Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1883-07-12
SINGLE COPY FIVE GENTS.
NUMBER 46.
THE BUFFALO.


His Tramp Will Soon be Heard No More ON
the Piains--HIs Wholesale slaughter.
In going down the Yellowstone and
across the vast region lying between
Glendiye and Mandan, writes CORE
Spondent, one is struck with the evil
dent scarcity of game. This famous
region, where, two or three years ago,
herds Of buffalo, antelope and deer
were to be seen on every side, is now
TO all appearance stripped of its game
For the, entire distance from Living
Ston to Mandan / only saw two or
three small bands Of antelope, ane not
a sign Of deer or buffalo. To 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 thou
sand hunters engaged in the business
Of slaughtering buffalo along the line !
of the Northern Pacific between Man
dan and Livingston. An eagIe-eyed
hunter got aboard Of the train at Glen
dive, and he gave me the following in
teresting details as to the modus
operandi in slaughtering herds of
buffalo. In the first place the expe-
rienced hunter uses the Sharp rife,
1870 caliber. With this he can kill at
1000 yards When he sees herd of
buffalo he usually slips up to within
convenient range, from 300 to 500
yards, and always selects COW for his
first victim. He does this for the
reason that the COW is followed by
both her yearling and two-year-old
calves, and they viii usually stand by
her to the last. But under no circum
stances viii 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 around in circle
before falling. This it always does,
where mortalF wounded, and after
few moments lies down.
The remainder of 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 is
restored, and agan fires at another
COW, with similar results. He always
aims to put his ball just behind the
fore shoulder, which will cause death
in five minutes at farthest. 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 the entire herd unless
he is 50 unfortunate as 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 dis
cretion. 1t is only when the crack j.
followed by an immed ate fall that b "
realizes its deadly nature and take
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 in bands Of twenty or thirty.
and often without single COW.
The buffalo bull, after he passes his
fourth year, loses his attrac iveness 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 after avoids the female
members of the herd, who mate with
younger bulls. AS 1 have said, the
bulls are about al that are now left Of
the buffalo. They largely owe their
safety to the fact that their hides are
less valuable than those Of the COWS
Nul1o dg blc SdtAC t4AAAO OACy dAO 4u1
more difficult to kill. The hide of the
bull is only worth to the hunter from
$50 to 81, while that Of the COW
brings sS.25, and that Of the two-year-
old calf is worth from 81 to $50. But
Of late there has sprung up quite de-
mand throughout the East for the head
Of the buffalo bull. The well-preseryed
head.of an aged bull. decked out with
glass eyes and horns intact, viii readily
sell for $25 in the Eastern markets.
Consequently the buffalo hunter of the
future will wage destructive war
upon the bull tribe, and tS1se wonder
full relics Of by-gone era will also
pass swiftly away.