DEER FAMILY 



13 



cine, because for every Deer which is found sick, 

 a score have died obscurely. 



" The age of a buck greatly affects his appear- 

 ance. Except in size, weight, and color-shadings, 

 does have no decided marks of age. But the 

 appearance of a buck's neck and head, the form 

 of his hoofs, and the size or synunietry of his 

 antlers will supply definite data concerning his 



and its movements had lost nearly all the natural 

 buovancy of the White-tail. His horns were 

 r|uite small and crumpled. . . My experience has 

 been that a buck is in prime antler at from six 

 to nine years, and that a six or seven-year-old 

 buck carries the best horns. As a rule, bucks 

 two and a half years old have two prongs, or, 

 as they are reckoned in some States, a beam and 



YOUNG VIRGINIA DEER 

 This photograph was taken from a boat after dark, with the aid of a flash-light 



age. It is far from true that the oldest bucks will 

 have the finest horns. I have known bucks 

 which must have been ten years old to have 

 antlers which were decidedly inferior in fonn 

 and size. On St. Katherine's Island, off the 

 Georgia coast, a friend of mine killed a buck 

 which he declared was so old that it was actually 

 decrepit. The Deer was decidedly gray in color, 



a prong. But I have seen bucks of that age with 

 ■ nothing but very long spikes, somewhat resem- 

 bling Antelope horns. I have also seen a buck 

 with spike horns, fifteen inches long, which met 

 in front, so great was their curvature inward, 

 nor was there any sign to show that the antlers 

 had been forced into that position. It was appar- 

 ently a natural but an extraordinary growth." 



