Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1883-07-20
THE BUFFALO.

dancing an Irish hing 10 the WING
that shakes the barley!
THE BUFFALO.
His Tramp VIII Soon BE Heard No
More on the Plains.
In going down the Yellowstone and
across the vast region lying between
Clendive and Mandan, one Is struck
with the evident scarcity of game.
This famous region, where, two or
three years ago, herds of buffalo, an
telope. and deer were to be seen on
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 sign of deer
or buffalo. The fact is, the slaughter
of buffalo and deer has been immense
for the past two years, and particular
IL of that former. 1t is estimated that
during the past winter there have
bee thousand hunters engaged IN the
business of slaughtering buffalo along
the line of the Northern Pacific be-
tween Mandan and Livingston. an
eagle-eyed hunter got on the train at
Glendiye, and gave me the following
interesting details as to the modus OPP
erandi in Strengthening herds of buff
falo: In the first place, the experienced
hunter uses the Sharpe rifle, 1890
caliber. With this he can kill at a
thousand yards. When he sees a
herd of buffalo he usually slips up
within convenient range, from three
hundred to five hundred yards, and
always selects COW for his first vic
tim. He does this for the reason that
a COW is followed by both her yearling
and 2-year-old calves, and they will
usually stand by her to the last But
under no circumstances will the eX
perienced hunter kill his buffalo out
right If he does, the herd will
stampede at once. The policy is to
wound fatally, but 50 that the animal
will dash around in circle before
falling. This it always does, where
MORALLY wounded and after a few.
moments lies down. The remainder
of the herd are not alarmed at this,
but continues to gaze or look on, dazed
spectators of the tragedy being enact
ed. After his first shot, the hunter
pauses until quiet is restored, and
again fires at another COW, with SINH
lar results. He always aims to put
his ball just behind the fore shoulder
which will cause death in five minutes
at the furthest. When the COWS
have all been slain he then turns his
attention to the calves, and lastly to
the bulls. The experienced hunter
generally bags his entire herd unless
he is 50 unfortunate as to drop his
game Immediately. when all the sur
vivors 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 resulted
in the almost utter extinction OF the
female buffalo. Herds of melancholy
bulls can still occasionally be seen,
sometimes i'll bands of twenty or thirty,
and often without a single cow. The
few remaining COW now have 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 to be mutual. Gathering about
him his bachelor friends of equal age
he sullenly retires into the wilderness,
and forever avoids the female mem
bers of the herd, who mate with other
and more luxurious masculines. As |
have said, the bulls are about all that
are now left of the buffalo. They
largely owe their liberty to the fact
that the in hides are less valuable than
those of the COWS. while at the same
time they are far more difficult to kill.
The hide of the bull is only worth to
the hunter from 81 50 to 81, while that
of the COW brings 50 25, and that OF
the 2-vear-old calf is worth from 81 to
81 80. But of late there has sprung
up quite 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 intact will readily Seel for S25
III the eastern markets. Consequent
" the buffalo hunter of the future
will wage a destructive war upon the
bull tribe, and those venerable relief
of a by-gone era will also pass swiftly
away-Helena Independent.