Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1891-08-14
SPORT IN CALIFORNIA.
SHOOTING JACK RABBITS WIFI E
RIDING AT FULL GALLOP

door and "a pack of hounds. II am going to
show you, gentlemen" said our host. stsorne
California sport after my own ideas. Brine
up the horses, Bob" he shouted, and Bob
forthwith led up three mustangs, fully sad
died, that appeared to have been kept in the
stable for months on highly excitable diet
for cur especial benefit.
Finally we mounted, and the host mt his
nag at the fence several times, lust to warm
him up. Now, gentlemen" he said as wa
Hoped along the hard road, 1.-THE country our
here way is well supplied with Jack rabbits
and the scheme is to ride them down ON
horseback and shoot them with the rife y
The colonel had supplied us with rifles and
like certain PickwickianS, we were in for if
The country was gently rolling. and we
soon came out into a low brush with patches
of cactus here and there. All at once =,
small brown creature, with black ears. darted
up and in moment was away like a flash
The horses caught the Infection and in a
second were upon a dead run fairly craZpd
with excitement, snOrting, their eyes blazing.
and running like the wind.
Look out for holes" shouted the colonel
as his horse took a badger buIrow. But il
was too late; one of the mustangs landed
knee deep in a burrow, stopped short. while
the rider kept on He was an old hand at
this sort of thing, however, and clearing him
self merely landed on his feet and ran twenty
or thirty feet to return and examine the
mount. Luckily, no bones were broken. and
leaping into the saddle the field was away
again The jack had escaped in the mean
time, but another took his place, and horses
and riders were soon making the hard ground
shake. To hit an animal SO small as a rabbit.
at full run, with a rifle, was seemingly an
impOSsibility, yet the valiant colonel did it.
His horse took him within twenty feet of the
flying jack, when, dropping the lines. he
raised the light weapon which had been huua,
upon the saddle, and i'll an offhand way fired.
The jack bounded three feet into the air like
ball, and fell, moaning like a child.
THE rifle was loaded with shot, colonel
shouted some one. "One shot" laughed the
colonel, as he stopped from the saddle and
picked up the game by the ears Its mere
practice; any one can do it, but will confess
| have been about ten years getting into the
habit. There goes another and away went
the horses who knew a rabbit half a laiIe
away, and enjoyed the sport as much as the
riders. Jacks appeared If by magic: every
bush seemed to afford cover for one or more.
The sharp reports of repeating rifles began
to sound in rapid succession, and little clouds
of dust puffs like smoke rose here and there
all about the flying game, showing how diff
cult thing it was to hit such mark
There Is no use in trying to take accurate
aim" said the shot, as the horses came ND
and rounded to. 1T is matter of intuition.
| believe. take no aim, but point the rifle
where | think the rabbit will be when the
bullet gets there, and in some way they man
age to make connection"
Riding across country at such a speed in
the clear, brdcing air was most exhiIarat-
ing sport, and the Excitement it caused was
astonishing. The horses fairly went mad.
There is something unpleasantly human
about the voice of dying jack. The first |
ever took in courSing was i'll the valley. and
my greyhound had started to the east and
gone out of sight A deep arroyo stopped
my horse, and | was standing i'll the saddle
trying to follow her with my eyes when
nearu piercing Screams and onen means from
the road directly behind me. Thinking that
child had been run ever or injured in some
way, | dropped into the saddle and made for
the road, to find my dog standing over a
dead jack. She had circled and turned him.
and brought it to a finish Immediately be-
hind me. Often when shot on the run the
jack will utter piercing, half human Shrek,
and bound into the air to fall dead; so to an
oversensitive person the slaughter of hun
dreds is by no means pleasant sight.
As the hot sun began to pour down we
wendell our way back to the ranch, and
whiled the time away listening to the yarns
reeled off by the colonel, whose experience
had been rich and racy.
Talking about SPORT" he said, reminds
me of a little experience l had with an
Englishman some Years ago up in the main
range. He came down from Frisco with
letter of introduction TO me, and wanted to
get into the heart of the big game country
1t so happened that l had 400 or 800 head of
cattle up valley and camp there 50 | took
him up and introduced him to half a dozen
cowboys-regular old timers-and they
guaranteed to show him all the bear he
wanted They got it into his head that it
was unsportsmanlike to shoot bear, and
that it should be taken with a lariat; SO he
practiced with a rope at steers, dogs, stunps
and men until he was a very fair hand at it,
and finally one day went off on a regular
bear hunt
st so happened that the boys knew where
there was a large patch of wild grape that
it, fairly sure to find one or more, and SURE
enough they did Coming down a little side
canyon, they came out into level spot, with
patch of trees covered with vines in the
center Some of the dogs were put in, and
in few minutes out came an old brown
bear, snarling and showing her teeth
in a terrible fashion. 'Now's your
chance yelled the boys, and they
all stood back to give my new friend
a chance. tell you he was no SLOUGH; he
put his horse up as near the critter as he
would go, and riding around, dropped his
rope over the bears shoulders the minute
she rared up When she felt the rope she
grabbed at it, but the pony settled back;
then down she went, and began just what
the boys expected, the rolling business.
Over and over she went winding the rope
about her, getting snarled up, but coming
nearer and nearer the pony all the time.
The pony was the first one to tumble to it,
as the boys saw, and began to snort and
buck; but it was no use, the old bear kept
coming, getting more ard more entangled
every moment and finally the pony turned
tail and began to drag her, she yelling and
whimpering and scratching gravel, the horse
crazed: and i'll this shape they came to the
side of the hill. Over the horse went, buck
ing, the Englishman cussing things until
they were blue When half way down, the
rope broke, and, fearing the bear would get
away, some of the boys, who were laughing
themselves sick, put her out of her misery
The boys got rather left trying to fool the
fellow as lac showed so much pluck in trying
to stop the bear that they never tried any
games on him again. After while they
asked him what he proposed to do with the
bear alter he got the rope around him-and
then he saw the joke, and rather thought
the bear was catching him. San Francisco
Chronicle.
The Crow and the Traveller.
A Traveller, whose Route lay along Ger
tain road was much annoyed by the disa-