St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1872-03-08
st. cSuhmsburp Galrdunian.
A Buffalo Hunt.

At this time. when Princes. Judges.
Senators and Generals are on the Bniia-
10 (properly Bison) war path. Il deScrlP-
ton of "A hunt. from an active ana ire
quent participant. may not he without
interest to your readers.
ON bright january morning our
hunting party leave the Post at the
head ride two Licutcmants. neither OF
whom is a novice at the business the
tall one on the left. Lieut.. y. command
ed ii company of scouts during the re
bcllion he rides a large powerful horse
and across his saddle lies a Springfield
brecch- loading rifle, one of the most eff
fectivc firearms ever mounted. and he
is II dead shot; on his right mounted
upon an Indian pony whose every mo-
ton shows speed and endurance. rides
Lieut.. W. who carries il revolver only
and is said to he an adept III ITS use
Next come two Soldiers. well mounted
armed with rifles. these four are to do
the hunting. OF running. as 1t Is term
ed, following these come the butchers.
six in number. >lung t" their saddles
are knives. hatchcts, and aNeS; and III
rear two siX-mule teams.
For two hours we slowly wind our
way across beautiful rolling prairie.
In the distance can he seen Il few small
herds, here and there IL solitary bull.
who getting right of lis, turns around
resembling the motion of the walking
beam of Il steamboat. and Is soon lost
to veiw. At length we get sight of ii
larger herd. several hundred ut least,
right in front of us. The column halt>.
the Nimrods divcst themselves of over
coats, tighten the saddle giIthS. mount.
and approach the herd from tine lee
side, under cover of Il small elevation.
When about hundred yards away.
the herd take the alarm and away they
90, Il distinct "nOW" and We are after
them.
The long bounding stride of one, the
flashing eye and eXultant look of the
other. showed that horse and rider
were eager for and dreaded not the CON
test. In Il moment we strike the herd
and the sport begins. the sharp crack of
the rifle, the dull HHd of the striking
ball, the rushing, roaring sound of the
passing herd, the sharp hleat of the at-
frighted calf, the deep below of Il
wounded bull. the mad charge of all in
furiatcd COW, all conSpirc to render the
situation one. once experienced. never
to be forgotten.
Those armed with rifles keep to the
right of the herd and as they tire" ffIc
horses anticipating Il charge from the
wounded animal. Swervc to the right.
He with the revolver. on the contrary
rides on the left of his victim and keep
ing his horse about SiN feet from and
two feet in rear of the animals head.
discharges his shots. aiming Just behind
the animals shoulder. If the hutlal"
turns he gives the horse the spur and
rein, turns IN the saddle and if posi-
bile sends ball through the animals
heart or shoulder. If successful I'LL Ii"ht
if not his safety depends upon the speed
of his horse.
AS soon rs one buffalo is killed or
badly wounded. You go for another,
and So on until Your horse is exhausted.
A good hunter finds little difficulty in
loading on the gallop and can frequent
~ kill six at ii run.
The butchers follow in rear of the
hunters and as soon as the first animal
is down they are at their work. only
the choicest parts are taken, often the
tongue alone sinful waste some
may say. To all such | will simply re
ply. Put yourselves i'll our place"
and We will mechiy receive any STONES
that he who would then he without sill
may hurl ut us
To he gOOd buffalo runner requires
an expert rider. IL cool head. stout heart
and steady arm. There is Il spice of
danger, Just enough to make il interest
ing, as the following adventures of
numbers of our party will show: Lieut..
Ms horse became nearly exhausted.
and when he fired upon and slightly
wounded IA COW, she charged upon him.
His horse, having turned aS he fired.
and not seeing the buffalo. stopped
and would not bulge pace. (N. b.
would say that those who infer from
this that Lieut.. y. belongs to the so
ciety for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals" and did not spur his horse.
are mistakenly Turning i'll his saddle
he fired. and the animal fell dead at his
Lieut.. W. having wounded il ycaIling.
severely as he thought. dismounted to
have some fun as he termed it, when
the buffalo event for him, and for "A
while it was hard To say which WAS do
ing the hunting, the Lieut.. SAYS that he
was ''only running the brute. HE
was certainly dodgjmg him, but after
three shots he brought him down. one
Soldiers horse fell when in full galIop
and there was some lofty" which soon
became ground" tumbling.
But after hard days work and an
Unlimited amount of sport, the hunt is
over, and as the mantle of night was
falling fast, two teams bore across the
ice, .tOur toms of beef. good and nice.