Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes Co., O. [Ohio]) 1870-1895, 1871-01-12
Hunting Rocky Mountain
Sheep.

- w uau DSe0 at our new camp sew
eral days, and taken all the game
we wanted, when, one morning,
determined to climb the mountain
peaks and have hunt after the fam
Gus mountain sheep. My compan-
ions liked the idea of dash at the
''hard heads,' and we all three set
out together. The sun met US as
we toiled up the sleeps, and it was
scarcely half an hour high when La
Frombe, who was in advance, halted
and pointing to a cliff half a mile
distant, said, "There they are We
looked in the direction indicated and
saw a group of four sheep walking
along the edge of precipice. They
had not vet discovered US, and we
stood still until they passed out of
sight behind some projecting rocks,
and then ran as fast as We could
along the mountain side until we
were directly under where we had
seen our game. Carefully ascend
ing from crag to crag, we were not
long in coming upon their fresh
tracks, and now we crept along,
looking carefully. ahead at every
turn. Presently La Frombe pointed
to the right, and there, standing on
a rock, scarcely two hundred yards
from US, were three large sheep. We
each selected sheep-La Frombe
taking the one on the left, the San
tee the one in the middle, and l the
farthest on the right. At signal
from La Frombe we fired together,
and when the smoke cleared away
saw one sheep lying on the rock. |
ran as fast as | could uR the rocks,
and arrived in time to see the other
two big horns going around the
bluff a quarter of a mile of. La
Frombe had killed his game, but the
Santee and had missed our mark.
1, however, noticed blood on the
stones, knowing that one of the
other two was wounded, determined
to follow them. Leaving La Frombe
and the Santee to skin and dress the
dead animal, 1 climbed from ravine
to ravine and rock to rock for nearly
an hour, and had begun to despair
of seeing my game again, when l
unexpectedly came upon some blood
and tracks. / saw where the sheep
had lain but a few minutes before,
and as there was some soft soil at
this point so 1 could follow the
tracks, 1 crawled carefully along. l
paused often to watch and listen,
but could see nothing, and all was
silent as only the vast solitudes of a
mountain can be. 1 had begun to
descend little, with view of get
ting among some scrubby pines
near by, in order the better to shield
myself from observation, and just as
l reached them, 1 saw a stately ram
walking slowly along ledge of
rocks, closely followed by a small
eve. was yet too far away to
shoot with precision, and as they
were moving slowly, and had not
seen me, l stood still until they
turned the rock. They were NOV
ing parallel with me, and now hast
ened, under cover of the pines, to
get ahead of them, if possible. AT
ter getting one or two falls, and
nearly breaking my gun and neck
over the stones, 1 perceived the
sheep nearly above me, and not over
two hundred yards distant. 1
crawled to the edge of the rock, and
selecting an open spot, where l
knew the sheep would pass, rested
my gun. In moment they ap-
peared, and when the ram came op-
posite the end of my rifle, 1 fired.
The old fellow dropped, rolled over,
turned upon his horns, and fell over
forty feet, lighting on his heads He
was desperately wounded, but still
able to rise. AS he steadied him
self for another jump put third
ball into him, and he lay down on
the rocks. l scrambled up to him,
and when he saw me he made des-
perate efforts to get upon his feet.
He lay upon his side, his great red
eyes rolling fiercely. When l went
near him he bleated piteously, and
struck with his forefeet, at the same
time tossing his great horns savagely
about. 1 tried for some time to get
hold Of him, not wishing to shoot
him again as l had but two charges
left in my gun, and l had left my
ammunition-belt behind, in order to
climb the better. Every time 1 ap-
preached he struck at me, until,
finally losing my patience, 1 pounced
upon him from behind, and seizing
hold of one of his horns, attempted
to draw my huntingknife across his
throat. Throwing back his head
with a strength that surprised me,
he struck me with his horn on the
knee, and almost broke my leg. 1t
was only after a severe struggle that
L was able to drive my knife into his
neck and finish him.
When l had killed the ram l
looked up, and there stood the doe,
hardly fifty yards distant. She had
been looking at the death of her
mate, and now, even as l looked at
her, bounded nimbly away over the
rocks. l fired a shot after her, but
it did not hit her, and 1 sat down
perfectly satisfied with my ram.
1 was not long in signaling my
companions, and presently 1 heard
the long "talla-hor' of La Frombe,
who was coming up the sleeps be-
low me.
l had my sheep skinned and
dressed by the time they came up,
and the pines affording favorable
place, we cut off some of the choice
bits, roasted them on the Goals, and
dined.
We were all three very tired, and
having had enough of sheep-hunt-
ing for one day, we rested for 4
couple of hours, and then, packing
our meat on our backs, began the
descent. Itwas quite late when we
reached our camp, and as we were
weary, and bruised by many o fall
received during the day, we soon
went to bed.
Hunting the Rocky Mountain sheep is the
only sport that approXimates to any thing like
the famous chamois hunting of olden times.
The flesh of these sheep is very good, but they
are exceedingly difficult to kill. When pur-
sued by the hunter, or wounded, they will fire.