Elk Hunting in the Rockies 
America’s Handsomest Member of the Deer Family 
Lives tn a Country of Rugged Beauty 
By CAPT. BEVERLEY W. ROBINSON 
Illustrated with reproduction of the paintings of Carl Rungius 
HE Wapiti or American elk is 
T without question the handsom- 
est, and, next to the moose, the 
largest of all the deer family. Though 
not attaining the great size and weight 
of the moose, he is undoubtedly a far 
more beautiful animal than his great, 
uncouth cousin of the deep woodlands. 
A full grown stag or bull with his great 
sweep of gracefully curved and branch- 
ing antlers and his fine gamy lines is 
indeed a noble looking creature. 
See him just at sunrise of a frosty 
September morning when the clear 
mountain air seems fairly to sparkle 
with life and vigor, standing, perhaps, 
in some open glade with a background 
of the dark firs of his native hills, and 
he’s truly a sight worthy of sculptor 
or artist, or to thrill the sportsman’s 
heart, as with head uplifted, ears 
forward, and alertness in his every 
pose, he listens to the “whistle” or chal- 
lenge of another bull 
across the valley, and 
then, nose thrust for- 
ward, with a piercing 
blast, hurls. defiance 
back at him. 
APART from his 
dark head and 
shaggy neck, a bull ap- 
pears much lighter in 
color than a cow, and 
a barren cow darker 
than one with calf. 
By early september 
most of the bulls have 
rubbed their horns free 
of velvet and towards 
the middle of that 
month the rut begins; 
OF, (AS sulle a aeloeally: 
termed, they begin to 
“whistle.” This expres- 
sion comes from a habit 
of the bulls, mainly 
during the rutting sea- 
son, of uttering a shrill, 
piercing call, or chal- 
lenge. At this season 
they engage each other 
in the fiercest combats 
for the honor of main- 
taining the leadership 
over their bands of 
cows, for unlike the 
moose, they are polyga- 
mous, and during the breeding sea- 
son one lordly old bull will have a 
goodly number of cows in his harem. 
He is then ever on the lookout and 
ready to defend them valiantly from the 
advances of any other venturesome or 
envious bull. 
Though their senses of sight, scent 
and hearing are highly developed, as 
indeed they are in all of the deer family, 
my own experience has been that in 
districts where they are at all plentiful, 
they seem less keenly sensitive of dan- 
ger and are somewhat more easily 
brought to bag by the average hunter 
than either of their smaller relations, 
the black-tail or the white-tail deer. 
At the time that I had the most 
frequent opportunity to hunt elk 
they were still plentiful in the rough 
mountainous country of central Wyo- 
ming, and this being a trip of little 
a day from the ranch I 
more than 

frequently hunted up in that direction. 
About the middle of September is the 
best, as it is the pleasantest, time for 
such a trip. The elk are on the move, 
as the rut is then under way, and the 
weather at that season in the mountains 
is clear and quite cool enough to make 
hunting, whether afoot or on _horse- 
back, a pleasure. 
N Montana, to conform to the state 
law, we must defer our hunt until 
October 15th, when, however, in certain 
sections north and west of the Park 
expectant sport can be had after elk, 
deer and bear. 
Early one September, in company 
with a small rancher named Hartley, 
who made hunting his principal pro- 
fession, we left his home on the Medi- 
cine Bow and struck off for the moun- ° 
tains to the north. Our outfit con- 
sisted of a wagon and pair of tough 
horses, to be later taken 
out and used as pack 
animals when the going 
got too rough, and our 
two riding’ ponies. In 
the wagon we carried 
our beds and cooking 
utensils, kettle, frying 
pan and stewpot in 
which we stowed a 
couple of tin plates, 
two cups and the mer- 
est necessary provisions 
for about three weeks, 
consisting mainly of 
bacon, bread, a small 
bag of flour, coffee, 
sugar and salt and 
some dried prunes. 
[N my bed I also car- 
ried a change of 
underclothing and a 
heavy sweater, while 
behind our saddles we 
tied our “slickers” or 
oilskin coats. Our 
equipment consisted of 
a 45-90 and a 30-40 
Winchester, the latter 
then one of the newest 
things in a way of a 
high powered rifle, and 
about 50 rounds of am- 
munition apiece. 
As we journed north- 
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