In vain the speeding of shyness; In vain the elk takes to the inner passes of the woods. . ... where geese nip their food with short jerks, Where sundown shadows lengthen over the limitless prairie, Where herds of buffalo make a crawling spread of the square miles, far and near, Where winter wolves bark amid wastes of snow and iceclad trees. ... ... The moose, large as an ox, cornered by hunters, plunging with his forefeet, the hoofs as sharp as knives . . . The blazing fire at night, the sweet taste of supper, the talk, the bed of hemlock boughs, and the bear-skin. WALT WHITMAN. My heart 's in the Highlands, my heart is not here; BURNS. The Call of the Chase To be remarkably successful in killing The First то game a man must be a good shot; but a good target shot may be a very poor hunter, and a fairly successful hunter may be only a moderate shot. Shooting well with the rifle is the highest kind of skill, for the rifle is the queen of weapons; and it is a difficult art to learn. But many other qualities go to make up the first-class hunter. He must be persevering, watchful, hardy, and with good judgment; and a little dash and energy at the proper time often help him immensely. I myself am not, and never will be, more than an ordinary shot; for my eyes are bad and my hand not over-steady; yet I have killed every kind of game to be found on the plains, partly because I have hunted very perseveringly, and partly because by practice I have learned to shoot about as well at a wild animal as at a target. I have killed rather more game than most of the ranchmen who are my neighbors, though at least half of them are better shots than I am. Hunting Trips of a Ranchman. Class Hunter Nonsense The Rifle vs. the The man who can kill his buck right along at a hundred yards has a right to claim that he is a good shot. If he can shoot offhand standing up, that is much the best way, but I myself always drop on one knee, if I have time, unless the animal is very close. It is curious to hear the nonsense that is talked and to see the nonsense that is written about the distances at which game is killed. Rifles now carry with deadly effect the distance of a mile, and most middle-range hunting-rifles would at least kill at half a mile; and in war firing is often begun at these ranges. But in war there is very little accurate aiming, and the fact that there is a variation of thirty or forty feet in the flight of the ball makes no difference; and, finally, a thousand bullets are fired for every man that is killed-and usually many more than a thousand. How would that serve for a record on game? The truth is that three hundred yards is a very long shot, and that even two hundred yards is a long shot.-Ibid. To my mind there is no comparison between sport with the rifle and sport with the Shot-Gun shot-gun. The rifle is the freeman's weapon. The man who uses it well in the chase shows that he can at need use it also in war with human foes. I would no more compare the feat of one who bags his score of ducks or quail with that of him who fairly hunts down and slays a buck or bear, than I would compare the skill necessary to drive a buggy with that required to ride a horse across country; or the dexterity acquired in handling a billiard cue with that shown by a skilful boxer or oarsman. The difference is not one of degree; it is one of kind.-Ibid. The Rifie vs. the Shot-Gun Killing a deer from a boat while the poor when animal is swimming in the water, or on snow- Hunting is Butchery shoes as it flounders helplessly in the deep drifts, can only be justified on the plea of hunger. This is also true of lying in wait at a lick. Whoever indulges in any of these methods, save from necessity, is a butcher, pure and simple, and has no business in the company of true sportsmen. Fire hunting may be placed in the same category; yet it is possibly allowable under exceptional circumstances to indulge in a fire hunt, if only for the sake of seeing the wilderness by torch-light. The Wilderness Hunter. To me still-hunting elk in the mountains, The Call when they are calling, is one of the most of the Elk |