Deer of the River Bottoms. us 



tedious, and it makes a man feel cramped to be always 

 ducking and crawling through such places. It is not to 

 be compared, in cool weather, with still-hunting on the 

 open hills ; nevertheless, in the furious heat of the sum- 

 mer sun it has its advantages, for it is not often so 

 oppressingly hot in the swamp as it is on the open 

 prairie or in the dry thickets. 



The white-tail is the only kind of large game for which 

 the shot-gun can occasionally be used. At times in the 

 dense brush it is seen, if seen at all, at such short dis- 

 tances, and the shots have to be taken so hurriedly, that 

 the shot-gun is really the best weapon wherewith to 

 attempt its death. One method of taking it is to 

 have trained dogs hunt through a valley and drive the 

 deer to guns stationed at the opposite end. With a 

 single slow hound, given to baying, a hunter can often 

 follow the deer on foot in the method adapted in most 

 of the Eastern States for the capture of both the gray 

 and the red fox. If the dog is slow and noisy the deer 

 will play round in circles and can be cut off and shot 

 from a stand. Any dog will soon put a deer out of a 

 thicket, or drive it down a valley ; but without a dog it 

 is often difficult to drive deer toward the runaway or 

 place at which the guns are stationed, for the white-tail 

 will often skulk round and round a thicket instead of 

 putting out of it when a man enters ; and even when 

 started it may break back past the driver instead of going 

 toward the guns. 



In all these habits white-tail are the very reverse of 

 such game as antelope. Antelope care nothing at all 



