The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1914-01-24

deer have disappeared from their former haunts
and much-hunted localities only to be
found on the highest points where timber grows
Late in the season. when heavy snow falls, bands
OF wapiti and mule deer driven from their
refuge in the Yellowstone park and move down
to lower grounds in such places Jacksons
Hole or the valley of the Soshone river. Woe be-
tide these luckless wanderers if the open season
is still in force for at the head of every pass lead
ing out Of the game reserve are armed bodies OF
meat-hunters who shoot on sight old young,
male or female, regardless of age. or sex, every
deer that is More shame is it to the
thorites who still permit the sale of deer meat in
the surrounding towns.
Vast herds of deer congregate. in the low
grounds during severe winters, and many hun
dreds of them perish for want OF food. 1t is
uncommon event for kind-hearted farmers to feed
numbers of wapiti from their stores OF hay. But
the expense of this is more than these hard-work-
ing individuals can stand. and something surely
should be done by the United States authorities to
provide for the needs of these fine animals, which
have been driven from their winter feeding
grounds by the settlers and their cattle.
The modus operand of making a trip after
wapiti is we'll known to need description. II
undertaken early in the season by a sportsman
who is well equipped with men and pack-horses.
the expedition is rather in the nature OF pleas
ant picnic. The climatic conditions in September
and early october generally perfect, while the
absence of mosquitoes and other biting flies make
these regions appear Paradise to who has
done much big game hunting further northwest in
the real wds of North America, which are only
to be found in northern British Columbia
and Alaska But IL sportsman delays his trip
until late in the fall and then camps as the
writer has done. at altitude of ten thou
sand feet he will find the early frosts and snow
make life in tent, even in Wyoming, rather cold
than is necessary for personal comfort
The way in which American packhorse can
thread its way through dense timber, or follow
narrow snake-like trail across dangerous rock
slides. is little short of marvellous. 1t is inter
esting sight to long line of these sure-footed
animals threading their way in single file along
the face of dangerous precipice. often treading
in loose, rolling rocks in places where false
step means a sheer drop of two thousand three
thousand feet into empty space. Yet it is seldom
that falls off the trail. II this does happen,
the owner may bid goodby to his horse and all
that he carries, since rarely anything but frag-
ments are found afterwards searching the
valley below.
Strange TO say, although the Wyoming wapiti
have developed unwonted cunning in seeking
their living and feeding grounds the still CON-
paratively stupid animals to stalk. Especially SO
is this the with treveling bulls when they are
running in search OF Then, by means of
whistling in very poor initiative style of the
bulls challenge, solitary bull can often be called
up to within few yards OF the hunter. The
writer and his guide have thus been enabled to
follow a bull for two miles through the forest
finally they have come face to face few yards