El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-12-27
Written for the Herald.

WFHocD IoT the f1eTdlu.
Fer the interest and information of
the many tourists and hunters that are
now visiting your thriving little city.
/ give the following Renaissance of
a hunting trip / had the pleasure OF
making last year. and which / hope to
be able to enjoy again this year.
On the tenth of November hunting
party. consisting of ten, including my
self, all thoroughbred Texans, lett
Casas Grandes for a fifteen day hunt
in the Businesses of the Sierra Madre
mountains to the southwest Of that
point
At 81 Paso we bought our fire arms
and ammunition, and at Casas Grandes
we procured the other necessary arti-
cIes - furnish our outfit. Guides,
horses, wagons. and provisions we
found were to be had at nominal
figure. We had a matchless outing
and in figuring up our total expendi-
ture, On our return. we found that our
total expenses were a great deal less,
than il would have been to stay at Ell
Paso, or go to any point in the United
SCates, for it must be remembered that
in Mexico, everything is on a basis of
about two for one in the Americans
faver.
From Oasas Grandes we went up in
the mountains, north and northwest Of
Colonia Pacheco. In that section is
found a very wild region, yet of easy
access, and in it's there is nothing to
mar the beauty and grandeur of ma
lures handiwork; and if there is such
a thing as Garden of Eden on earth
for the sportsman, then that section
is an excellent representative of it, If
it is not the real article.
Thousands of acres of gigantic pine,
oak. cedar; big expansive mesas, COW
cred with excellent grass, and on which
roam countless bands of antelope, who
bound away for a few yards at the
near approach Of man, and there stand
and gaze at him, as if he were from
some other planet, and with an express
sion in their eyes, which seems to say
Il dare you to shoot" Up among the
buckle berry and juniper bushes is
found an ynumber of bear, deer and
turkey; while everywhere there is an
abundance of water, furnished by nu-
merous rivulets that trickle down the
rugged mountain sides and out across
the mesas and furnish the only article
by which man should rightly quench
his thirst.
Ia that region are the head waters
of some of the most important rivers
of northern Mexico. The scenery in
srandness and beauty is almost beyond
description and as the poem says,
The scenery to ones fancy appeals,
And Old Sol, in early morn, as he
comes forth,
StrewS the earth with oriental pearls"
Every time l think of that grand
region, il brings forth a strong desire
to retire from business cares and go
to that region where nature has been
so lavish with her gifts, especially with
magnificent climate. plenty of wood
and water. and the very best of hunt
ing.
While there we certainly killed all
the game we could use, and if we had
desired We could have killed many
times as much more, but as we all be-
long to the League of American Sports
men, we refrained from such wanton
slaughter
This was m yfirst trip hunting in
Mexico, and in fact the first trip had
ever made after big game, consequent
ly it took me some time to get over a
bad case Of buck ague," when a big
buck would show up. However, there
was one feature of the country that
greatly aided me in the chase, and that
was the absence of thick underbrush.
Ut course there was some small thick
e.,
but generally speaking the country was
as devoid of underbrush as a Kansas
prairie.
One day while out hunting 1 had a
slight encounter with old bruin him
self, which was rather exciting for the
time being, and one which l will not
soon forget. 1t was purely an accident,
but unavoidable.
AS a general thing the party would
hunt by pairs. or else would take along
a mozo and some burros to help carry
the game home, which we killed in
quantity, much prefer
ring to kill a large supply and then
rest few days and enjoy the feast,
and then kill another supply; this
mode of life just suited our Mexicans
too. 1 can tell you
One day 1 took one of the mozos,
three barrOs and my saddle horse,
which BY the way, was undoubtedly
the wiriest animal that 1 ever rode. He
was enc of those bald face ponies with
white eyes-just the kind to keep up
a chase all day and at night be as fresh
as green pumpkin.
During the morning l killed white
tail deer, two antelope, and three tur-
key, the carcasses of which had load
ed On the burros and turned our little
caravan homeward. On looking at my
watch l found that it was almost noon,
and On taking our bearings found that
we were fully ten miles due west of
the camp 1t would have been impos-
sible to reach camp before late in the
day. and as l had a ravenous appetite,
which always goes with that country,
it wolla have been too much like a
case Of starvation to wait for dinner
until camp was reached, consequently
we made for small rivulet not far
distant On the bank of this stream
my moao kindled a fire, while l drew