8 32 
around him, which had increased by this time to 
about twenty-five or thirty. The bull frequently 
threw his head up, giving vent to his peculiar call, 
which was answered now and then by several 
other bulls on the surrounding hills, none of 
which seemed willing to venture near him. I 
watched this spectacle for some time, endeavor- 
ing to get near enough to obtain a good shot. 
Being alone and unaccustomed to the country, 
I was unable to gauge the distance correctly. 
When finally I stopped at the nearest point I 
could reach to secure a fair shot (I was using 
on that occasion a .45-90 Winchester, not one of 
the modern high power guns with a flat trajec- 
tory). I fired at the bull without effect and saw 
the whole bunch of cow elk come together in a 
solid mass and ascend the slope of the neighbor- 
ing mountain, The cow elk acted as though 
panic-stricken, all striving to get as near the cen- 
ter of the bunch as possible while ascending the 
slope and interfering considerably with the 
movements of one another in so doing. The bull 
remained behind until the cows had gained a con- 
siderable start and then followed them up the 
mountain. When I examined the distance from 
the spot where I stood when I fired at the bull to 
the point where he was located, I found it over 
400 yards. Being unaccustomed to gauging dis- 
tance at that time, I underestimated the range. 
The atmosphere is so clear that objects obtain a 
much clearer definition and seem at times nearer 
than they really are. A mistake in underestimat- 
ing distance made a greater difference with the 
old .45-90, than it would with modern high power 
rifles. I returned to camp burning with a desire 
to secure a good trophy. 
The next day I went out with Jake. We sep- 
arated, agreeing. to meet at a certain place, 
which, through some misunderstanding, we failed 
to accomplish. I soon ran upon the tracks of a 
big bull elk, which led directly up the steep side 
of a mountain. This I climbed for about six 
hundred feet, with some trouble, when I noticed 
that the tracks had begun to turn and tended 
downward. I continued to follow them until 
they brought me again to the foot of the moun- 
tain, within about thirty feet of the point where 
I first started to trace them up. I finally ran 
across my guide again, and it was not long be- 
fore his keen eyes picked out an elk at a dis- 
tance of about two hundred and fifty yards, just 
visible among some spruce trees. It was a cow 
elk, and I was indisposed to shoot it, but being 
reminded of the condition of the larder, I con- 
cluded to try my luck. The crack of the rifle 
was followed by the disappearance of the ani- 
mal in the timber, and I thought I had missed, 
but was reasurred to the contrary, and when I 
reached the spot where the elk had stood, I saw 
a few traces of blood, which shortly led to a 
brown form lying among the green spruce trees 
—the elk was stone dead. Standing over Jake, 
who was engaged in dressing the elk, I asked 
him if he thought I ought to smash the rifle 
over a rock. Looking up from his dirty work, 
besmeared with perspiration and gore, he re- 
plied with a grin, ““Not when she throws lead 
like that.” 
My time was drawing to a close, and although 
I had abundant opportunities to kill animals 
with inferior heads, that kind of sport did not 
satisfy me, and I left them to die a natural 
death, unless some tooth hunter has cut their 
existence short. 
The final day passed without result, and I 
had to leave for a later period a more success- 
ful hunt for trophies. 
The last night around the camp-fire Jake made 
entertaining by relating to me some of his per- 
sonal experiences. The following story was told 
me as absolutely true: The guide had struck the 
trail of a mountain lion, which he followed with 
his pack of dogs to a tree where the trail ended. 
Naturally he expected to find the lion in the 
tree. Much to his surprise there was no lion in 
the tree, and no tracks of a lion leading away 
from the tree. The only tracks discernible were 
the tracks of an elk. Finally a bloodhound in 
the pack started off on the elk tracks. This 
seemed very strange. because the dogs had been 
thoroughly broken from following anything ex- 
‘cept lions and bob-cats. The guide tried to call 
the dog back, but he continued to follow the elk 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[May 26, 1906. 


tracks, and the rest of the pack joined in the 
pursuit. Following the tracks about a quarter 
of a mile, there appeared in the snow signs of a 
struggle, and then an impression upon the ground 
of a large animal which the elk had evidently 
unseated. The lion’s tracks were distinctly 
visible from this point. for a considerable dis- 
tance, until he took refuge in a pinyon tree. 
It was plain that the mountain lion had jumped 
upon the back of a passing elk and had stolen 
a free ride, which he enjoyed until his saddle 
horse dismounted him. “That shows what a 
wonderfully intelligent animal a dog is,” said 
Jake, “just to think that they should have 
reasoned it out that the lion had ridden off on 
the elk, when I was puzzled myself to find out 
what had become of him.” 
“Do you suppose,” chimed in Aleck, “that the 
dogs showed intelligence because they knew 
more than you did?” E. C. RANDOLPH. 
Morristown, N. J. 
Very Large Sheep Heads. 
Tacoma, Wash., April 23.—Editor Forest and 
Stream: I have just received two freshly-killed 
Rocky Mountain sheep heads to-day measuring 
as follows: . 
No. 1 Head.—Spread of horns, 20 inches be- 
tween points (6 inches of points being broken 
off) ; length of right horn, 43 inches; circumfer- 
ence. of right horn, 17% inches; length of left 
horn, 44 inches; circumference of left horn, 1734 
inches, 
No. 2 Head.—Spread of horns, 15 inches be- 
tween points (5:°inches of points being broken 
off) ; length of right horn, 38 inches; circumfer- 
ence of right horn, 17 inches; length of left horn, 
3534 inches; circumference of left horn, 17% 
inches. 
As there has been some question heretofore on 
the measurements of some of my record game 
heads, I wish you would have some representa- 
tive that you can depend upon, either in Tacoma 
or Seattle, come to my place of business. and 
measure these two record heads before they are 
mounted, which will probably be two months yet. 
F. SHEARD. 
Mr. T. Elwood Hofer, then in Seattle, was 
requested to visit Tacoma and measure and 
report on the heads in question. Mr. Hofer has 
had a very large experience with mountain 
sheep and other Western game, and has also 
given considerable attention to the subject of 
measuring of big game heads. His report will be 
read with interest by Rocky Mountain hunters. 
The tape line with which the measuring was 
done, and which was sent on to us, has been 
compared with a standard measure and found 
correct, 

On receipt of your favor of April 28 I hastened 
down to Tacoma to measure the sheep horns. I 
purchased a tape line for that purpose and send 
it along, so you can: find out how true it is by 
comparison with some standard measure. Head 
No. 1, one of the finest I ever saw, was from a 
very old animal, said to have been killed in Brit- 
ish Columbia. It surely was fresh-killed, I should 
think not over two or three months ago. Both 
heads 1 and 2 were killed about the same time, 
possibly not over one month ago. 
In No. 1 the horns were badly battered at the 
ends, as all old rams’ horns used to be in Colo- 
rado, Wyoming and Montana in the mountains. 
This is supposed to be caused by feeding among 
the rocks and fighting; probably chiefly from 
striking among the rocks. In measuring the No. 
1 horns from tip to tip I had to place the tape 
across its skull a bit above the nose. The line 
was almost straight, just a slight bend over the 
nose, not enough to make 1-16 inch difference. 
By measuring the horns around where they were 
not splintered and the same measurements around 
perfect horns I made out that the broken ends 
would have been from six to seven inches longer, 
as stated, if they could have grown out naturally. 
No, I measures from tip to tip of horn outside 
19 inches. The left horn is battered off about 
six inches. Length outside as it now is, 42% 
inches; circumference 19 inches from the base, 
'6 inches; 9% inches from the base, 16% inches: 
around the base a little above the bottom (1% 
inches on the outside), 161%4 inches. So you see 
it holds its size. Measuring all along the base 
next to the hair, following the curves, 17% 
inches. 
The right horn, 1634 inches around 1% inches 
above the base; 1734 inches following the curves; 
18 inches from the base, 16 inches; 10 inches from 
the base, 1614 inches; length to outside broken 
end, 41% inches. This point was more battered 
than the left. I measured to a line even with the 
broken end. 
If I had followed the point with my tape line 
I would have gotten an inch or two. I made out 
this horn was battered off more than six ‘inches, 
possibly seven and a half, but we cannot measure 
what is not there. Placing the head between up- 
rights and measuring carefully I got 217% inches 
over all, These horns had several chunks knocked 
out, as all old rams usually have. They were 
rough and very interesting as very old specimens. 
Part of the skull of No. 2 was broken away so 
that it was not in the way in measuring from tip 
to tip. The left horn was very badly broken and 
split like a broken stick; some of the splits were 
over two inches long. It looked as though in 
falling the horn had caught in a crevice of rock 
and broken off; it looked fresh. This accounts 
for its being shorter. 
No. 2, from tip to tip of horns outside, 14354 
inches; width over all, 215g inches; right horn, 
1% inches above the base and counting from 
above eye, 1634 inches; following curves, 17% 
inches. You understand that is along the base 
line, which is curved and irregular, I don’t be- 
lieve it should be measured that way. From base 
to tip, 37 inches. This horn was not badly broken. 
It was like No. 1, battered by rocks; 13 inches 
from base it measured 15% inches in circumfer- 
ence; 6% inches from base it measured 16 inches 
in circumference. Left horn, 167% inches around 
base, 1% inches above curve; 15!4 inches 13 
inches from base; 1713-16 inches around base 
following curves; 34%4 inches to broken or bat- 
tered end. 
No. 3 is a very fine head but much younger, 
ends not battered, had not grown out past the 
face or within two inches. Spread at tips, 15% 
inches; over all, 19% inches. Left horn, 17% 
inches close to curves but not following, 183% 
inches following curves; 3334 inches long; 9 
inches from base, 157% inches. Right horn, 1834 
inches following curves, 17% inches above curves 
at base; 33% inches long following frontal curve; 
9 inches from base, 1534 inches around; both 
horns 1634 inches around 1% inches above base 
above eye. 
Mr, Sheard had a buffalo mounted which I 
measured also. No. 1 buffalo, 25%4 inches from 
tip to tip; 324 inches wide over all; 1734 inches 
outside length of horn; 127% inches around base. 
Mr. Sheard wanted me to use a tape measure he 
had, thinking mine was not correct; but his was 
the kind tailors use. I made them less than most 
of the parties whom he says measured them, but 
he appears satisfied with my work as correct. 
T. E. Horer. 
Mitchell Sabattis. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
Your note of appreciation of Mitchell Sabattis 
in the issue of May 12 must waken response in 
many hearts. His passing is the severance of one 
more thread in the web of romantic interest that 
has so long enwrapped the Adirondacks, and is 
of interest to every lover of the woods. In a 
very broad true sense, he was a child of nature. 
Those who knew him were fortunate. Those who 
did not have missed something that cannot be 
replaced. The writer did not meet him till after 
he had ceased “guiding,” but it was a pleasure to 
have him at the Adirondack summer home and 
listen to his talk. The last time he was there 
he was on an errand for the Methodist church at 
Long Lake, of which he was a devout member, 
and the earnestness of his appeal left no doubt 
of his sincerity. It is a pleasure to furnish a 
photograph that your readers may look on‘ his 
manlv face, and that the memory of one who 
“lived up to his light’? may be justly honored. 
JUVENAL, 
