HUNTING THE DEER 



as ever. Indeed, there are more deer now in these 

 states than there were when lumbering operations 

 were at their height and most of the camps were 

 fed on venison. 



The marketing of venison in the cities has become 

 a far more difficult proposition, and the bag limit 

 has been cut down. Given any kind of a chance 

 the Virginia deer will take care of itself. Natural- 

 ists rank the species with the bob-white quail and 

 the black bear in ability to fend for itself in a semi- 

 civilized country. 



Nearly every man who hunts at all has had 

 dreams from his youth up of killing a deer some 

 time. He pictures the whole thing out to himself, 

 and always makes himself out a hero in the experi- 

 ence. Sometimes he lives to see his deer perhaps 

 to kill him and sometimes he is not much of a hero; 

 but, whether or not he does or is, he holds this well- 

 nigh universal human ambition, that of sqme time 

 slaying one of the wariest and noblest creatures of 

 the wilderness, a stag. Mostly his stag is a doe. 



There is no animal more intimately mingled with 

 hunting romance or hunting traditions none which 

 serves more to set a hunter's blood a-tingle. Per- 

 haps there is more excitement about deer hunting 

 than any other kind of big-game hunting. 



For instance, I have killed many bears of all 

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