Arizona weekly citizen., 1883-08-04
THE BUFFALO.
His Tramp Will soon he Heard no More on | the Plains

His Tramp Will soon he Heard no More on the Plains.
 In going down the Yellowstone and across the vast region lying between
 Glendive and Mancan, one $ struck with the evident scarcity of game. This fs- nous region, where, two or three years
 ago, herds of buffalo, antelope 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 l only saw two or three small
 bands of antelope, and not sign of a
 deer or buffalo. The fact IS, the slaugh ter of buffalo and deer has been Im-
 mouse for the past two years, and par ! ticularly of the former. It IS estimated
 that during the past winter there have
 been a thousand hunters engaged Tn the
 business of slaughtering buffalo along
 the line of the Southern Pacific between
 Mandan and Livingston. An eagle-eyed hunter got on the train at Glendlve, and
 gave me the following interesting de- taIls as to the mOdus Operandi in slaugh-
 teriDg herds of buffalo. In the first
 place the experienced hunter uses the Sharpe rifle, 40-90 callbre. With this be can kill at a thousand yards. When he
 sees herd of buffalo he usually slips up
 within convenient range, from 3OO to 5OO yards, and always selects a COW for hls
 first vistim. He does this for the reason
 that a COW is followed by both her year ling and two-year-old calves, and the,
 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 stam
 pede at once. The policy Is to wound
 fatally, but so that the animal will dash
 around in a circle before falling. This 1t always does when mortally wounded,
 and after few moments lies down. The remainder of the herd IS not alarmed al
 this, but continue to gaze or look on, i8Zed spectators of the tragedy being enacted After his first shot the huntei pauses until quiet Is restored, and again fires at another COW, with similar r5- suits. He always aims to put his ball just behind the fOreshOulder, which will
 cause death Tn i've minutes at the furth- | est. When the cows have all been slain he then turns hls attention to the calves | and lastly to the bulls. The experienced hunter generally bags his entire herd,
 unless he k SO unfortunate as to droT his game immediately, when all the sur | vivOrs stampede at once. The buffalo does not scare a. the crack of a gun
 He has decidedly more courage than dis l cretion. It IS only when the crack r. followed by an immediate fall that be realIZes its d. adly nature
 and takes alarm The policy Ot killing the cows first and thel
 the calves, has resulted ID the almost ut
 ter extinction of the female buffalo. Herds of melancholy bulls can still Oc
 casionally be seen, sometimes in bauds
 of 20 or 30, and often without a single
 COW. The few remaining cuws now have
 their pick of lovers, and always choose from the young blood of the herd.
 The buffalo bull, after be passes hi- fourth year, loses his attrBctiveness tU
 the opposite sex. and the aversion seems
 mutual. GatherIng about him his
 bachelor friends If equal age he sullenly
 retires into the wilderness and forever
 avoids the female members of the herd.
 who mate with other and more luxurious
 masculines. As I have said. the bulls
 are about all that are left of the buffalo. They largely owe their liberty t0 the fact that their hides are less valuable than those of the COWS, while at rhp same time they are far more difficult tu
 kill. The hide of the bull IS only worth
 to the hunter from Sl.S0 to S2, while
 that of the COW brings S32j, and that ot
 the twO-year-old calf is worth from Sl to S150. But of late there has sprung up
 quite a demand throughout the east for
 the head of the buffalo bull. The we'll
 preserved head of an aged bull, decked
 out with glass eyes and horns intact.
 will readily sell for S25 ID the eastern
 markets. Consequently the buffalo
 hunter of the future will wage de-
 strucIive war upon the bull tribe and
 those venerable relics of a bygone era
 will also pass swiftly sway.-Helens (Mon.l Independent.