The Whitetail Deer 69 



lers it is indistinguishable from the common black- 

 tail of the Rockies and the great plains, and it has 

 the regular blacktail gait, a succession of stiff-legged 

 bounds on all four feet at once; but its tail is more 

 like a whitetail's in shape, though black above. As 

 regards methods of hunting, and the amount of 

 sport yielded, it stands midway between its two 

 brethren. It lives in a land of magnificent timber, 

 where the trees tower far into the sky, the giants of 

 their kind ; and there are few more attractive sports 

 than still-hunting on the mountains, among these 

 forests of marvelous beauty and grandeur. There 

 are many lakes among the mountains where it 

 dwells, and as it cares more for water than the ordi- 

 nary blacktail, it is comparatively easy for hounds 

 to drive it into some pond where it can be killed 

 at leisure. It is thus often killed by hounding. 



The only one I ever killed was a fine young buck. 

 We had camped near a little pond, and as evening 

 fell I strolled off toward it and sat down. Just after 

 sunset the buck came out of the woods. For some 

 moments he hesitated and then walked forward and 

 stood by the edge of the water, about sixty yards 

 from me. We were out of meat, so I held right 

 behind his shoulder, and though he went off, his 

 bounds were short and weak, and he fell before he 

 reached the wood. 



