Description
11.2 Hunting in the Cattle Country (in Hunting In Many Lands )
The little hunting I did in 1893 and 1894 was while I was at my ranch
house, or while out on the range among the cattle; and I shot merely the
game needed for the table by myself and those who were with me. It is
still possible in the cattle country to kill an occasional bighorn, bear
or elk; but nowadays the only big game upon which the ranchman of the
great plains can safely count are deer and antelope. While at the ranch
house itself, I rely for venison upon shooting either blacktail in the
broken country away from the river, or else whitetail in the river
bottoms. When out on the great plains, where the cattle range freely in
the summer, or when visiting the line camps, or any ranch on the heads
of the longer creeks, the prongbuck furnishes our fresh meat.
In both 1893 and 1894 I made trips to a vast tract of rolling prairie
land, some fifty miles from my ranch, where I have for many years
enjoyed the keen pleasure of hunting the prongbuck. In 1893 the
pronghorned bands were as plentiful in this district as I have ever seen
them anywhere. A friend, a fellow Boone and Crockett man, Alexander
Lambert, was with me; and in a week’s trip, including the journey out
and back, we easily shot all the antelope we felt we had any right to
kill; for we only shot to get meat, or an unusually fine head.
In antelope shooting more cartridges are expended in proportion to the
amount of game killed than with any other game, because the shots are
generally taken at long range; and yet, being taken in the open, there
is usually a chance to use four or five cartridges before the animal
gets out of sight. These shots do not generally kill, but every now and
then they do; and so the hunter is encouraged to try them, especially as
after the
Product ID: 9781776796717
Sku: 9781776796717
