The Black-Tail Deer. 



ning out of the elk, the black-tail was, and in most places 

 it still is, the game most sought after by the hunters ; I 

 have myself shot as many of them as of all other kinds of 

 plains game put together. But for this very reason it is 

 fast disappearing ; and bids fair to be the next animal, 

 after the buffalo and elk, to vanish from the places that 

 formerly knew it. The big-horn and the prong-horn are 

 more difficult to stalk and kill, partly from their greater 

 natural wariness, and partly from the kind of ground on 

 which they are found. But it seems at first sight strange 

 that the black-tail should be exterminated or driven away 

 so much more quickly than the white-tail, when it has 

 sharper ears and nose, is more tenacious of life, and is 

 more wary. The main reason is to be found in the differ- 

 ence in the character of the haunts of the two creatures. 

 The black-tail is found on much more open ground, where 

 the animals can be seen farther off, where it is much easier 

 to take advantage of the direction of the wind and to get 

 along without noise, and where far more country can be 

 traversed in a given time ; and though the average length 

 of the shots taken is in one case two or three times as 

 great as in the other, yet this is more than counterbal- 

 anced by the fact that they are more often standing ones, 

 and that there is usually much more time for aiming. 

 Moreover, one kind of sport can be followed on horseback, 

 while the other must be followed on foot ; and then the 

 chase of the white-tail, in addition, is by far the more 

 tedious and patience-trying. And the black-tail are much 

 the more easily scared or driven out of a locality by perse- 

 cution or by the encroaching settlements. All these quali- 



