150 The Black-Tail Deer. 



comes in the good of having a repeater) knelt down and 

 pointed the rifle against the sky line, at the place where 

 the deer seemed likely to top the bluff. Immediately after- 

 wards the buck appeared, making the last jump with a 

 great effort which landed him square on the edge, as 

 sharply outlined as a silhouette against the fading western 

 light. My rifle bead was just above him ; pulling it down 

 I fired, as the buck paused for a second to recover him- 

 self from his last great bound, and with a crash the mighty 

 antlered beast came rolling down the hill, the bullet having 

 broken his back behind the shoulders, afterwards going 

 out through his chest. 



At times a little caution must be used in approaching 

 a wounded buck, for if it is not disabled it may be a rather 

 formidable antagonist. In my own experience I have 

 never known a wounded buck to do more than make a pass 

 with his horns, or, in plunging when the knife enters his 

 throat, to strike with his forefeet. But one of my men 

 was regularly charged by a great buck, which he had 

 wounded, and which was brought to bay on the ice by a 

 dog. It seemed to realize that the dog was not the main 

 antagonist, and knocking him over charged straight past 

 him at the man, and as the latter had in his haste not re- 

 loaded his rifle, he might have been seriously injured had 

 it not been for the dog, a very strong and plucky one, 

 which caught the buck by the hock and threw him. The 

 buck got up and again came straight at his foe, uttering a 

 kind of grunting bleat, and it was not till after quite a 

 scuffle that the man, by the help of the dog, got him down 

 and thrust the knife in his throat. Twice I have known 



