The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1908-12-19

along trail will do far better to mere.
" follow It until. from its freshness
and direction, he feels confident that
the deer Is in some particular space Of
ground, and then hunt through It. guild
ing himself by his knowledge Of the
deer's habits and by the character Of
the land. Tracks are Of most use in
showing whether deer are plenty or
scarce. whether they have been In the
place recently or not. Generally, signs
Of deer are Infinitely more plentiful
than the animals themselves although
in regions where tracking is especially
difficult deer are often jumped with.
out any sign having been seen at all.
Although stlll-huntlng on foot Is on
the whole the best way to get deer,
yet there are mahy places where from
the nature Of the land the sport can be
followed quite as well on horseback,
than which there is no more pleasant
kind Of hunting The best shot | ever
made in my life-a shot into which,
however, am afraid the element Of
chance entered much more largely
than the element of sklll--was made
while hunting black-tail CD horseback.
We were at that time making quite
long trip with the wagon, and were
going mp the fork OF plains river in
| Western Montana. AS we were out
Of food, those two Of our number who
usually uIdertcok to keep the camp
/, supplied with game determined to
make hunt Off back Of the river after
black.tail; for though there were some
Whitehall In the more densely timbered
/ river bouUms, we had been unable to
get any. 1t was arranged that the
wagon should go on few mills, and
then halt for the night, as 1t was al
ready the middle Of the afternoon
when we started out, The coun
resembled In character other parts Of
the cattle plains. but It was absolutely
bare Of trees except along the bed Of
the rlver.. The rolling hills sloped
steeply of into long valleys and deep
ravines. They were sparsely covered
with coarse grass, and also with an
irregular growth of tail sage-brush
which in some places gathered into
dense Tickets. A beginner would
have thought the country entirely too
barren Of cover to hold deer, but d
very little experience teaches one that
deer will he found In Tickets Of such
short and sparse growth that it seems
as II they could hide nothing; and
what is more, that they will often
skulk round i'll such Tickets without
being discovered. And b:ack-tail Is
Ia bold. free animal, liking to so out in
comparatively open country, where he
must trust to his own powers, and not
to any cOncealment, to protect him
from danger.
Where the billy country Joined the
alluval river bottom. it broke off short
into steep bluffs, up which none but ii
Western pony could have climbed. 1t
is really wonderful to see what places
pony can get over, and the lndlffer
ence with which it regards tumbles.
In getting up from the bottom we went
into wash-out, and then led our pc.
mics along Il clay ledge, from which we
turned of and went straight up very
steep sandy bluff. My companion was
ahead: just as he turned of the ledge.
aud as was right underneath him, his
horse, In pIunging to try to get up the
sand bluff. overbNlanced itself, and.
after standing erect on It's hind legs for
second, came over backward. The
seconds pause while It stood bolt up.
right gave me time to make frantic
leap out Of the way with my pony,
which scrambled after me, and We
both chung with hands and hoofs to the
side Of the bank, while the other horse
took two ~ complete somersnnlts as |
ever saw. and landed with Il c!USh at
the bottom Of the washout, feet upper.
most thought 1t was done for, but
not bit After a moment or two 1t
struggled TO its legs, shOo.; itself, anC
looked round in rather sbame.faced
way, apparently not in the least the
worse for the fall. We now got my
pony up to the top by vigorous pulling.
and then went down for the other,
which at first strongly objected to
making another trial, but. after npch
coaxing aud good deal Of abuse, took
a start and went up without trouble.
For some time after reaching the top
Of the bluffs we rode along without
seeing anything. When it was posi-,
BILE, we kept one Oh each side of a
creek, avoiding the tops Of the ridges.
because while on them horsemau can
be seen at a very long distance, aud
going with particular caution whch.
ever we went round spur or came up
over crest. The country stretched
away like an endless, Dlllowy sea Of
dull.brown soil and barren sage.brush
the valleys making long parallel fur.
rows, and every thing having look
Of dreary sameness.
At length, as We came Out OH 4
rounded ridge. three black-tail bucks
started up from a lot Of sage,brush
some two hundred yards away aud be-
low US, and made or down hill. II
was very long shot, especially to try
running, but, as game seemed scarce
and cartridges were plenty. leapc1
off the horse. and kncellng, fred. The
bullet went low, striking in line Mt the
feet Of the hindmost. was very high
| n,st l. u II.