The Black-Tail Deer. *77 



The bullet went low, striking in line at the feet of the 

 hindmost. I held very high next time, making a wild shot 

 above and ahead of them, which had the effect of turning 

 them, and they went off round a shoulder of a bluff, being 

 by this time down in the valley. Having plenty of time I 

 elevated the sights (a thing I hardly ever do) to four 

 hundred yards and waited for their reappearance. Mean- 

 while they had evidently gotten over their fright, for pretty 

 soon one walked out from the other side of the bluff, and 

 came to a standstill, broadside toward me. He was too 

 far off for me to see his horns. As I was raising the rifle 

 another stepped out and began to walk towards the first. 

 I thought I might as well have as much of a target as 

 possible to shoot at, and waited for the second buck to 

 come out farther, which he did immediately and stood 

 still just alongside of the first. I aimed above his 

 shoulders and pulled the trigger. Over went the two 

 bucks ! And when I rushed down to where they lay I 

 found I had pulled a little to one side, and the bullet had 

 broken the backs of both. While my companion was 

 dressing them I went back and paced off the distance. It 

 was just four hundred and thirty-one long paces ; over 

 four hundred yards. Both were large bucks and very fat, 

 with the velvet hanging in shreds from their antlers, for it 

 was late in August. The day was waning and we had a 

 long ride back to the wagon, each with a buck behind his 

 saddle. When we came back to the river valley it was 

 pitch dark, and it was rather ticklish work for our heavily 

 laden horses to pick their way down the steep bluffs and 

 over the rapid stream ; nor were we sorry when we saw 



