The San Saba news. [volume] (San Saba, Tex.) 1873-1966, 1889-07-19
HUNTING ANTELOPE.
SPORT ON THE PLAINS OF NORTH
WESTERN TEXAS.
The Fleetness, Beauty and Grace
of the Game and Their En-
durance - Victims of
Intense Curiosity.

The mountains of Northwestern Texas
and the branches Of the Sierra AIadra in
New Mexico, says Fort Davis Texas
letter to the New York Times, now re-
main the only real game haunts in the
whole United States. Within a few miles
Of this fort antelope and deer can be
bagged in any quantities.
Antelope are the most difficult animals
to approach on the North American Con-
tinent. No game has quicker vision or
keener scent, and as to speed, they can
kick their heels in the face of the best
locomotive Invented. beating the engine
easily at tweuty-mile run The vast
treeless desert of Western Texas is the
true home of the antelope Here he finds
shelter and safety, simply because the
endless stretch of loneliness makes it easy
for him to distinguish an enemy and get
beyond the reach Of powder and lead.
We're he to constantly habituate broken
country the hunter could bag him by
still-hunting to the windward, but by
holding to the open plains he avoids this
danger, ever keeping on the alert and
ever ready TO take to his nimble heels
when escape is necessary.
There is no fun in store for the green
horn who attempts to hunt this animal
without understanding its WAYS and
habits. ANY one can hunt and kill a
bison, bear, and many of the other
large animals, but the antelope demands
the most skillful Of huntsmen to compete
with its keen sense of sight and smell,
not TO speak of that other important ad-
iunct, feetness of foot. The power Of
scent Is most acute in them, for they can
readily ''smell man. at 600 yards and
beyond with the most astonishing exact
ness. Their tenacity of life Is beyond all
conception. 1 have seen an antelope with
one leg shot away and hanging by the
tendons alone, outrn and escape from
the fleetest plains ponies. Their race Is
not very long about six or seven niles,
and it is possible that an American horse
might run them down, but, as a rule,
nothing on the prairies can catch them,
and the greyhound Is, after all, the only
four-footed beast in existence that can be
depended upon to keep pace with this
beautiful gazelle OF our Western plains
In stalking antelope the principal care is
to keep out of sight, and next to keep out
of smell
Do not imagine because a band IS two
miles away, apparently feeding and all
with heads down, that none are on the
lookout. The chances are ten to one that
you are seen first, although they may not
move.
When band of antelope scent or see
you they run across the wind for about
900 yards, and then turn and run
straight up the wind. The species are
victims of intense curiosity, and at times
have walked straight into death traps,
all the while knowing and seeming
danger; yet so unbounded Is their curl
osity to investigate strange and unusual
objects that they are unable to withstand
the temptation to look a little deeper and
satisfy this instinct. A hunter possessed
of this knowledge either flags them OF
sticks weeds in his hat while crawling.
So long as not seen, and particularly not
understood, they viii not run, but merely
bound a few steps and halt, or else run
around the strange object in a circle.
Even if scented, though not seen, ante
- 1T 10 know more about EoH
ana the object or your YlsiU before taking
to their heels.
An excellent time to hunt them is Just
before sunset and when about to seek
cover or a bed. Get to the leeward, be-
tween your quarry and the sun, near sun
set, then walk slowly toward the game
with as little motion as possible Unless
scented there Is little danger of a disturb
ance or of flight, for this particular ami
NAL, gifted with such keen eyesight, can
not see anything that is between him and
the sun. have often approached to
within $50 yards by adopting the tactics
described, and yet they did not become
alarmed.
The buffalo viii also pass to the wind
ward ike the antelope, but he viii not
stand such foolishness as sun blindness.
A red flannel shirt Is extremely fascinat-
ing to autelOpe-that Is not while worn
on the person, of course, but when waved
in the air like a flag. 4 red handker-
chief has also charm for them-in fact,
anything of a crimson hue. Any odd
motion or thing will do, so long as you
keep them puzzled.
As a rule antelope browse together in
bands of fifty or sixty, and if in large
numbers among the foothills, on the open
prairie, or elsewhere, a close examination
will discover them congregated in smaller
groups of four or five dozen, who, amid
the multitude, keep closely herded
among themselves. They are neat, clean
cut, handsome and as dainty as a lady in
their diet, feeding upon the tenderest
stalks of grass and the choicest prairie