The Deer of the River Bottoms 117 



where the buck had turned into the thickest growth. 

 While Ferris followed carefully in on the tracks, 

 I stationed myself further on toward the outside, 

 knowing that the buck would in all likelihood start 

 up wind. In a minute or two Ferris came on the 

 bed where he had passed the night, and which he 

 had evidently just left; a shout informed me that 

 the game was on foot, and immediately afterward 

 the crackling and snapping of the branches were 

 heard as the deer rushed through them. I ran as 

 rapidly and quietly as possible toward the place 

 where the sounds seemed to indicate that he would 

 break cover, stopping under a small tree. A 

 minute afterward he appeared, some thirty yards 

 off on the edge of the thicket, and halted for a 

 second to look round before going into the open. 

 Only his head and antlers were visible above the 

 bushes which hid from view the rest of his body. 

 He turned his head sharply toward me as I raised 

 the rifle, and the bullet went fairly into his throat, 

 just under the jaw, breaking his neck, and bringing 

 him down in his tracks with hardly a kick. He 

 was a fine buck of eight points, unusually fat, con 

 sidering that the rutting season was just over. We 

 dressed it at once, and, as the house was so near, 

 determined we would drag it there over the snow 

 ourselves, without going back for a horse. Each 

 took an antler, and the body slipped along very 

 easily; but so intense was the cold that we had to 

 keep shifting sides all the time, the hand which held 

 the horn becoming numb almost immediately. 



