148 The Black-Tail Deer. 



break from his bed and bound off at much smaller provo- 

 cation, while if the place is lonely he will wander out into 

 the open hours before sunset. If, however, he is in 

 much danger of being molested, he will keep close to his 

 hiding-place until nearly nightfall, when he ventures out 

 to feed. Owing to the lateness of his evening appearance 

 in localities where there is much hunting, it is a safer plan 

 to follow him in the early morning, being on the ground 

 and ready to start out by the time the first streak of dawn 

 appears. Often I have lost deer when riding home in the 

 evening, because the dusk had deepened so that it was im- 

 possible to distinguish clearly enough to shoot. 



One day one of my cowboys and myself were return- 

 ing from an unsuccessful hunt, about nightfall, and were 

 still several miles from the river, when a couple of yearling 

 black-tails jumped up in the bed of the dry creek down 

 which we were riding. Our horses though stout and swift 

 were not well trained ; and the instant we were off their 

 backs they trotted off. No sooner were we on the ground 

 and trying to sight the deer, one of which was cantering 

 slowly off among the bushes, than we found we could not 

 catch the bead sights of our rifles, the outlines of the animals 

 seeming vague, and shadowy, and confounding themselves 

 with the banks and dull green sage bushes behind them. 

 Certainly six or eight shots were fired, we doing our best 

 to aim, but without any effect ; and when we gave it up 

 and turned to look for our horses we were annoyed to see 

 the latter trotting off down the valley half a mile away. 

 We went after at a round pace ; but darkness closed in 

 before we had gained at all on them. There was nothing 



