals. 
An interesting—perhaps the very earliest 
—reference to these movements by the an¬ 
telope is to be found in the Journals of 
Lewis and Clark, at what was one of 
the favorite crossing places of antelope 
on the Missouri River in the present State 
of North Dakota. 
On their way up the Missouri River in 
1804 Lewis and Clark happened to reach 
this region about the middle of October, 
when the migration of the antelope was 
taking place. On the 16th of October the 
explorers record that they saw great num¬ 
bers of “goats”—their name for antelope 
—on the river and at the same time, on 
both sides, saw Indians, killing these 
“goats.” At one point boys were in the 
water killing the antelope with sticks and 
dragging them to the shore, while on the 
banks of the river the Indians shot them 
with arrows. At one point Captain Clark 
counted 58 antelope that they had killed 
out of a single herd. 
At the beginning of this movement from 
summer to winter range—at the approach 
of cold weather—the antelope got together 
in large herds; and the Indians told Cap¬ 
tain Clark that the animals were on their 
way to the “Black Mountains” where they 
would spend the winter, returning in the 
spring and recrossing the Missouri in 
great numbers. 
These observations were made just be¬ 
fore the explorers came to the mouth of 
the Cannonball River and on the day they 
reached it great numbers of antelope were 
seen. Almost immediately after this the 
weather turned cooler, and on October 21 
the night was cold, with rain, which froze 
as it fell and turned to snow in the morn¬ 
ing. Evidently it was time for the ante¬ 
lope to be moving. 
Geo. Bird Grinnell, New York. 
THAT FOX-HOUND STORY 
To the Editor of Forest and Stream: 
OULDN’T you see your way clear to 
give us a few foxhound stories once in 
a while ? I’m naturally a dog man and with 
me there is no dog to compare to the fox¬ 
hound, but on looking from page to page 
ever since your first arrival I’ve missed 
them entirely. Why? Surely you ought to 
give us one or two tales once in a while or 
better still, get Newt on the job, he’ll tell 
more and far more interesting ones than 
anybody on the sheet. What do you think? 
Nessmuk’s page is good and surely gives 
us lots of hints, and as I’m in need of one 
couldn’t he run in a good clear description 
of a camp stove, one that could be folded 
and still not pull out of shape with the 
heat? I lately had one without a bottom 
but the thing wouldn’t hold its shape. 
Please give full directions if it is not ask¬ 
ing too much. 
John L. Timmer, Muskegon, Mich. 
We are on the trail of a good fox hound 
story and it zvill soon appear, so watch out 
for it. As to the camp stove, we hope 
some of the readers of Nessmuk’s Camp 
Fire will send in a hint that will be exact¬ 
ly what you want. [Editors.] 
BOUNTY ON WOLVES 
To the Editor of Forest and Stream: 
A S a sportsman and lover of outdoor 
life I am greatly interested in the 
preservation of our big game and would 
therefore like to make my views known to 
all brother sportsmen who are readers of 
your valued magazine. I have made my 
home here in Northern Minnesota for a 
number of years, in the section known as 
the last retreat of the big game of our 
State and I feel that it is high time to pro¬ 
tect the deer from becoming extinct. What 
I am referring to is the ravages of the 
wolves upon the deer during the deep 
snows of our winters here. Some years 
there is a bounty on the wolves and then 
the trappers go after them and keep them 
thinned down pretty well; but since the 
bounty was removed the wolves have in¬ 
creased at an alarming rate, and one does 
not have to go far out into the woods to 
find torn carcasses of deer. 
I have known instances where one lone 
timber wolf will attack a large buck on 
bare ground in the fall and make away 
with it. As I was crossing a lake one fall 
I was surprised to see a large buck lying 
with its hindquarters in the water and the 
forepart resting on a small point of land 
projecting out into the lake. I rowed over 
and examined the big fellow and found 
that it had been hamstrung by wolves and 
had made its getaway into the water where 
it had bled to death, as the blood had not 
clotted in the cold water. 
I used to think that the coyotes or brush 
wolves were not a serious menace to the 
deer, but since the timber wolves have de¬ 
creased and the smaller wolves have in¬ 
creased in number I find that the destruc¬ 
tion of the deer goes on just the same. I 
am writing this article the latter part of 
