The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1903-01-22

come suspicious, restless and ultimately be
frightened off, if the stalker makes by &C
cident (misstep) or carelessness motion
unfamiliar to the deer or its leading buck,
even at q long distance. believe this
readily, not only on account OF the
| Apache's invariable success in hunting, but
also because Marigildo had seen Apaches
stalk and kill deer in the described guise
with bow and arrow from a distance not
| exceeding so yards. We had seen our
| Apache stalk deer, and could not refrain
| from admiring the almost marvellous cor
rectness with which he initiated the deer's
actions In every particular, lowering his
sham head from time to time as If graz
ing, then lifting it high up and looking
| cautiously around for a possible enemy;
then, satisfied that no danger was i'm
minent, lowering his head and bending II
| backwards, as if scratching himself be-
! tween the ribs, as it were, and again re-
turning to his diet Of grass. His motions,
when he was ready to shoot, were very
| few and executed very deliberately, alto
gether without haste. White still "eating
| grass he would keep his left foreleg
steady the ramrod), bring his rife grad"
ually into position, resting it upon the left
wrist, never losing the natural STOPPING
position until the very last moment, when
he would slowly raise his head, look around
in approved deer fashion, take careful aim,
and fire. His motions were so true to
| nature, as we observed him from a dis
lance, that we took him for stray deer
| joining the herd.
Lieut. Harrington and myself, having
| obtained a second deer head, attempted
this stalking experiment, but to no pur-
pose. Long before we arrived to within
shooting distance our backs ached SO that
| we could no longer "eat grass" nor over
come the difficulties of the terrain; neither
did our patience hold out.
| HUNTING ANTELoPEs.
| With the numerous herds of antelopes
| however, we had such good success that
before long the excitement of hunting
them wore off, as it resembled more de.
liberate butchery than the sport of the
| chase There was a long, narrow ravine
stretching along the foot of the Milestone
Mountains; between it and the mountains
| there was plateau upon which the 80.
called fine antelope grass grew luxuriant'
| ". There were nearly always two OF
three herds of these swift and graceful an
imals grazing along this spacious mesa
land; our herders frequently chased them
when the animals of the garrison were
pasturing in that neighborhood, and had
several times succeeded in Capturing and
bringing to the camp an antelope kid toe
weak to follow the chased herd. These
are very pretty creatures, spotted all over
the back In white, yellow and red patches
these spots disappear as the animal grows
up.
Whenever we were hunting in that
region Mr.. Harrington would upon com
ing within sight of our herd make q sig.
nal to our herders, some of whom would
circle around the nearest herd of antelopes
and drive 1t in the direction OF the afore
said ravine, In which we would lie hid
den. after having fastened q handkerchief
to a pole or stick which we planted into
the ground about 100 yards from the edge
of our hiding place. After the herders
had headed the running antelopes toward,
us they would return to their business
and the antelope would gradually abandon
their run, begin to Craze, coming nearer
and nearer to the ravine. They would
soon perceive the rag on the stick futter
ing In the wind and, seemingly compelled
by resstless curiosity, come within cas-!
shooting distance to ascertain, as it were
the nature of the thing that exercised sucl
a power of attraction upon them. Tha
one of them, at least, more often two
would fall a prey to our rifles and, al
though this manuver was frequently re
peated, they never appeared to be awar'
Of the impending danger or to have an!
remembrance of their comrades dealt
into which they were enticed in a simila
manner. 1t is best to shoot an antelope
or deer in such a manner as to break il
shoulder blade, unless one is so sure
shot that he can with absolute certaint,
of success aim at the upper part of tn
! head. An antelope with broken shoul
der blade can run neither far nor fast
and will fall at the shot; while one sho
through the heart will generally give
tremendous jump upwards and not infre
. quently run a distance of over 500 yard
before 1t may drop dead, circumstanc
which more than once caused us to los
the game, as the animal wounded unit,
death disappeared among inaccessible
mountain srass.