The Black-Tail Deer. 137 



f 



lonely spots, to which hunters rarely or never penetrate, 

 deer of this species will stand and look at a hunter 

 without offering to run away till he is within fifty yards 

 of them, if he will advance quietly. In a far-off moun- 

 tain forest I have more than once shot a young buck 

 at less than that distance as he stood motionless, gazing 

 at me, although but little caution had been used in 

 approaching him. 



But a short experience of danger on the part of the 

 black-tail changes all this ; and where hunters are often 

 afoot, he becomes as wild and wary as may be. Then 

 the successful still-hunter shows that he is indeed well 

 up in the higher forms of hunting craft. For the man 

 who can, not once by accident, but again and again, as 

 a regular thing, single-handed, find and kill his black- 

 tail, has shown that he is no mere novice in his art; 

 still-hunting the black-tail is a sport that only the skilful 

 can follow with good results, and one which implies 

 in the successful sportsman the presence of most of the 

 still-hunter's rarest attributes. All of the qualities which 

 a still-hunter should possess are of service in the pur- 

 suit of any kind of game ; but different ones will be 

 called into especial play in hunting different kinds of 

 animals. Thus, to be a successful hunter after any thing, 

 a man should be patient, resolute, hardy, and with good 

 judgment ; he should have good lungs and stout muscles ; 

 he should be able to move with noiseless stealth ; and 

 he should be keen-eyed, and a first-rate marksman with 

 the rifle. But in different kinds of shooting, the relative 

 importance of these qualities varies greatly. In hunting 



