The Opelousas courier., 1904-08-27
MOST PRICED OF =
HUNTING OF MOUNTAIN A.s-
A THING OF THE PAST.

AIbV UISAtS0t tsSsS |
Still Good for the Llveliest King OF
Sport. ~
Since the killing or mountain sheep
has been made unlawful at all seasons
in most of the localities where they
now exist In this countrw, and SO
hedged about with restrictsAps as ts
practically preclude it in ders. the
hunting of this rarest and m priced
of all American big game ASpay be
said to have become a thinlksof the
past in the United States. ten sport
would claim many more votarfNs but
for the fact that money and tins en-
tirely beyond the command OF tFhh0laV-
erage hunter are required to rEcn
the districts in which the killingspf
the bighorn is within the law. "a
To go to the famous sheep sectionA
of Alaska-the Alsek and White riV2rlo1
and the Cooks nlet9ountrXC-a months
may prove too brief ana $1,000 may
require outstanding to make both ends
meet.
The sheep mountains of Lower Cal
uornia offer a more practicable n
during hunting ground, says the Los
Angeles Times. On climate, accessi-
bility and expense incident to reach
ing it. this section has incomparably
the best Of the Alaskan districts, and,
in the matter Of the sheep themselves
none the worst. The cream Of the
Mexican sheep country is in the VI
cinity Of the 1O,000-foot peak of San
Pedro do Martens, almost opposite
San Quentin, in Lower California, and
100 miles south Of the head OF the
gulf Of that name.
! The Pinto Mountains lie a little to
the north Of west of the head OF the
| Gulf Of California, and r. the favor
tie sheep hunting ground with the
few who hunt in that section on &C.
count Of the comparative ease with
which they are approached and traV'
ersed.
The presence Of so many sheep IN
the Pintos Is an anomaly. There are
no natural springs upon them and
water only exists through the dry sea-
son in natural tanks In the rock
in the bottoms Of deep canons. At
times these tanks" are said to go
dry, but the sheep are never absent
And in other countries, notably in
Wyoming, sheep are supposed to Wa
ter every day, and one of the faVorite
methods of hunting them there was
to lie In wait at one Of their faVorlte
spring. Nor is the topography OF
these mountains along the lines that
are supposed to conform to the clas-
sic taste of the sheep; they are too
low, and the great rocks and crags
are missing; in short, 1t is SO much
easier to sight and follow the game
than in the haunrs in which n has
been led to expect he will find them
that at first it seems as II all was
not right
But what the Pintos lack In rough
ness is more than made up by the
mountains around San Pedro. Here
are the real sheep mountains OF ira
dition: soaring peak and bottomless
canon: cliff and talu5, crag and es-
carpment, ravine and p~recipice. The
live sheep has all the chance In the
world to elude you and many q dead
one lies un~retrieVed in the inaccess-
ible depths of a dark cavern.
Fortunately sheep are plentiful on
San Pedro, else their hunting would
be q matter of the greatest difficulty.
The foreman of one Of the cattle
CAMPS on the Colorado delta has shot
several there with a revolver, and he
tells of a Mexican family residing
near the east base Of the mountains
that depends entirely for its meat up
on the sheep killed by the o OF
the family, a lad of 16. Tis young
ster two years ago became Possessed
of an old fashioned Martini-Henry
rife, and though; he had had no pre-
yious training with a gun, since that
time wild mutton has been the main
stay Of the family. The youngster
has preserved the skulls and horns
OF the males and has them laid out
In rows upon a great fiat rock near
his house. This rock Is fully thirty
five feet square, but those who have
seen It declare that 1t is covered az
thickly as they can be packed Wlth
a most magnificent collection Of
heads and horns. Around the rock
are scattered the smaller horned
heads of the females, and the bones
Of the animals are as thick about the
place as those Of cattle around G
slaughtef house. The lad knows moth
ing of the value of his stock of heads
and a few boxes of ammunition or {
new gun would undoubtedly purchase
the whole lot. Not @ bad chance fol
q speculation for some n to go IL
with a pack train and bring out
hundred or so heads and place then
on the market. The returns shoult
Justify the expense many times oVez
The Cocopahs are probably mos
hunted of the Mexican sheep noun
tains, but are still good for the livel1
Z. est kind of sport. Here the YUM
people have hunted for years, an
sheep heads are sometimes used TO
rocking chairs in Yuma. These mour
|. tains are a steep and fairly hig
range, rise from below sea level 1
places, and run from a point on tn
international boundary line a mile O
two west of Calexico to a point te
I miles west ofand about even with tn
. junction of the Colorado and HARDY
a srhan rnnnn mhich 10 about fifty mile