The Black-Tail Deer 167 



therefore hit in but one place, while with a shotgun, 

 if you hold a foot off your mark you will be nearly 

 as apt to hit as if you held plumb centre. Nor does 

 mere practice at a mark avail, though excellent in its 

 way; for a deer is never seen at a fixed and ascer- 

 tained distance, nor is its outline often clearly and 

 sharply defined as with a target. Even if a man 

 keeps cool and for the first shot or two he will 

 probably be flurried he may miss an absurdly easy 

 shot by not taking pains. I remember on one occa- 

 sion missing two shots in succession where it seemed 

 really impossible for a man to help hitting. I was 

 out hunting on horseback with one of my men, and 

 on loping round the corner of a brushy valley came 

 suddenly in sight of a buck with certainly more 

 than a dozen points on his great spreading antlers. 

 I jumped off my horse instantly, and fired as he 

 stood facing me not over forty yards off; fired, 

 as I supposed, perfectly coolly, though without drop- 

 ping on my knee as I should have done. The shot 

 must have gone high, for the buck bounded away 

 unharmed, heedless of a second ball ; and immediate- 

 ly his place was taken by another, somewhat smaller, 

 who sprang out of a thicket into almost the iden- 

 tical place where the big buck had stood. Again 

 I fired and missed ; again the buck ran off, and was 

 shot at and missed while running all four shots 

 being taken within fifty yards. I clambered on to 

 the horse without looking at my companion, but 

 too conscious of his smothered disfavor; after rid- 

 ing a few hundred yards, he said with forced polite- 



