The gale., 1888-03-10
HUNTING WILD HORSES.
A PECULIAR WESTERN PAsTIME
GRAPHICALLY DESCRIBED.
The Singular Habits Of Wild Horses
How They are Hunted by In
dians and WOIfers"

ufanS ana w OIIcrs.
General Brisbane writes from Montana
to the New York W0rd that he has learned
from an old ranchman some curious
facts about the wild horses of the plains.
They have increased SO wonderfully
within the past few years that they have
become an unbearablc nuisance to the
stock growers of the plains. They Craze
in bands of twenty, fifty and even one
hundred and are very difficult to APP
proach. An old stallion generally occu-
pies some elevation, and he will trumpet
an alarm to the herd if he sees any one
coming. In times of danger from wild
beasts the stations form circle and the
mares and colts are put inside. The colts
are often attacked by wolves Or Rocky
Mountain lions, but they never succeed in
killing colt without battle with the
horses, and often the wolves and lions are
kicked and beaten so badly that they
have to beat retreat without securing
their prey. Often wild herd will dis
cover a tame band of horses grazing
quietly in the valley with 10 intention
of leaving their range, but the band Of
wild horses, led on by their stations,
dash down into the valley, capture them
and carry them away. The wild stations
are shot without mercy by the ranchmcn.
If one is seen grazing on a hill he is
sneakcd up to and dropped in His
tracks. They are very alert and difficult
to approach, bat like the tame horse are
easily killed. A bullet in almost any
part of the body will cause the horse to
crop on the plain.
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hunters, but they do not like to be out in
stormy weather and they cannot stand
the cold of winter as well as white men.
In storm is the best time to hunt wild
horses, for then they bunch and cannot
see any one approaching until it is too
late to get out of the way of the bullets.
1t is generally useless for a hunter to at
tempt to run down wild horse with
tame one. The tame one, weighted
down by the burden of the hunters body,
soon tires and the wild horse easily es-
capes. Sometimes the hunters discover
the tracks of wild horses near stream
and they then hunt for their watering
place. The band always waters at the
same place and although right on the
stream, the horses will go up or down it
for mile or more in order to drink at
their accustomed Watering place. Hiding
in the brush or crawling to bluff the
hunter lies in wait until the horses come
to the water, and then shoots them. 1t
is difficult to catch them, as they seem to
know instinctively when hunters are
about, and if they even suspect danger
they will at once leave the locality. A
smoke or anything unusual will stampede
them and they will run forty or fifty
miles before letting up. Their sense Of
smell is very acute, and on the wind side
about mile is as close as hunter can
get before being discovered by his odor,
and the horses are off in jify.
! The winter is the best season for Wild
horse hunting in Wyoming. The ami
mails get discouraged by the deep SHOWS
and become hungry and poor. They are
apt at such times to bunch in the cotton
wood groves, where they eat the bark off
the trees and chew up all the small limbs
they can reach. In winter, too, the
horse hunters can unite with it the bust
ness of "wolfing," Perhaps some people
do not know what ''wolting" is. Well,
q ''wolfer" is simply wolf-hunter, or q
man who kills wolves for their hides and
the reward offered for their destruction.
In earlier years wolves on the plains were
killed only for their pelts. but now they
are killed to save the game and sheep as
we'll as for their pclts. Next to man the
wolf is the greatest destroyer of game.
The gray wolf is dangerous, too, and
will attack anything from chipmunk to
a man. They used to hunt in gangs and
destroy great many buffaloes. They
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until they had hamstrung him, and then
they would kill and eat him. The buff
falo being gone, the sheep, cattle and
small game of all kinds suffer annually
great loss from wolves. Some counties
offer as much as 81 per head for wolf
scalps. A wolfer goes out into the sec
ton of country where the wolves are
thickest and builds him a cabin. He
will then kill one or two antclopes, skin
them and drag the bloody carcass in
pieces all about the country. The meat
Is then poisoned with strychnine and
left near his cabin. The wolves get on
the bloody trails and follow them up un-
til they come to the meat, of which they
cat heartily, and Of course that is the last Of
them. The wolfer has his bats in oil parts
of the country and goes from one to place
another ''skinning up" A wolf pelt is
worth from So to $3 and some large gray
wolf skins bring as much as s. and IS
apiece. There are many different ways of
setting wolf bats, but the poisoned car
cass of an antelope, deer, elk or COW is
the most popular method. Sometimes
wolf bait is set in candies, the wick is
pulled out, the hole filed with styrch-
nine, and then the candle is cut up in
pieces two or three inches long and the
ends sealed or plugged up. This bait is
set by putting bit Of stick in the
ground, splitting it at the top and put
ting the piece of candle between the
split portions of the stick. A wolf is
very fond of candles, and when he comes
along he jerks the bait out of the stick
and swallows it. When the candle melts
in his stomach, which it does in few
minutes, the released strichnine takes
hold on the VOLTS vitais, and then there
is music. The wolf always blames his
trouble on his tail, and he will spin
round and round trying to catch his tail
in his mouth, as have seen dog do
when at play. He will next stand up on
his hind legs and walk about and dance,
but it all does no good. His shrieks and
or;ao of main arn tarrih1a tn haar and