Better than the Buffalo Harvest.

[Kenny Wasserburger]

Dan O,
You are welcome, it certainly makes the Buffalo Harvest pale in comparison.

I found it very enjoyable to read.

Kenny W.

[Dan O]

Kenny your right. They sure worked the elk over. I found it interesting that he spoke of the Moccasin Mountains west of the Judith Mountains. To the west of the little town of Moccasin sit's the Little Belt Mountains. So it seems the old name was changed at some point or it was just what he called them. I wonder if that's where the name came from for the town? Also he spoke of the black tail deer which are now called Mule Deer. One thing for sure those old timers were a tough bunch!

[semtav]

I found it interesting that he spoke of the Moccasin Mountains west of the Judith Mountains. To the west of the little town of Moccasin sit's the Little Belt Mountains.

Still are the same if I remember correctly.

[Dan O]

I found it interesting that he spoke of the Moccasin Mountains west of the Judith Mountains. To the west of the little town of Moccasin sit's the Little Belt Mountains.

Still are the same if I remember correctly.

I'll have to check some maps to find out for sure. I've always heard them referred to as the Little Belts

[Dan O]

Semtav
I checked the maps and yes there are the North & South Moccasin mountains located north east of the town of Moccasin and they are west of the Judith Mountains. The Little Belts are west southwest of the town of Moccasin. I first thought these were the Mountains he referred to but looking at the maps I agree it was the Moccasin Mountains that Pickett referred to. Thanks for pointing that out.

[Griff]

I'm still reading my copy, but there are a number of really interesting things there. I'm not sure if he mentions it later, but on p. 41, he tells of buying a horse from Pike Landusky. Landusky was killed by Harvey Logan, AKA Kid Curry, on December 27, 1894 in the Montana town that bore his name. Kind of interesting...

https://truewestmagazine.com/pike-peaked/

[Tuscarora]

Did Pickett make mention of what I interpreted him as describing mountain goats? I can't find his reference that I'm thinking of. Not well known, but there is a native herd of mountain goats on the south side of the Snowy Mountains, east of Judith Gap. Used to see them often as a kid going up through an old stage coach stop called Irenesville that connected west at the Gap.

[Griff]

Did Pickett make mention of what I interpreted him as describing mountain goats? I can't find his reference that I'm thinking of. Not well known, but there is a native herd of mountain goats on the south side of the Snowy Mountains, east of Judith Gap. Used to see them often as a kid going up through an old stage coach stop called Irenesville that connected west at the Gap.

I don't know if this is the reference that you're thinking about, but there is a mention on the top of p. 75. If you look at the original text, Hunting at High Altitudes, though, (available online), there is a note about that sentence. I believe that George Bird Grinnell wrote the notes. He said,

"This is undoubtedly an error of observation, since mountain goats (Oreamnos) are not found in this region. What Catlin saw may have been young male mountain sheep or perhaps ewes of that species. On the other hand there are two perfectly good records for the white goat far south of this region, in Colorado, as I pointed out in a paper published many years ago in Forest and Stream. One of these was killed by John Willis, a former hunting partner of Colonel Roosevelt, and only a few years ago residing at or near Malta, Montana.

Goats have been traditionally reported from mountain ranges near the Hoback River, but so far as known, none have ever been taken there. On the other hand, they are found in Idaho not very far to the west and northwest of that section."


The online text helps with other things too, I might add. The text of the paperback book is apparently an electronic scan of a printed book and has typos. The online text helps sort some of those out. For example, on p. 50, he is describing his cartridges with muzzle velocity. He says, "into all the shells no grains of powder were loaded." Obviously that is incorrect, but how much powder was loaded? The online text cleared it up: they were loaded with 110 grains of powder.

Here's a link if you want to read more:

https://archive.org/details/huntingathighalt017054mbp

[Tuscarora]

That's it. Interesting.

Likely weren't goats. And bit more research shows my statement to a native group in the Snowy's is incorrect. You believe what you're told as a kid. Facts are another matter! And a study as recently as 2015 is now showing that population down to 1-2! So sad. I remember large groups in the late 70's, early 80's. Tried for years for a tag in that group.

Lower on page 75, Pickett notes shooting a bear with one of his express loads, successfully. He took, and wounded, a lot of game with those loads.
Yet, whenever using the heavier bullets, as noted in the next paragraph, and elsewhere in the book, game seems to be taken more cleanly, and decisively.
He was obviously a believer in his express loads. Being of a scientific mind with an interest in the physics of his loads, I wonder all the more then why he chose not to recognize a heavier bullet as a potentially better option? Trajectory alone couldn't have been the deciding factor as he demonstrates an ability to shoot either weight class within his average shot distance somewhere between 100-150yds.