The Helena independent., 1893-12-08
THE ANTLEREO MONARCH
Hunting and Following the Elklin
tho Rocky Mountains Of
Colorado II
Over Rocks and Snow Eight
Thousand Feet Above the
Level OF the Sea-
one Of the Most agnillcont sights of
Earth-A Case ot Hnok Asus-
Hull Elks.

"Hist !" 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. 1t meant
nothing to the tenderfoot, but both guides
exclaimed, "Elkp p "There, up yonderp
said one Of the guides, pointing to a high
peak OF the Flat Top range, now family
touched with the tints of coming dawn.
The camp where the three men lay under
the stars, their horses picketed near at
hand, was beside the swift Williams fork,
in green valley OF Routt county. Colo,
nearly 5000 feet above the sea level The
height, whence fell chat mysterious call,
rose snowy and pine clad 1000 or 5000
feet higher
1t still lacked more than an hour Of sun
rise, and one of the guides had to be dis
patched down the valley to it's sole farm
house in search Of supplies. 1t was, there
fore, late in the morning before the ten
derfoot and his two :,....ci were climbing
on broncho buck toward the far line of the
green timber. The plan was to go thus far
with the horses, and leaving them on the
upper edge OF the aspens to 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 unfit for horsemen.
One after another bare rock crowned peaks
and far tree clad or grassy valleys were
unveiled to the travellers. The tenderfoot,
unused to the atmosphere Of that high al
titude, found his throat parched and his
lips cracking with thirst long before the
aspens had been passed. The green tim
ber once reached, the hunters cast the
reins over their horses' heads and left the
animals standing thus with the certainty
that they could be found when needed.
Then began that weary ascent Of the
snowcladheights. It had been agreed that
not even the great sprawling plantigrade
track Of the grizzly bear should draw the
was the object of that expedition, and elk
alone should claim their attention.
They would have joined in no such
noisy sport, nor would they have stopped
to prepare their game for the spit had they
known that the elk herd was onl y 500
yards away. Elk in that part of the
Rockies 60 in droves that may number 40
or SO. 1t Is not uncommon for single
great bull to lead polygamous family Of
Is or 30 cows, with half dozen younger
bulls hanging about the edge of the
herd. The head of this strange household
usually keeps his wives in single file ahead
of him, and in this fashion they traverse
the mountains. When sudden thirst
selves 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
in his way, and thus the whole herd is
started in headlong gallop down whatever
rough steep leads to the valley below.
This downward flight of the elk herd, 80
or 40 great creatures, swift rs galloping
horses, sure footed us the Andean llama,
is one of the sights of the Rockies
While the second guide talked softly
with the tenderfoot of the elk s ha bits the
first guide, IL sturdy young blacksmith from
ahead. AS things stood thus, he sudden
ly called in IL loud whisper and beckoned
the lnggards onward with gesture of ex-
element. -As the tenderfoot hastened
over the 80 or 40 yards of snow between
himself and the blacksmith, the latter
pointed onward through the pines, and
the tenderfoot saw through short vista,
for the first time in his life, wild elk free
upon his native ground. The great crea-
ture loomel large as n big COW, it's branch
ing, massive horns extending far along
its sides. The tenderfoot was utterly out
of breath, half wild with excitement and
the victim OF buck fever.
"Take your shot," said the guide in q
whisper denoting suppressed excitement,
as he held the straining hound. The
tenderfoot raised the winchester to his
shoulder, but the weapon wobbled as If in
the hands of Il palsied man. The guides
looked with Il sort of professional horror.
Still the gun wobbled and its owner did
not shoot. "For God s sake, keep that gun
quiet!' whispered II guide hoursely, By
this time all could see Il dozen more elk
moving about through the forest, but the
great bull still stood in silent contempla-
tion of the hunters. The tenderfoot, de-
spairng of himself knelt down and clasp
ed his shaking weapon aguinst his should
er. Then, determined not to be hurried
into bad shot, he watched the trembling
muzzle until it passed across the breast of
the bull. Then he fired. The great crea-
ture leaped from his place, and the guide
fired at his retreating figure Suddenly
the woods seemed full of the swift NOV
ing elk. The hunters shot and shot again.
The dog was now in full cry, and the hunt
ers followed the game as rapidly as possi-
BILE. The whole herd was plunging head
long through the green timber. One bull
was fastening with the dog at his heels.
The dog would seize the fetlock, drop it,
and crouch rs the great creature kicked.
Finally, the dog, still clinging to the
bulls hind leg, was dragged over fallen
log. AS the bull took his leap one of the
hunters fired, and the elk fell dead
The air was now filed with the sound
of the retreating elk as they plunged
through the underbursh. The herd was
rapidly getting out Of range, and the hunt
ers paused to note what execution they
had done. Three elk bulls lay dead. That
which the tenderfoot had first fred at had
moved only n few feet from his original
stand The bullet aimed with so much
difficulty had reached his heart. The
guide had inflicted only slight wound.
Two of the great antlered heads were
taken Off by the guides. 1t was impossible
to carry AWAY the flesh or even the skins.
and the party, heavily laden with the ant
lers and choice portions of the meat, start
ell downward through the green timber to-
ward the horses The journey was made
with lahorious slowness in Difference to
the tendcrfoot's S wornout condition. The
horses We're sighted after three hours, and
found patiently waiting almost exactly
= l,u huI laft lpr il. I,