Last Stand: George Bird Grinnell, the Battle to Save the Buffalo, and the Birth of the New West. Michael Punke

not make out what we were.” At 400 yards, Jacobs dropped down and crawled, veering sideways only if forced by such obstacles as “a bunch of prickly pear or a stubborn, diamond-backed rattler that would not break ground.” Most hunters sought a position around 300 yards from their quarry; any closer and the shooting might cause a stampede. From 300 yards, though, a skillful runner might make a stand—state-of-the-art industrial hunting.²⁹

      Gunning down a herd of buffalo without causing a stampede required good aim as well as keen insight to animal behavior. From a prone position on the plains floor, experienced runners took the time to study the herd, picking out the leaders and the sentinels. Ammunition was spread out for easy access, along with the second rifle and cleaning rods. Many hunters used shooting sticks, crossed pieces of wood on which they rested their gun barrel for a steady aim. Some achieved the same purpose with a stack of buffalo chips.

      The Stand: A hunter finds the ideal condition for a stand in this painting, The Still Hunt, by James Henry Moser.

       Courtesy of the Jefferson National Expansion Museum, National Park Service.

      The runner’s first target was usually the old cow that typically led the herd. “Buffalo society was a matriarchy, and the cow was queen” was how Frank Mayer explained it. “Wherever she went, the others, including the big bulls who should have known better than follow a woman, went.” The basic strategy for the stand centered on this lead cow. “When she got into trouble, they didn’t know what to do. And our job as runners was to get her into trouble as soon as we could.”³⁰ Vic Smith, who killed a record 107 buffalo in a single stand,³¹ liked to put his first shot just in front of the lead cow’s hip. Other hunters shot the leader through the lungs. The goal, in any case, was the same—not to kill the lead animal but to wound it. Not only was a wounded leader immobilized but she also drew the confused attention of the remaining herd. “Then the rest was easy,” said Mayer.

      Easy enough that an experienced hunter took his time, alternating rifles to keep the barrels from overheating, even cleaning his guns every five or six shots. Hunters differed in their preferred placement for the kill shots. Some aimed for the neck; others the heart. Runner John Cook put the sights of his Civil War Enfield on what he called the “regulation place,” defined as “anywhere inside of a circle as large as a cowboy’s hat, just back of the shoulderblade.”³²