160 The Black-Tail Deer. 



more exciting than still-hunting with the rifle. It is on 

 the great plains lying west of the Missouri that riding to 

 hounds will in the end receive its fullest development as a 

 national pastime. 



But at present, for the reasons already stated, it is al- 

 most unknown in the cattle country ; and the ranchman 

 who loves sport must try still-hunting and by still-hunt- 

 ing is meant pretty much every kind of chase where a 

 single man, unaided by a dog, and almost always on foot, 

 outgenerals a deer and kills it with the rifle. To do this 

 successfully, unless deer are very plenty and tame, implies 

 a certain knowledge of the country, and a good knowl- 

 edge of the habits of the game. The hunter must keep a 

 sharp look-out for deer sign ; for, though a man soon gets 

 to have a general knowledge of the kind of places in which 

 deer are likely to be, yet he will also find that they are 

 either very capricious, or else that no man has more than 

 a partial understanding of their tastes and likings ; for many 

 spots apparently just suited to them will be almost unin- 

 habited, while in others they will be found where it would 

 hardly occur to any one to suspect their presence. Any 

 cause may temporarily drive deer out of a given locality. 

 Still-hunting, especially, is sure to send many away, while 

 rendering the others extremely wild and shy, and where 

 deer have become used to being pursued in only one 

 way, it is often an excellent plan to try some entirely 

 different method. 



A certain knowledge of how to track deer is very use- 

 ful. To become a really skilful tracker is most difficult ; 

 and there are some kinds of ground, where, for instance, it 



