The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1908-12-01

glared and Its teeth grated together.
] felt really sorry to kill It Though
these were both well-known els. their
antlers, Of ten points. were small,
twisted, and ill.shaped; in fact hardly
worth preserving, except to call to
mind a chase In which during a few
minutes l did as much downright hard
work as 1t has often fallen to my LOT
to do. The burnt earth had blackenel
our faces and hands till we looked like
negroes.
The finest bull. with the best head
that l got, was killed in the midst of
very beautiful andsgrand surroundings.
We had been hunting through a great
pine wood which ran up to the edge
Of a broad cnuyon-like valley. bounded
by sheer walls of rock. There were
fresh tracks Of elk about, and we had
been advancing up wind with even
more than III usual caution when. on
stepping out into a patch Of open
ground, e. the edge Of the clif. we
came upon a great bull, beating and
thrashtng his antlers against o young
tree, about eighty yards al. He
stopped and faced US for Il second. his
mighty antlers thrown in the air, as he
held his head aloft. Behind him tow
cred the tall and sombre pines, while
at his feet the jutting crags oyerlIung
the deep chasm below, that stretched
of between high walls Of barren and
snow-streaked rocks, the eYcrgreens
clingfng to their sides, while along the
bottom the rapid torrent gathered In
places into black and sullen mountain
lakes. AS the bull turned to run I
struck him just behind the shoulder:
he reeled to the death.blow. hut stag
gcred gamely OH n few rods into the
forest before sinking to the ground,
with my second bullet through his
lungs.
Two or three days later than this l
killed another bull, nearly as large, In
the same patch of woods In which l
had slain the first. A bear had been
feeding On the carcass Of the latter,
md. after a vain effort to find his den,
we determined to beat through the
woods aud try to start him up. Ac.
cordingly. Merrlfcld. the teamSter, and
myself took parallel courses some three
hundred yards apart, and started at
n end to walk through to the other.
! doubt IL the teamster much wished to
meet n bear alone (while nothing would
have given Merritield more hearty and
unaffected enjoyment than to have en-
countcccl an entire family. and he
gradually edged In pretty close to ME.
Where the woods became pretty open
| saw him suddenly lift his rife aud
fire, and Immediately afterwards a
splendid bull elk trotted past in front
of me, evidently untouched, the team.
ster having missed. The elk ran to
the other side of two trees that stood
close together some seventy yards off,
and stopped for a moment to look
round. kneeIlng down | fired ut the
only part of his body | could see he.
tween the tyo trees, and sent u bullet
into his flank. Away he went, and
after, running in my moccastns over
the moss md pine needles for all there
was In NE. If Il wounded elk gets
fuirly started lie will so at u measured
trot for many hours, and even If NOR.
tally hart may run twenty miles be-
fore falling: While mt the same tins
he Goes not starr of ut full speed. aud
will often give an active hunter a
chance for another shot MS he turns
and changes his our preparatory to
taking q straight line. So | raced along
after the elk at my very best speed for
n few hundred feet, and then got an
other shot as he went across u little
glade. iniuring his hip somewhat. This
made it all right for me. and another
hundred yards burst took me up to
whore ] was able to put a hall In a
fatal spot. aud the grand old fellow
sank down and fell over on his side.
No sportsman eau ever feel much
keener pleasure and self dissatisfaction
than when. after a successful stalk
and good shot, he walks up to a grand
elk lying dead in the cool shade OF
the great evcrgreens, and looks at the
massive and yet finely moulded form
and at the mighty antlers which are
to serve In the future as the trophy
and proof Of his successful skill. Still
hunting the elk on the mountains Is as
noble a kind Of sport as can well be
Imagined; there Is nothing more pleas.
ant and enjoyable. and at the same
time it demands that the hunter shall
bring into play many manly qualities.
There have been few days Of my hunt
Ing life that we're so full OF unalloyed
happiness as yer those spent on the
Bighorn range. From morning till
night l was on foot, in cool, braclng
air, now moving silently through the
vast, melancholy pine forests, now
treading the brink of high, rocky prec-
tpices, always amid the most grand
and beautiful scenery; and always
after as noble and lordly game as Is to
be found IN the Western world.
Since writing the above | killed an
elk near my ranch; probably the last
OF his race that will ever be found in
u nelghborhood. 1t was Just before
the fall roundup. AN old hunter, who
was under some obligation to me, told
me that he had shot a COW elk and
had seen the tracks Of one or two
Others not more than TWENTY-FIVE miles