238 Deer of the Pacific Coast 



does nowadays. Nor does it prove that quiet 

 walking is not important. On account of the 

 nature of much of the ground you must make 

 considerable noise, or you cannot move fast 

 enough. And you will find many a deer that 

 must have heard you coming, but does not run 

 without waiting to see what you are. These 

 deer hear you and are generally calculating on 

 outwitting you by hiding. But they often change 

 their minds when they find you coming closer, 

 and too often they cannot resist the temptation to 

 stop a second to see if it is really worth while 

 to run at all. After much hunting they learn 

 to act on the presumption of danger; but even 

 then you occasionally meet a very great fool of a 

 deer which will persist in staring at the new 

 rifle of the rawest tenderfoot that ever, with 

 hobnailed boots, smashed dead, sticks it was more 

 easy to step over. Meeting such a deer often 

 makes the novice think he is a born hunter, but 

 if he will keep on a while he will recover from 

 the delusion, and begin to wonder what has be- 

 come of his keen eye and steady hand. 



One is apt to conclude that noise is of little 

 account in hunting ; but time will surely show 

 that, for every deer he sees when making a noise, 

 two or three slip away before he can come within 

 sight of them, some in full bound, whose tracks 

 he may find when too late, others sneaking quietly 



