The Bozeman courier., 1927-10-28

o ftheir fleece harmOn12ed well; and their /
black horns muzzles, eyes, and hoofs
looked like dark dots on a Hght-colored /
surface, so that 1t took me more than
one glance to determine what they were. |
White goats invariably run up hill when /
alarmed, their one idea seeming to be |
to escape danger by getting above it; for
their brute foes are able to overmatch |
them on anything like level ground, but |
are helpless against them among the |
crags.
almost as soon as saw them, these !
four started up the mountain, nearly in |
my direction, wssile I clambered down
and across to meet them. They halted |
at the foot ofthe cliff, and I at the top, |
being unable to see them; but in another
moment they came bounding and can |
tering up the sheer rocks, not moving
quickly, but traversing the most SEEM |
| ingly impossible places by main strength
and surefootedneSS. As they broke by |
me, some 80 yards off, fired two shots
at the nearest, an old buck, somewhat
smaller than the one had killed; and
he rolled down the mountain, dead. Two
of the others, a yearling and kid,
showed more alarm than their elders, and
ran off at a brisk pace. The remaining
one, an old she, went off 100 yards, and
then deliberately stopped and turned
| round to gaze at us Tor couple OF
minutesl Verify, the white goat is the
fool-hen among beasts of the chase"
The first time that Mr.. Roosevelt
killed elk-wapiti, he called then-on
| a hunting expedition in Montana, was
while on another trip with Mr.. Willis.
They had gone intothe Bitter Root noun
tains with the intention Of killing moose.
They had no luck and had to kill elk
| to have meat to eat on the trip. 1t was
on a later trip into what is now Yellow
stone park, in northwestern Wyoming,
that he had his best time hunting elk.
This trip was made in September, 1891,
and he calls it "An Elk Hunt at Two
Ocean Pass" In Roosevelt's estimation
| there is no more beautiful game country
in the United States than among the
Shoshone mountains where they join the
| Hoodoo and Absaroka ranges. Some Of
the area in which he hunted is now
closed.
Travelled With Pack Train
"This was one Of the pleasantest hunts
i I ever made" Roosevelt says in his book.
GAS always in the mountains, save where
! the country is so rough and so densely
wooded that one must go afoot we had
pack train; and we took more com
plete outfit than we had ever before
l taken on such a hunt, and so travelled
4 in much comfort. Usually when in the
4 mountains 1 have merely had one COM
Il panion, or at most a couple, and two or
i three pack ponies; each Of us doing his
share of the packing, cooking, fetching
water, and pitching the small square of
canvas which served as tent.
a mystery and a skillful professional
packer, versed in the intricacies Of the
diamond hitch packs with a speed
which no non-professional can hope to
rival, and fixes the side packs and top
packs with such scientific nicety, and
I adjusts the doubles and turns Of the
lashrope so accurately, that everything
. stays in place under any but the most
adverse conditions. OF course, like most
hunters, I can myself in case of need
Il y ,fAO .arzr,
and pack on either the off or near side.
Indeed, unless a man can pack, it is not
possible to make a really hard hunt in
the mountains. if alone, or with only a
single companion.
t THE mere fair-weather hunter, who
! trusts entirely to the eXertions of others.
' and does nothing more than ride or
S walk about under favorable circum-
l stances, and shoot at what somebody else
shows him, is a hunter in name only.
Whoever would really deserve the title
must be able at pinch to shift for him
self, to grapple with the difficulties and
! hardships Of wilderness life unaided, and
! not only to hunt, but at times to travel
D for days, whether on foot or on horse
> back alone. However, after one has
: passed ones novitiate, it is pleasant to
i be comfortable when the comfort does
not interfere with the sport; and al
: though man sometimes likes to hunt
{ alone, yet often it is well to be with
some OlQ mountain nuQB6r, a OF
= WOOdcratt, who is a firSt-rate hand al
- finding game, creeping upon it, and track
= ing it when wounded. With such a COM
= panion one gets much more game anc
I. learns many things by observation in
- stead of painful experience
b The forepart Of this trip was tedious
Roosevelt remarks that it is heart.
1t breaking work to drive a pack trair
n through thick timber and over noun.
" tains, where there is either a dim trai
.e or none. The animals have a perversC
Re faculty Of choosing the wrong turn al
e critical moments; and they are continu
h ally scraping under branches and squeez
S. ing between tree-trunks, to the leopard,
e. or destruction of their burdens" He alsC
le says: Riding with pack-train, day IL
ID and day out, becomes both monotonou
re and irritating, unless one is upheld b.
lie the hope of a game country ahead, or b,
the delight Of the exploration Of the un
t, known.
is Kills Big Bull Elk
~ y; The morning of the third day Of tn
~ ~ journey into the Shoshones was ''gra
- - and lowering" Roosevelt remarks. Con
- tinuing, he says:
"a Gusts Of rain blew in my face as
= rode at the head Of the train. It still
~ AZ lacked an hour Of noon, as we wer
- plodding up the valley beside rapi
~ brook running through narrow willoV
~ ~ flats, the dark forest crowding down d
Il SlGner mana lTOu1 Gne low 4OOCul11S z
- - the mountains. Suddenly the call OF
- - bull elk came echoing down through tn
III ~ wet woodland on our right, beyond tn
- brook, seemingly less than half mil
II off; and was answered by a faint, far-oi
call from rival on the mountain be
yond.
ot Instantly halting the train, Wood
d: and I slipped off our horses, crossed tn
he brook, and started to still hunt the fir'
on bull.
ut I'm this place the forest was compose
ch Of the western tamarack; the large, ia
ne trees stood well apart and there wi
IRE much down timber, but the ground WI
covered with deep wet moss over whiC