CARIACUS VIRGINIANUS. 



33 



hunter has great difficulty in overtaking it. When a large buck 

 is overtaken and unexpectedly finds that he is pursued, he sud- 

 denly turns toward the boat, with a look of mingled astonishment 

 and horror, rises high out of water and snorts ; then, facing about, 

 makes a desperate, but usually fruitless, effort to escape. 



In September it is not uncommon for a guide to drive the 

 Deer about the lake till well nigh exhausted, and then catch and 

 hold it by the tail, so that it will not sink, while the " sportsman" 

 kills it ! 



In driving, a hunt ordinarily lasts seven or eight hours, and is 

 apt to become a trifle monotonous, particularly for those who do 

 not happen to see a Deer. It commonly has this advantage, how- 

 ever, that there are at this season (autumn) no flies to pester the 

 watchman, who, if he can manage to keep warm, and has enough 

 to eat, may maintain a tolerable degree of complacency. 



Still-hunting, with us, consists in following a deer, by its tracks 

 on the ground, and in attempting to overtake and shoot it, by 

 daylight, in its home in the forest. It is sometimes, though rare- 

 ly, practised by our most skilful still-hunters in summer and early 

 autumn, after a recent rain has so moistened the surface that the 

 foot-prints can be traced. But it is when the ground is covered 

 with a few inches of newly fallen snow, in November and Decem- 

 ber, that this method of hunting is commonly resorted to. A rifle 

 is the weapon usually employed. 



In order that he may step as noiselessly as possible, the hunter 

 lays aside his boots, covers his feet with several pairs of woolen 

 stockings, and over them draws a pair of well-made buckskin 

 moccasins. Starting early in the morning, he makes a circuit in 

 search of fresh tracks, and if Deer are plenty, pays no attention to 

 those of does and fawns, but proceeds till the track of a large 

 buck is discovered. This he follows slowly and cautiously, taking 

 care lest he tread on some dead branch or in any way make a 

 noise that might alarm the wary Deer. The animal often takes 



