The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1892-01-17


Western friends in Wyoming. We had
killed a big moose and the following day
discovered that bear had been at the car
cass. So we started ont on the bear hunt
soon after sunset. We got To within 200
yards OF the carcass of the moose, the
scent of the decaying meat constantly
growing stronger, when suddenly heard,
as it seemed at my elbow, the shrill whist
ling wool of a bear. A look at the spot
where the moose lay showed no bear. [
got up within dozen yards of the carcass
and looked in vain for something to shoot
at. i had no notion that a bear was there
after had surveyed the ground, but after
another glance at the dead moose in the
darkness | thought | saw "a motion. /
couldn't see how large the bear was
nor as to how he stood, whether head
or side toward me. AT this moment the
bear again moved and l made out his
shoulders. l threw up my rife, fired and
reloaded. A loud bawl followed the shot,
and the bear came toward me- turning
somersaults over the ground. put in an
other ball behind the shoulder, and the
gymnastics ceased. 1t was a medium
sized grizzly.
Il have secured few white goats, and
during my next hunting trip hope to get
a few more" said he. 1.-The white goat is
not much heard of in hunting stories, as
few Eastern hunters care to pursue il on
the highest and most inaccessible mount
ain peaks. They are fitted only for cold
climates and have very thick blanket of
wool. They are very conspicuous with their
white coats and jet black horns. Their cap
ture necessitates great hardships. Hunt
ing the white goat is as hard work as
have ever undertaken. For white goat we
generally started Immediately after break
fast. The climbing was always very hard
and dangerous, but the scenery grand be-
yond description. Up above the domain
of the deer we climbed and scrambled,
some of the slopes being SO steep that it
was like going up stairs, up jagged rocks
and fine needles, all slippery as glass,
across landslides covered with loose states
and granite boulders, till at last we came
to the round hoof-marks of the white goat.
leading to the clay ticks. These clay ticks
are holes in the banks, and are visited in
the spring time by other animals besides
goats. The goat trails lead away in all di-
rections from the ticks. The goat trails
were not very fresh, and we only came
across two trails that gave us much en-
enlargement Toward evening we saw fine
billy browsing quietly on slide near the
edge OF wood. Every moment or two he
would raise his head to glance around,
with all four feet close together. We got
within $50 yards after extremely careful
stalking, but in trying to shift my posi-
sition | started a small boulder that went
tumbling down the mountain side. The
noise started the goat and he made dash
up the bank. Ny bullet took him in the
left leg as he disappeared over the bank.
We followed the three-legged trail skirting
the cliffs and preclpices. The goat had
stopped to roll in the dust every 500 yards
or so, apparently troubled with his
crippled leg, The trail went up the sharp
est and steepest places. At one spot
! nearly came TO grief, for.
slipped on a ledge and fell over the brink
of precipice. / luckily caught in pine
top, bounced down through it and brought
up in balsam with my rifle Alright and
myself unhurt. i had two hours more of
a chase. Suddenly, on the extreme top of
the mountain, we sighted the wounded
goat. He had Just arisen from rolling and
appeared, as l thought, very weak. He
was behind great log, and fired TO
break his back. My shot only plowed a
furrow above the long spinal bones over
the shoulders. The way that supposedly
fagged-out goat took the trail down the
mountain would have done credit to an
antelope. Determined to capture it, we
took the trail again, and as it led straight
down We followed il at q smart pace. Just
as it was growing dark we caught
up with the wounded goat, stand
ing in clump of trees on
fiat terrace at the foot of series of preci-
piees. As soon as We got in shooting dis
lance the goat started of again. l fired,
and it rolled down with broken neck to
almost the very spot where it had stood. :"
Have you ever hunted buffalo, Mr..
Schurz?"
Yes; but there are so few left in the
West that it is doubtful If the sportsmen
will have an opportunity 10 engage in the
chase of this great animal ever again. My
last buffalo was killed in 1880, when with
some army officers | got within shooting
distance Of small herd. In the Yellow
stone park are few herds under the pro-
lection of the government