THE FAN-TAILED DEER 



had taken observations from nearly every shield- 

 ing object it had passed. This caused me to 

 express the belief that this deer was a very old 

 fan-tailed buck, and events proved I was not mis- 

 taken. He had lost all his front teeth but two, 

 which were badly used up, had four points on 

 each antler, and weighed less than fifty pounds 

 after his entrails were removed. As his conduct 

 the day he was hunted down disclosed some fea- 

 tures often experienced in the pursuit of deer, 

 it is not out of place to relate it. 



He was located in a thicket, and jumped with 

 the assistance of the wind, a method which will 

 be referred to later. We saw him but did not 

 fire, as our chance opportunity was lost while we 

 were looking for the horns so as to be sure not 

 to kill a doe. His trail led to a creek two miles 

 distant, and there disappeared. I knew that he 

 had gone along in the creek, for wounded deer 

 had often tricked me in that manner, but that a 

 well deer should resort to that method to throw 

 me off the track, after being so slightly molested, 

 was rather astonishing. A quarter of a mile up- 

 stream I found where he had left the water, and 



35 



