46 The Wilderness Hunter 



led my horse along its edge, that I might have a clear 

 shot at whatever we roused. We went nearly to the 

 head, and then the cowboy reined up and shouted 

 to me that he "guessed there were no deer in the 

 coulie." Instantly there was a smashing in the 

 young trees midway between us, and I caught a 

 glimpse of a blacktail buck speeding round a shoul- 

 der of the cut .bank: and though I took a hurried 

 shot I missed. However, another buck promptly 

 jumped up from the same place; evidently the two 

 had lain secure in their day-beds, shielded by the 

 dense cover, while the cowboy rode by them, and had 

 only risen when he halted and began to call to me 

 across them. This second buck, a fine fellow with 

 big antlers not yet clear of velvet, luckily ran up 

 the opposite bank, and I got a fair shot at him as he 

 galloped broadside to me along the open hillside. 

 When I fired he rolled over with a broken back. As 

 we came up he bleated loudly, an unusual thing for 

 a buck to do. 



Now, these two bucks must have heard us com- 

 ing, but reckoned on our passing them by without 

 seeing them; which we would have done had they 

 not been startled when the cowboy halted and spoke. 

 Later in the season they would probably not have 

 let us approach them, but would have run as soon as 

 they knew of our presence. Of course, however, 

 even later in the season, a man may by chance stum- 

 ble across a deer close by. I remember one occa- 



