Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1893-12-03
FOLLOWING THE ELK.
HUNTING THE ANTLeREo MONARCH
m THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS.

Buil EihA rs th7 hesnit OF the hAai"-
"Hlstw said the guide, suddenly sitting
! bolt upright In his blanket. He, the ten
derfoot and the second guide all listened
intently, and there fell softly from some
far height through the still mountain air
an oft repeated whistling call. It meant
nothing to the tenderioot, but both guides
exclaimed. "Elkp "There, up yondcrp
said one Of the guides, pointing 10 n high
peak Of the Flat Top range, now family
touched with tho tints OF coming dawn.
The camp where the thee men lay under
the stars, their horses plcketed near nj
hand. was beside the swift Williams fork,
ia green valley Of Routt county, Colo,
nearly B 600 feet above the sea level The
height, whence fell that mysterious call,
rose snowy and pine clad 1000 or 5000
feet higher
IL still lacked more than an hour Of sun.
rise, and one OF the guides had 10 be dis
patched down the valley to its sole farm
house in search OF supplies. It was, there
fore, late In the morning before tho ten
derfoot and his two guides were climbing
on broncho back toward the far line Of the
green timber. The plan was % go thus far
with the horses, and leaving them on the
upper edge Of the aspenB 10 begin the
hunt on foot with the aid Of the trained
dog which was the fourth member OF the
party. The green timber, standing In
deep snow and numbered by many fallen
trees, Is practically unit for horsemen
Que after another bare rock crowned peaks
and far tree olnd or grassy valleys were
unveiled to the travellers, The tenderf0ot,
unused TO the atmosphere Of that high al
titude, found his throat parched md his
Hips cracking with thirst long before tho
mamma Ind hnurt tturuoI Vba f-,.osf, Tim
Der once reached, tho hunters east the
rcins over their horses bends aud left the
animals standing thus with the certainty
that they could be found when needed.
Then began that weary ascent OF the
snowclnd heights IT had been ngreed that
not even the great sprawling plantigrade
track OF the grizzly bear should draw tho
hunters aside from their purpose. Elk
was the object of that expedition and elk
alone should claim their attention.
They would hnve Joined IN no such
noisy sport, nor would thuy have stopped
to prepare their game for the spit had they
known that the elk herd was onl 600
yards away, Elk In TINT part of the
Rockies go In droyes that may number 40
or CO. It is not uncommon for single
great bull to lead polygnmous family OF
10 or 90 cows, with half dozen younger
hhAAh NWhAlllA hbNAh WV NANEt VI INV
herd. The head Of this strange household
usually keeps his wives IN single lie ahead
OF him, and in this fashion they traverse
the mountains, When u sudden thirst
sclzcs the great bull, he starts with mad
rush for the valley where the nearest
stream flows. He strikes with his great
horns the flank Of the first COW that stands
| Ia his why, Hnd thus the whole herd il
/ started IN headlonR gRllop down whatever
rough steep leads to the valley below.
| This downward flight of tho elk herd 30
or 80 great creatures, swift ns galloping
horses, sure footed as the AndoHn llama,
Ia one Of tue sights Of the Rockies
While the second guide talked softly
! with the tenderfoot Of the clk's habits the
first guide, II sturdy young blacksmith from
| distant valley, trrdged some yards
ahead As things stood thus, no sudden
| ly called IN a loud whisper aud bcckoued
| tho lagg0rds onward with a gesture OF ok
I citemcut. AZ the teuderfoot hnstencd
| over the 30 or 40 yards OF snow between
| himself and the blacksmith, tho latter
| pointed onward through the pines, and
tho tendcrfoot saw through short vista,
/ for the arst timc IN his life, wild elk free
upon his native ground. The great Crea
| turc doomed large nsa big COW, It's branch.
! ing, massive hurns extending far along
| itl sides. Tho tcnderfoot was utterly ont
OF breath, hplf wild with excitement md
the victim Of bucl, fever.
"1ako your shot, " said tho guide IA n
whisper denOting suppressed excitement,
~ he held the stminlng hound, The
tCudrrfuot raised the winchester to his
shoulder, hut the weapon wobbled az IL in
tho hands of II palsicd man, The guides
looked with "a sort OF professional horror.
0 . ... a l..
not shoot "Bor God ssake, keep that gun
| QuictW whispered guide hoarsely. BY
this time all could SEQ a dozen more elk
moving about through the forest, hut tho
| great bull still stood In silent contempln-
tion Of the hunters The tcndcrfoot, de.
spalrlug of himself, knelt down and clasp
cd his shaking weapon against his should.
/ err Then, determined not 10 be hurried
| Into n bnd shot, he watched the trembling
mugEle until II passed nuross the breast OF
, The hull. Thcn he fired Tho great crea.
! ture lcaped from hls place, and the guide
1 fired at hs rctrcating ngurO Suddenly
! the woods seemed full OF the swift NOV.
Ing elk The huntors shot and shot again.
| The dog was now IN full cry. and the hunt
| ers followed the game aa rapidly as posi-.
! bic, Tho whole herd was plungiug head.
/ long through the green timber. One bull
] We" uhhltulnk Win the DOG AZ his heels.
] The dog would seize the fctlouk, trop II.
and crouch az the great creature kicked.
! Finally, the dog, still olinging TO tho
BULLS hind leg, was dNggod over a fallen
| log a. the bull took his leap one OF the
hunters fired and the elk fol- dead
The air was now hllcd with tho sound
| Of the rctreating elk as they plunged
| through the undwhursh, Tho herd waa
| rapidly getting out VI range, and the hunt.
ers paused 90 note what execution they
had done Thrce elk bulls lay dead. That
which the tonderioot had nr,t fired at had
moved Gully few feet from his original
stand The bullet aimed with 90 much
difficulty had rcehed his heart. The
gulde had inflicted only a slight wound.
Two Of the great antlCred hcads were
taken on by the guides, Il was impossible
TO carry away the flesh or even tho skins,
| and tho party, heavily ladm with the amt
lera and choice portions OF the mvat start
ed downward through the green timber to-
ward tho horses, The Journey was made
with laborious slowncss In Difference TO
the tcnderfo0ts WORKOUT condition. The
horses were sighted after three hours, and
I found patiently waiting almost exactly