The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1892-01-28
HUNTING THE ANTELOPE.
Soma Incidents Ia the Experience Of
That Mighty Nimrod, Theo-
dore Roosevelt.
Skill in HandlinG the Long Range
Fife Required In Antelope
Hunting.
---
Two ways in which They Are Pursued,
The Antelope . Beast Of tho
Prairie.

MI L
Prairie.
Written tor THE HELENA INDEPENDENT
The chase Or different kinds Of game an
imals Of tho west calls for widely different
capacities in the hunter himself. The man
who hunts the biz horn or mountain sheep
must, above all things, be q good climber,
stout in wind and limbs, able to stand
fatigue and hardship. Tbs Same qualities
in a somewhat less degree are needed in
the pursuit Of the black tail deer. On the
other hand, tho hunter Of the white tailed
deer needs especially to show stealth and
caution and to POSSESS the capacity to hit q
snap shot, running, ut close quarters. Inc
man who hunts tho grizzly in thick timber
often has TO display 9 good deal Of nervo
and GOODNESS.
In shooting antelope. however, the one
quality OF moro use than all others is skill
in handling tbs long-range rife. Antelope
are hunted in two ways: the frat being with
rreyhounds on horseback, the second, with
the rife. Now, in most game shooting, the
shots are usually obtained ut under q hun
dted yards. Tho shot at 4 whitehall is apt
to be q running one at less than that dis
lance. The b~laek-tail and big-horn are
usually killed at from fifty to LOO yards.
The ~prong-buck. or prong-horn antelope,
must usually be shot at greater distances.
In ne other Kinds Of game shooting are 80
many Ghots expended for every animal
killed as in antelope hunting.
In all its habits the prong-horn 10 the
reverse of the whitehall deer. The white
tail deor relies mainly upon is nose, its
sight being only ordinarily good. me
prong buck on the contrary trusts onlehy
to its great, bullying eyes. situated right at
the bnse Of the horns, like a pair OF twin
Telescopes. A whitehall spends the day IN
tho thickest and most secluded cover and
ventures out at night. The prong buck
mover goes to cover at all II II can pc pos
tho day 40 ut night. The Whitehall ls e.
ways seeking to avoid observation. 1t tries
to escape danger by not being seen, trust
ing by choice always to its power Of hiding
and skulking. Tho antelope, On the other
hand, never tries to escape observation at
all, but trusts purely to its own watchtul-
ness. II does not care a rap whether or not
il ID soen itself, 80 long as il can soc its toes.
The .untslOpe id the beast of the prairie
and the wide rolling plains. 1t can travei
very fast for long distances. 80 1t 10 often
found many miles away from water, on
U buu-DnkCu HUlCGGAOU u kLSAAAA WAV'S oAN
cactus and sage-brush and occasional
patches Of coarse grass form the only veg.
citation. In consequence OF the hat, open
nature Of its haunta, it is a peculiarly dlfn-
cult animal to stalk and ~ a rule it 10 only
by chance it can be approached closely. IN
within range for a very long shot and allow
several rounds Of cartridges to be Tired.
which probably only kick up the dust near
BY. II is always tempting the hunter to
take a long shot at it, and it is for this rea-
son that SO many cartridges are nreo Ior
every head Of antelope bagged.
One Of the features Of prong-buck char
actsr is extreme curiosity. Even when
frightened or surprised, SO great 10 it's Curl
osity that in places whore 1T 10 not muoh
huntsd il ia often possible to allure It to-
ward the hunter by lying down and waving
a rad flag al tho end of a stick. When the
antelope secs such g performances going on
it runs away a short distance, then goes
slower, ihalts, runs to and fro, stamping the
ground and snorting, and by degrees, in a
succession of short runs, approaches to
within range of the reoumbent hunter.
Under fits OF panic and terror, the prong
buck will act without the least regard for
IT'S own safety and may plunge right into
the danger it is seeking to avoid. Antelope
follow one another like sheep and II an. an
imal gets started in one direction the others
follow it in Z mad race and. BY thus nc
AAAN 50 NHHS ="
path of destruction.
Once I renlsmber Of trying to creep up on
a band Of twenty-five or thirty antelope
when I finally had to content myself with 9
shot from a distance Of over 400 yards. !
stood behind a hill as I Shot and leaped out
on the brink to SEQ the result OF my marks
manship. My bullet merely knocked up
the dust to one side of the master buck of
tho band. Away went tho antelope in q
compact body, but when they had I'm Oo
yards or go they suddenly halted and came
up into line like SO many cavalry, tho brown
and white facings ON their necks and heads
giving them the appearance of being
uniformed. In another minute they tore
directly for the hill on which was stand
ing, and going straight to its base, sepa-
rated into two bands which, passing on
either side Of me within seventy-tive yard 9.
gave me an opportunity to kill one and
wound another. which I eventually got.
Again, [ remember once, while riding
across the open prairie, seeing q body OF
six or eight antelope drawn up and looking
at me. They were then within a half-mile
to ono side of me. Being ofar OF, made
no effort to go after them, but logged along
Oh the trail ! was following. For some
reason, however, they evidently thought l
was trying to head them of, and after a
few seconds' hesitation they made a dash
obliquely to my line of travel. AS soon as
/ saw what they were doing I put spurs to
my horse and ran him az hard az I could
along tho trail. When tho antelope saw
my horse running, they Strengthened out
and went faster than before, but made nc
effort to alter their course or turn back.
although they had the whole prairie behind
them. BY desperate running | succaeded
in reaching the point where their line OF
flight crossed tho trail almost ut the very
moment that they did, and, leaping off my
well-trained old hunting horse, l shot the
master buck, a fine fellow with big horns,
til cugh the shoulders.
Usually, however, / have obtained my
game while riding among the outlying COW
camps, and happening by chance upon
bands; or else by making a regular hunt
with the ranch wagon on prairies whore the
anteloge abound, and killing the sharp.
eyed, pretty creatures by fair stalking and
long-rangs shooting. Sometimes l have
had to crawl for half q mile. taking advan-
tage OF every sage bush and big tuft Of
grass before l could get within range, and
even so l should hesitate to tell about the
number OF my misses.
The most exciting method of killing the
antelope, however, is with the aid of grey
hounds. Nothing can exceed the sport oil
such q desperate race over the plains, the
wify cow-ponies making their best speed
under whip and spur, with far ahead the
fleet ~greyhounds, closing in on a prey
scarcely less fleet than themselves. The
antelope is the swiftest runner on the
plains, though there is erent variation
uroox,r %hapa IN Abiu ,narnrt. fhnrn prn