Shiner gazette. [volume] (Shiner, Tex.) 1893-current, 1909-12-23

prairie fowl.
AS the dawn Redeemed, and it be-
came light enough to see objects some
little way off, we began to sit erect
in our saddles and to scan the hill.
sides sharply for sight of feeding deer.
Hitherto we had seen no deer tracks
save inside the burberry bushes by
the river, and we knew that the deer
that lived in that impenetrable jun
gle were cunning whitetails which in
such a place could be hunted only by
aid of a hound. But just before sun
rise we came on three lines of heart
shaped footmarks in the snow, which
showed where as many deer had Just
crossed little plain ahead of us.
They were walking leisurely, and from
the lay of the land we believed that
we should find them over the ridge,
where there was a brush coulee
Riding to one side of the trail, we
topped the little ridge just as the sun
famed up, burning ball of crimson,
beyond the snowy waste at our backs.
Almost Immediately afterwards my
companion leaped from his horse and
raised his rifle, and as he pulled the
trigger | saw through the twigs of
brush patch on our left the erect.
startled head of a young black-tailed
doe as she turned to look at us, her
great mule-like ears thrown forward.
The ball broke her neck, and she
turned complete somersault down
HILL while a sudden smashing of I'M
derbrush told of the fight of her ter
rified companions.
We both laughed and called out
dinner" as we sprang down toward
her. and in a few minutes she was
dressed and hung up by the hind legs
on small ash tree. The entrails
and viscera we threw off to one side,
inter carefully poisoning them from
little bottle of strychnine which
had in my pocket. Almost every cat
tleman carries poison and neglects no
chance of leaving out wolf bait, for
the wolves are sources of serious loss
to the unfenced and unhoused fiocks
and herds. In this instance we felt
particularly revengeful because 1t
was but few days since we had lost
on the hillside where the carcass lay
when we found it told the story
plainly. The wolves, two in number,
had crept up close before being dis
covered, and had then raced down on
the astounded heifer almost before
she could get fairly started. One
brute had hamstrung her with snap
of his vise-like jaws, and once down,
she was torn open in twinkling.
No sooner was the sun up than a
warm west wind began to blow in our
faces. The weather had suddenly
changed, and within an hour the snow
was beginning to thaw and to leave
patches of bare ground on the hill
sides. We left our coats with gour
horses and struck off on foot for a
group of high buttes cut up by the
cedar canyons and gorges, in which
we knew the old bucks loved to lie.
1t was noon before we saw anything
more. We lunched at clear spring
not needing much time, for all we
had to do was to drink draught of
icy water and MUNICH strip of dried
venison. Shortly afterward, as we
we're moving along a hillside with ST.
| lent caution, we came to a sheer can
yon of which the opposite face was
broken by little lodges grown up with
/ wind-beaten cedars, AS we peeped
over the edge, my companion touched
my arm and pointed silently to one
of the lodges, and instantly caught
the CLINT of bucks horns as he lay
half behind an old tree trunk. A
slight shift of position gave me a
fair shot slanting down between his
shoulders, and though he struggled to
his feet he did not go so yards after
receiving the bullet.
This was all we could carry. Lead
ing the horses around we packed the
buck behind my companions saddle,
and then rode back for the doe, which
| put behind mine. But we were not
destined to reach home without
slight adventure. When we got to
the river we rode boldly on the ice.
Needless of the thaw; and about mid
way there was sudden, tremendous
crash, and men, horses and deer were
scrambling together irf the water amid
slabs of floating ice. However, it was
shallow and no worse results followed
than some hard work and chilly
bath kBut what cared we? We were
returning triumphant with our Christ
mas dinner.