Wichita eagle., 1890-01-14
HUNTING IN THE SIERRAS.
ADVENTURES OF A SPORTSMAN IN
PURSUIT OF MOUNTAIN SHEEP. i,

A Nirnrod Imprisoned Anon. the Rocks
of "Old Badly" for Two Days-The Nat
ure and Range of This Magnificent Noun
tain Game-A Sight That Cant Be Beat.
Thirteen mountain sheep in month IN the
Sierra Madres; Whist do you say to thatE'
asked local sportsman Of the Pasadena
correspondent of the San Francisco Chron-
icie Il have followed these animals for
weeks he continued, '.in the most lnacces-
able portions of the con sinentl divide, and
had as much luck as this" 1T Is too much
luck" said one of the group, they won't
last, though few sportsmeE care 10 Iouo"
them for any length of time. owing 10 the
terrible country over which tiMy run
NATURE OF THE MOUNTAIN GAME.
The geographical range of our species Is
wide. being found from Alaska to Mexico, the
inaccessible mountains OF New Alexlco, the
Bad Lands of the W bite river, Little missouri,
etc, being famous places for them In nearly
all these places the animal is wary and dill
cult to approach, and the sportsnan VINO
makes bag may consider that he Las won
his spurs.
The point about which these animals con-
gregate in the Sierra Madre, seems to "a, the
slopes of MouVt San Antonio, the loft lest
peak in the vicinity of Los Angeles, and p r.
haps forty miles distant as the crow fiiet
About this mountain and its ramifying'
ranges the mountain sheep makes its home,
ranging up to high attitudes in summer and
coming lower down as the peak becomes COW
cred with snow, as it is at present. They are
found in flocks Of from three or four up to
twenty, the old rams generally consorting to-
gether, the females and others keeping by
themselves.
Zone OF the most exciting incidents of my
life" said an old hunter in the San Gabriel
valley, twas on the slopes of that old noun
tain, pointing to Old Badly, "acd after these
mountain sheep That was years ago, when
tenderfoot was such rarity that Ii you
could have put one in a cage you'd have
made YOUR fortune showing him around IN
Los Angeles.
Il had a man working for me who had
been rancher up in Montana but the In
dams made way with his family and he had
wandered down my way and stuck to me.
He was a great hand for mountains; would
go of and stay there for week at time,
sort of hermit like, and l never thought any
thing of it, When he came back from one Of
these trips he said he had seen a band Of
mountain sheep, the same he had shot in the
northern country, and nothing would do but
that he must take his rifle and 90 off on a
hunt. l concluded to take hand myself,
so, packing our blankets, off we started fixed
for a week.
eve struck up the big canyon over yon-
der, followed it up for ten miles, then we
turned off, and the second day we were at
the foot of Old Badly. Did you ever climb
itg No! Well, take my advice; try it be-
fore you die. You can stand on the summit
and see a sight that can't be beat on this
continent On one hand you have desert,
on the other the fairest land the sun ever
shone upon, with its orange groves and vine
yards.
ave started up the mountain very early
in the morning. Dickson took the lead-he'd
been there many times before, and knew all
about it followed along. He called it q
trail, but it led over powders and rocks
that VOW no mortal but himself had ever
been over. The course led around the
mountain, taking us in circular direction,
and reckon we had tramped i've miles with
out saying word when Dickson stopped and
dropped behind rock and l followed suit.
He had seen mountain sheep, he said, and
thought there were others. 1 looked around
the corner Of the rock, and sure enough,
about half a mile away, after a time saw
something standing on rock that looked like
sheep, as far as l could tell. To MAKE
sure thing Dickson said he would go up and
around into range and l was to go below and
take my chances.
This agreed upon we began to glide away
slowly and carefully, keeping behind the
rocks so that the animals would not see US,
and to the leeward SO that the scent would
not give US away. In few minutes lost
sight of Dickson aud had to pick my own
way. kept sight Of the animal, and when
fairly near it l saw that it was q buck or ram,
with great horns covering almost the entire
head. As the old fellow stood out against
the sky he presented a noble appear anca,
can tell you. / expected every moment to
hear the crack of Dickson's rifle, but it did
not come, SO took the shot myself, and as
the smoke blew away saw the big ram leap
into the air and disappear.
IN A MOUNTAIN CAGE.
loading I'D, clambered over tho rocks
lowering myself over some and climbing
others, until finally reached the bowlder on
which the game had stood Ii was shelf
that extended out over the side OF the mount
ain, and as l crept under it got a glimpse Of
the ram He had leaped when struck, or
fallen down about ffts feet, and rolled into
crack or oTeyice IN big bowlder. l did
not stop to think, but Laid my rita, canteen
and blanket the rocks got over the edge
and slid down, and | can tell you / went like
a rocket L landed all in heap on the ram,
and for minute or 50 lay there hooking at
the big horns and wondering how they would
look over my door. / could not hit the BODY.
1t weighed well on to three hundred and
twenty pounds. Tnen it flashed into my
mind that | could not haul It out anyway,
and, worse and worse, after | gave q coupss
of looks up the rock, l came TO the conciu-
sion was in for it, made rush up the
side, got about SIX feet, and back slid, Gagged
es sure as life.
''How blessed that ram and my foolish
ness in being 50 brash you can guess Dick
son had most likely gone of after the rest OF
the band, and might not show up for week,
as be had trick of doing, and IN the mean
time I'd be done for. The place had fallen
into was big split In the rock, checked at
both ends, bat as straight as die, and 50 far
apart that you couldn't resch both SIDES.
was trapped, and there was DO way OF getting
out; 10 rife TO fire, no water-IothIng. 50
began to shout, hoping Dickson might hear
me, then 90 toss stones INTO tie air, hoping he
might SEES them.
TO make long story short it was two
days before help came, and by that time l
was pretty nearly done for. | heard a shot
then. and gave a shout as loud Is could and
threw UP rocks ana ces of the goat, which
had Gu. NJ and = Il 70 eat, soaring away
the buzzards thai were ali about waiting for
ne. Finally / saw Dicksons face looking
over the edge, ard tsat setsled it, The next
thing I knew | fels something knocking