The Mule- deer 41 



associating with the females and younger deer. 

 At other times we came across small bands of 

 full-grown bucks by themselves ; and occasionally 

 a solitary buck. Considering the extent to which 

 these deer must have been persecuted, I did not 

 think them shy. We were hunting on horseback, 

 and had hounds with us, so we made no especial 

 attempt to avoid noise. Yet very frequently we 

 would come close on the deer before they took 

 alarm ; and even when alarmed they would some- 

 times trot slowly off, halting and looking back. 

 On one occasion, in some bad lands, we came 

 upon four bucks which had been sunning them- 

 selves on the face of a clay wall. They jumped 

 up and went off one at a time, very slowly, pass- 

 ing diagonally by us, certainly not over seventy 

 yards off. All four could have been shot without 

 effort, and as they had fine antlers I should cer- 

 tainly have killed one, had it been the open 

 season. 



When we came on these Colorado mule-deer 

 suddenly, they generally behaved exactly as their 

 brethren used to in the old days on the Little 

 Missouri ; that is, they would run off at a good 

 speed for a hundred yards or so, then slow up, 

 halt, gaze inquisitively at us for some seconds, 

 and again take to flight. While the sun was 

 strong they liked to lie out in the low brush on 

 slopes where they would get the full benefit of 



