is 6 The Black-Tail Deer. 



shoulder-blade. On receiving a bullet in this spot the 

 deer will plunge forward for a jump or two, and then go 

 some fifty yards in a labored gallop ; will then stop, sway 

 unsteadily on its legs for a second, and pitch forward on 

 its side. When the hunter comes up he will find his 

 quarry stone dead. If the deer stands facing the hunter 

 it offers only a narrow mark, but either a throat or chest 

 shot will be fatal. 



Good shooting is especially necessary after black-tail, 

 because it is so very tenacious of life ; much more so 

 than the white-tail, or, in proportion to its bulk, than the 

 elk. For this reason it is of the utmost importance to 

 give an immediately fatal or disabling wound, or the 

 game will almost certainly be lost. It is wonderful to see 

 how far and how fast a seemingly crippled deer will go. 

 Of course, a properly trained dog would be of the great- 

 est use in tracking and bringing to bay wounded black- 

 tail ; but, unless properly trained to come in to heel, a 

 dog is worse than useless ; and, anyhow, it will be hard to 

 keep one, as long as the wolf-hunters strew the ground so 

 plentifully with poisoned bait. We have had several 

 hunting dogs on our ranch at different times ; generally 

 wirehaired deer-hounds, fox-hounds, or greyhounds, by no 

 means absolutely pure in blood; but they all, sooner or 

 later, succumbed to the effects of eating poisoned meat. 

 Some of them were quite good hunting dogs, the rough 

 deer-hounds being perhaps the best at following and 

 tackling a wounded buck. They were all very eager for 

 the sport, and when in the morning we started out on a 

 hunt the dogs were apparently more interested than the 



