SEVEN DEER WITH SEVEN SHOTS. 37 



gave a great bound and went crashing through the 

 woods, making a noise like a herd of cattle. In a 

 very few minutes it was out of sight, and Dyche real- 

 ized that he had missed an opportunity of getting a 

 fine bull elk. He followed it seven or eight miles, 

 but overtaking that elk was out of the question, 

 so the hunter returned to the ranch and spent several 

 days meditating upon his loss. 



An old Virginia buck deer ranged through the 

 mountains and had been seen several times ; but he 

 had been hunted, and it has not yet been chronicled 

 if there is anything wilder or more tricky than a 

 Virginia deer that has been hunted. This old fellow 

 in particular seemed to be equal to all the snares and 

 traps laid for him. One cool, frosty September morn- 

 ing Dyche carefully made his way through the woods 

 frequented by this particular deer. While skirting 

 along the edge of a piece of timber he espied a mov- 

 ing object across the opening. It was about half a 

 mile away, but he could see that it was a buck. It 

 had its head high in the air and was on the lookout 

 for danger. His general direction lay down a ridge. 

 Dyche crawled to a point where he calculated the 

 animal would pass. It was cold, and this with his 

 nervousness put Dyche in a tremble. Minute after 

 minute went by and no deer came. He was just 

 about to give it up, when the deer appeared in a 

 bunch of quaking asp about eighty yards away. He 

 had deserted the ridge and was hiding in the thick 

 woods. Hardly daring to breathe, Dyche trained the 

 gun toward the old fellow, when something attracted 

 the animal's attention and it gave three or four great 



