304 FIFTY YEARS A HUNTER AND TRAPPER. 



learned that several of the sportsmen of Coudersport, the Judge in- 

 cluded, had had dogs after the white deer several times the pre- 

 vious fall, but it so happened that there were no watchers at the 

 place where the deer came to the creek. 



That fall as soon as the first snow fell I went after the deer. 

 I did not strike the trail until quite late in the afternoon, and as 

 the deer left the woods where it had been accustomed to staying 

 and went into the big woods farther south, I left the trail for that 

 day. I would have got a shot at the deer if my attention had not 

 been called in the wrong direction by the chirping of several blue 

 jays which I thought were excited over the presence of the white 

 deer. 



I was working the trail to the best of my ability and knew 

 that I was close to the game, when my attention was drawn by the 

 chirping of those blue jays which were down the side of a hill. 

 I was working the trail so as to be on vantage ground and could 

 see from where I was standing that the trail had turned slightly 

 down the hill along the side of a fallen tree and in the direction 

 of the chirping of the jays. This led me to think that the jays 

 were scolding the deer, so I cautiously advanced a few steps down 

 the hill, expecting every moment to see the deer. While I was 

 watching down the hill, I heard a slight noise to my right and 

 partly behind me. I looked in the direction in which the noise 

 came from and was surprised to catch a glimpse of the deer jump- 

 ing the log near where I had last seen the trail. The log hid the 

 deer from my sight so that I was unable to get a shot at it. The 

 deer had lain down close to the log, and had I taken a few more 

 steps in the direction I was going instead of giving attention to 

 the jays I would have seen the deer and made my word good the 

 first time. 



It was too late in the day to follow the trail farther at this 

 time, knowing that the deer would run a long distance before 

 stopping. As I had a team engaged to take me to my camp and I 

 was anxious to get there on the first tracking snow, I concluded 

 to give the white deer a rest a few days until I returned from 

 camp in the big woods. I was in camp only a few days when the 

 snow went off, so I came home. I had only been home a day or 



