Omaha daily bee., 1883-07-10
THE BUFFALO.
His Tramp Will Soon be Heard no
More on the Plains.

Helena Mont Independent.
In going down the Yellowstone and
across the vast region lying betweenGlen
dive and Mandan, one is struck with the
evident scarcity of game. This famous
region, where two or three years ago
herds of buffalo, antelope and deer were
to be seen OF every side, is now, to all
appearances, stripped of its game. For
the entire distance from Livingston to
Mandan | only saw two or three small
bands Of antelope and not a sign of Il
deer or buffalo. The fact is the
slaughter of buffalo and deer
has been immense for the
past two years, and particularly of the
former. 1t is estimated that during the
past winter there have been LOCO hunt
ers engaged in the business of slaughter
ing buffalo along the line of the Northern
Pacific, between Manden and Livingston.
An eagle-eyed hunter got aboard of the
train at Glendive, and he gave me the
following interesting detail as to the mo-
dus operandi in slaughtering herds Of
buffalo: In the first place the expert
enced hunter used the Sharpe rifle, 1890
calibre. With this he can kill at 1000
1di'S' w Z iC SttS IL ilclo VI bull'tlo lC
usually slips up to within convenient
range, from 300 to 800 yards, and always
selects IA COW for his first victim. Hedoes
this for the reason hat the COW is fol
lowed by both her yearling and two-year-
old calves, and they will usually stand by
her to the last. But under no circum-
stances will the experienced hunter kill
his buffalo outright If he does, the herd
will stampede at once. The policy is to
wound fatally, but so that the animal
will dash aroand in IA circle before fall
ing. This it always does when MORALLY
wounded, and after a few moments lies
down. The remainder or the herd are
not alarmed at this, but continue to Craze
or look on dazed spectators of the
tragedy being enacted. After his first
shot the hunter pauses until quiet il re-
stored, and again fires at another COW
with similar results. He always aims to
put his ball just behind the fore shout
der, which will cause death in five
minutes Mt the furthest. When the cows
have all been slain he turns his attention
to the calves, and lastly Ia the bulls.
The experienced hunter generally bags
his entire herd, unless he is so unfortu-
nate rs to drop his game Immediately,
when all the survivors stampede at once.
The buffalo does not scare at the crack of
a gun. He has decidedly more courage
than discretion. 1t is only when the
crack is followed by an immediate fall
that he realizes its deadly nature and
takes alarm. The policy of killing the
cows first and then the calves has result
ted III the almost utter determination of
the female buffalo. Herds of melancholy
bulls can still occasionally be seen, some
times in bands of twenty or thirty, and
often without a single COW. The few re-
naming cows now having their pick of
lovers, and always choose from the young
blood of the herd.
The buffalo bull, after he passes his
fourth year, loses his attractiveness to the
opposite sex and the aversion seems
mutual. Gathering about him his bach
elor friends of equal age, he s%ullcnly re-
tires into the wilderness and forever
avoids the female members Of the herd,
who mate with younger and more uxori-
oms masculines. As | have said the bulls
are about all that are now left Of the
%.ufialo. They largely owe their safe
ty to the fact that their hides are less val
liable than those of the cows, while at
the same time they are far more diff
cult to kill. The hide Of the bull is only
worth to the hunter from 81 80 to
50, while that Of the COW brings S.25,
and that Of the twO-year-old calf is worth
from 81 to 81. 80, But of late there has
sprung up quite a demand throughout
the east for the head Of the buffalo bull.
The well preserved head Of an aged bull
decked out with glass eyes and horns in
tract, will readily sell for $25 in eastern
markets, Consequently the buffalo hun
ter of the future will wage a destructive
war upon the bull tribe, and these veneer
able relics Of a by-gone era will also pass
swiftly away.