While trying in the most enjoyable and practical manner to kill the game, it is very necessary to escape, if possible, any injury to yourself or horse. The Frenchman's remark on tiger hunting is very apropos. "Ven ze Frenchman hunt ze tiger, it fine sport; but ven ze tiger hunt ze Frenchman, it is not so." Care should be taken to have the horse perfectly under control, when the bison stands at bay. Unless experienced in bull fighting, he does not appreciate the danger, and a sudden charge has often resulted in disembowelment.
Never dismount to approach the buffalo, unless certain that he is crippled so as to prevent rising. One that is apparently wounded unto death will often get upon his feet nimbly, and prove an ugly customer. I knew a soldier killed at Hays City in this manner—thrown several feet into the air, and fearfully torn. Recently near Cayote Station, on the Kansas Pacific Railway, a buffalo was shot from the train, and the cars were stopped to secure the meat, and gratify the passengers. One of the latter, a stout Englishman, ran ahead of his fellows, and shook his fist in the face of the prostrate bison. The American bull did not brook such an insult from the English one, and Johnny received a terrible blow while attempting to escape. He was badly injured, and, when I saw him some time afterward, could only move on crutches.
Should the hunter on foot ever have to stand a charge, let him fire at what is visible of the back, above the lowered head, or, should he be able to catch a glimpse of the fore-shoulder, let him direct his bullet there. The bone seems to be broken readily by a ball. Against the frontal bone of the bison's skull, the lead falls harmless. To test this fully, with California Bill as a companion, I once approached a buffalo which stood wounded in a ravine. We took position upon the hill-side, knowing that he could not readily charge up it, at a distance of only fifteen yards. I fired three shots from the Henry weapon full against the forehead, causing no other result than some angry head-shaking. I then took Bill's Spencer carbine, and fired twice with it. At each shot the bull sank partly to his knees, but immediately recovered again. I afterward examined the skull, and could detect no fracture.
A person dismounted by accident or imprudence, and charged upon, can avoid the blow by waiting until the horns are within a few feet of him, and then jumping quickly on one side. After the buffalo has passed, let the brief period of time before he has checked his rush, be employed in traversing as much prairie, on the back track, as possible, and the chances are that no pursuit will be made. Should a foot trip, or a fall from the horse give no time for such tactics, then let the hunter hug Mother Earth as tight as may be. The probabilities are that the bull can not pick the body up with his horns. I have known a hunter to escape by throwing himself in the slight hollow of a trail, and thus baffling all attempts to hook him.
Accidents are rare in bison hunting, however, and the reader should not be deterred from noble sport by the mere possibility of mishaps. I have given the above advice, feeling that I shall be well repaid if it saves the life or limbs of one man out of the thousands who may be exposed. A glimpse of surgeon's instruments should not make the soldier a coward. Comparatively few people are killed by electricity, and yet lightning-rods are very popular.
The hunter who has no love for the saddle, and prefers stalking, should provide himself with some breech-loading rifle or carbine, carrying a heavy ball—the heavier the better. The most effective weapon is the needle-gun used in the army, having a bore the size of the old Springfield musket, and a ball to correspond. A bullet from this weapon usually proves fatal. But there is little genuine sport in such practice. Stalking holds the same relation to horseback hunting that "hand line" fishing does to that with the rod and reel, the fly and the spoon, or that killing birds on the ground does to wing-shooting.
In selecting from the herd a single individual for attack, the hunter should do so with some reference to the intended use of the game. For furnishing trophies of the chase, such as horns and robe, the bull will do well; but if the meat is for use, it will be advisable to sacrifice some sport, and obtain a cow or calf. I have known many an ancient bison, with scarcely enough meat on his bones to hold the bullets, killed by amateurs, and the leather-like quarters shipped to eastern friends as rare delicacies!
ANTELOPE HUNTING.
Antelope hunting is a sport requiring more strategy and caution than the one we have described. The creature is timid and swift, and inclined to feed on ridges or level lands, where stalking is difficult. Its eyes and ears are wonderfully quick in detecting danger, and the animal at once seeks points which command the surroundings. If unable to keep in view the object of alarm, immediate flight results.
The modes of hunting this game are two. If no possibility of stalking exists, a red flag may be attached to a small stick, and planted in front of the ravine or other place of concealment. The antelope at once becomes curious, and begins circling toward it, each moment approaching a little nearer, until finally within shooting distance. The other method is by careful stalking. If the animal is on a high ridge, the sides of which round upward a little, the hunter may crawl on his hands and knees until he sees, just visible above the grass, the tips of the horns or ears. Then let him rise on one knee, with gun to shoulder, and take quick aim well forward, as the body comes into view. The approach can not be too cautious, as the antelope stops feeding every minute or so, to lift its head high, and gaze around. Thus the incautious hunter may be brought, on the instant, into full relief, and the quick bound which follows discovery, rob him of the fruit of long crawling.