the canoe up within six feet of the 
puffing, snorting creature. Then quick¬ 
ly rising, I swung the rope with a good 
momentum, and over the creature’s an¬ 
tlers it dropped “as easy as pie.” 
When the noose tightened the big 
animal started up at a speed which 
made the little canoe fairly dance on 
the water. I crawled to the rear seat, 
while loud whoops and yells came from 
the direction of the cabin. What sport 
it would be if I could only turn my im¬ 
provised “motor boat” back and ride 
past the cabin! Wouldn’t it make the 
boys’ eyes pop! 
However, there was no way of bring¬ 
ing this about. There was nothing in 
the canoe with which to turn the ani¬ 
mal. The line was long and the elk 
was probably fifteen to eighteen feet 
ahead of the canoe. However, I waved 
my hat around my head and yelled with 
delight at the novel sport. Certainly 
I was enjoying a thrilling experience. 
In my excitement and enthusiasm I 
left my seat and perched myself high 
in the stern of the canoe, with both 
feet sprawled over the sides. This 
tipped the bow rather high in the air, 
but to this I paid no attention. I was 
being carried through the water at a 
pretty rapid rate of speed, and the elk, 
urged by the strange conveyance he 
was towing, fairly outdid himself in his 
efforts to get away from this new form 
of enemy. 
Had I realized what was to happen 
I would have been paying some atten¬ 
tion to my own safety, and especially 
to the depth of water thereabout, but 
I was unacquainted with it. I noted, 
however, that the elk was veering off 
to the right, toward a projecting point 
of land, and I then began to wonder 
what would happen when he reached it. 
I wasn’t long left in doubt. My “mo¬ 
tive power” was increasing its speed, 
and as a wild whoop echoed across the 
water from the direction of the cabin 
I turned about to respond to it. 
Alas! It was a fatal move. We were 
then about fifty feet from the shore. 
Suddenly there was a tremendous tug; 
the canoe slid out from under me as 
if it was greased, and over backward 
I went into the lake. The elk had 
“struck bottom” sooner than I had an¬ 
ticipated. 
Of cou] se, the depth of water was 
nothing alarming at that point, al¬ 
though it was over my head. The elk 
had struck solid bottom and he had lost 
no time in using his hoofs. I heard a 
great splashing and splattering as I 
went under out of sight, followed by 
loud yells from the boys. As I rose 
to the surface I had a faint vision of 
a gray streak making for the shore. 
Then came a loud crash and more yells 
from the boys. 
It only required a stroke or two to¬ 
ward shore before I found my footing. 
But where was the elk? The animal 
was nowhere in sight. Neither was the 
canoe, but the reeds and rushes at the 
water’s edge were bent and twisted 
where the creature had plunged 
through them. I wondered if the elk 
were yet at the other end of that bow¬ 
line. If so, it behooved me to move 
with extreme caution, for a mad bull 
elk is a mighty dangerous antagonist. 
Neither elk nor canoe were in sight. 
I waded cautiously ashore. There 
was a plain path through the brush 
wheie the elk had plunged. Following 
this, I presently discovered the canoe 
caught between two small trees, but 
the elk had not stopped. The whole 
front of the canoe was torn out, and 
Mi. Elk was probably a mile away and 
still running, with twenty feet of good 
manila rope attached to his antlers. 
The canoe was entirely out of com¬ 
mission. There was nothing for me to 
do but walk around the lake to the 
cabin, and the reception I got was any¬ 
thing but a merry one. There was 
mighty little sleep in the cabin that 
night for me. I thought the boys 
never would stop joshing me. 
The next morning we all walked 
ai ound to the spot where the remains 
of the canoe lay. The elk had left a 
plain path through the timber, and the 
boys all agreed that its first jumps 
were fully twenty-five feet apart. Then 
they would all stop to laugh and guv 
me again. 
We heard nothing further from the 
elk—and I never heard the last of my 
adventure. It served to advertise me 
so well that at the forthcoming election 
I went into office by a big majority. 
But I often wondered whether that 
big elk was ever killed, and what the 
huntei thought of the manila rope at¬ 
tached to its antlers. 
FOREST AND STREAM LETTERS 
Dear Forest and Stream: 
J HAVE just returned from a trip 
into the hills and I thought that I 
would write you, as I know that you 
are interested in what game conditions 
are here. 
We have not had a very hard win¬ 
ter, but it has been very long and 
drawn out. The season is just about 
a month later than usual, and conse¬ 
quently the bull elk shed their antlers 
a little later and have not picked up 
as fast as they would with an earlier 
season, but the game has not suffered 
on the Upper West Gallatin this win¬ 
ter. 
The Forestry Department has placed 
a game patrol up here all winter. As 
a result there has been no tooth hunt¬ 
ing in this locality, and I am glad to 
report that as far as the Gallatin 
herd of elk are concerned, they have 
everything in their favor for a good 
increase. We have seen a number of 
deer and elk right around the ranch. 
Page MS 
I will send you some photographs later 
on. 
Theie are quite a lot of bear around 
this spring, but I have not gone after 
them. One of our neighbors killed one 
last Sunday, and the ranger of the 
next district killed one and captured 
the cubs. Bears are now on the game 
list in Montana and cannot be trapped 
nor run with dogs, but there is no 
closed season on them as there should 
be. However, it takes time to bring 
about all of these changes in the game 
laws, and I hope they will be in force 
while they can still be of use. The 
fishing is fine. 
Ernest Miller, 
Fklhorn Ranch, Salesville, Mont. 
Dear Forest and Stream: 
'pHE American Distemper Commit¬ 
tee, of which I am the Secretary- 
Treasurer, would be very grateful to 
you if you would start a subscription 
in your paper for the Distemper Fund 
which we are raising, remittances re¬ 
ceived to be forwarded to us by you 
or sent direct to us by the givers, and 
we would be glad, if you are willing, 
to have you do this at once. 
I have already communicated with 
over 100 clubs and have enlisted the 
sympathy and co-operation of their 
officei s and most of them are actively 
engaged in collecting subscriptions. 
Some have already forwarded me their 
subscriptions as they have received 
them, though no one has as yet com¬ 
pleted his work, for it is hard to reajch 
all the individual members of a club 
in a short time and fully explain the 
situation. 
To raise the money that we ought 
to laise in this country to accomplish 
the results which we all want re¬ 
quires a tremendous amount of hard 
work, and it will be, of course, impos¬ 
sible to accomplish anything without 
co-operation. What we want to bring 
about is co-operation on the part of 
all the papers, on the part of all the 
clubs, on the part of all their officers, 
(Continued on page 446 ) 
