The Abbeville messenger. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1884-1887, 1886-07-06
RANCH HUNTING.
Incidents OF Outdoor Life in
the Far West.
Description of the Outfit Used on q Hunt
ing Expedition.

A hunting expedition from the ranch
needs but scant preparation, because all
OF our business is carried on in the open
air, and our whole outfit is such as is
best suited for an outdoor life. After
cattle the most CONSPICUOUS adjuncts of a
COW ranch are horses. Everything is
done and almost all of Zach day is spent
IN the saddle. The horses run free in q
band, which is driven to the corral every
day or to-, when the animals needed at
the moment are roped (no p%lainsman, by
the way, even on any occasion uses the
word lasso; in its place he uses the verb
to rope; it is a sure sign of being a ssten-
derfoot" to use the former), and the rest
of the band again turned loose. Every
day some rider goes out among the
nc~ighboring cattle; and from May to
November most of the hands are away
from the ranch house on the different
round ups. For q short expedition only
three or four men may go, taking q pack
outfit; that is, each man taking a spare
horse, on which his bedding, food and
the indispensable branding irons are
packed. On q longer trip a wagon is
needed. The regular plains wagon is
p~erforce a stout, rather heavy affair, or it
would not stand the rough usage to
which it is exposed. It needs a team of
at least four horses to handle it properly.
can carry a very large load, and, with
its hoped canvas top, offers a good
shelter to a small number of men in the
event of a sudden night storm of rain.
This is the wagon we take when going
on a trip of any duration, but for quick,
light work VIC use the blackboard. This
Will carry n couple of men and their
traps in good style, can 60 almost every-
where, and, moreover, can travel nearly
rs fast rs a man on horseback.
A pair can drag a blackboard perfectly,
although If merely going up to q neigh
boring ranch or to some definite point,
we often put on a team of four, which
BOWL us along over the prairie at a great
rate-trotting or galloping. The stock
saddles used throughout the COW country
are admirably suited for a hunting trip
rs they have pockets in which various
articles can be slowed and things can be
tied on them almost everywhere, thanks
to the rawhide strings with which they
IRE plentifully provided. Thus a couple
OF antelope, or a brace of young deer, or
n big buck can be carried behind the sad
die with perfect ease. Both ranch men
and COW boys habitually spend their days
IN the very costume in which they hunt
broad hat, flannel shirt, trousers tucked
into top boots. In Winter the biting
gales render it necessary to take to fur
caps and coats, great mittens and the
warmest wool lined shoes. Leathern
o~veralls, or 'tshaps'' (the cow boy abbre-
Walton for the Spanish word chaparajos)
are very useful when riding through
thorns or to keep out the wet. The
blankets and bedding that are TAX
en- on a oun up of course do for a hunt
ing expedition. Though we have a tent,
we do not often use it, shielding our
selves from wet weather by sleeping under
the canvas wagon sheet. The cooking
need not be very numerous
kettle and a frying pan, a Dutch oven, so
called, and a half dozen tin plates and
cups, with knives and forks, make up
the not over extensive assortment. Flour.
bacon, salt, sugar, and tea or coffee are
the only provisions that need be taken
along. Of course I am now speaking
merely of short. trips made from the
ranch. If we make longer ones, such as
an expedition after bear and elk to the
Big Horn mountains, which would take
q couple of months, we would need tc
make much more ample preparations