The Opelousas courier., 1883-08-04
THE BUFFALO.
His Tramp will Soon be Heard No More ON
the P!ains--His Wholesale Slaughter.

His Tramp will Soon be Heard No More ON
the P!ains-His Wholesale Slaughter.
In going down the Yellowstone and
across the vast region lying between
Glendive aud Mandan, writes a CORE
spondent, n 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, and not
a sign Of a deer or buffalo. The TACT
is the slaughter of bu" 40 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 a thou
sand hunters engaged in the business
of slaughter,ng buffalo alcng the line
of the Northern Pacific between Man
dan and Living ton. An eagle-eyed
hunter got aboard of the train at Glen
dive, and he gave me the following in
teresting details IS to the modus
operandi in slaughtering herds of
buffalo. In the first place the expe-
rienced hunter uses the Sharp rifle,
1890 caliber. With this he can kill at
1000 yards. When he sees a herd OF
buffalo he usually slips up to within
convenient range, from 800 to 500
yards, and always selects a 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 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 around in a circle
before falling. This it always does.
where mortally wounded, and after a
few moments lies down.
The remainder of the herd are not
alarmed at this, but continue to Craze,
or look on, dazel spectators of the
tragedy being enacted. After his first
shot the hunter pauses until quiet is
restored, and aga n 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 thecra k of a gun. He
has decidedly more courage than dis
cretion. Tt is only when the crack is
followed by an immed ate fall that he
realizes it's deadly nature and takes
alarm. The policy of kill g 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 w thout a S nole cow.
The buffalo bull, after he passes his
fourth year, loses his attrac iveness to
the opposite sex, ana the aversion
| seems to be mutual. Gathering about
him his bachelor friends of equal age,
he sullenly retires into the wilderne $,
and forever after avoids the female
members of the herd, who mate with
younger bulls. AS | 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 tho Q 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
$3.50 to So, while that of the cow
brings 1925, and that of the two-year-
old calf is worth from 81 to $3.50. But
of late there has sprung up qu.tea de.
mand 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
sell for $25 in the Eastern markets.
Consequently the buffalo hunter of the
future will wage a destructive war
upon the bull tr. be, and these wonder
full relics of a by-gone era will also
pass swiftly away.