224 Deer of the Pacific Coast 



perfectly free from it. Once in a great while 

 there is a very strong one, and I once had a pork 

 barrel ruined by trying to extract the flavor from 

 a big buck by pickling it. I met another once 

 at night that must have been fifty yards away, and 

 was brought to a sudden halt by the strong flavor 

 of muskrat coming down a little gulch on the 

 evening breeze. He gave a snort and ran, but 

 the stream of scent remained for a minute or so 

 longer. Such cases, however, are extremely rare, 

 and the deer is nearly always worth your labor. 



The mule-deer of the southern coast of the Pa- 

 cific is a special blessing to many because he is 

 at his best in summer, when they can get away 

 from business ; whereas at that time still-hunting 

 is almost an impossibility in the rainy lands be- 

 cause of the great density of the cover when the 

 green of summer is at its height. But still-hunt- 

 ing here is then about the same as in the fall, ex- 

 cept that the period of seclusion is not as fully 

 over. On the other hand, the venison is at its 

 fattest, while the weather is as charming for camp- 

 ing as one could wish and rarely too warm for 

 morning or evening hunting. One is not driven 

 to lick-watching, fire-hunting, or any of the miser- 

 able modes of murder resorted to at that time in 

 the East by those who must have a deer. But 

 one can here enjoy to the full that satisfaction 

 which results from matching one's self with un- 



