THE BLACK-TAILED AND VIRGINIA DEER. 341 



ants, and escape ; but when they are overpowered by num- 

 bers they soon become exhausted, and are killed, or drag- 

 ged helplessly ashore by the hunters, when they are fin- 

 ished at once. 



The favorite method of hunting the antlered beauty in 

 the North-west is to organize a party, and take tents, cook- 

 ing utensils, commissary supplies, and teams into the for- 

 est, and encamp there for a week or two, changing quarters 

 according as the deer are hunted out of a district by the 

 dogs. It is not often necessary to change camp, however, 

 for the animals expelled from a region one day may return 

 to it the next, if they have not been alarmed in the inter- 

 val ; hence, as long as they are not all killed off, persons 

 may find good sport in any place they are known to fre- 

 quent if they get a rest for a short time. 



Five of us bagged forty deer in less than four days in a 

 section of Southern Oregon, although there were several 

 hunters and their packs in the field at the time, and eight 

 of us killed sixty in a week in Western Washington. 



I have sometimes shot two and three in a day in Idaho, 

 Wyoming, Montana, and other fresh fields, although the 

 pursuing pack seldom consisted of more than two or three 

 couples of slow hounds. As a specimen of what deer-hunt- 

 ing in the forest is, I may cite two hunts which came off in 

 the North-west, as they will be sufficient to show the ex- 

 citement of the sport, the manner in which the deer run, 

 and the jolly life one can lead in the woods away from all 

 the trammels of society and civilization. 



I was at one time visiting an army post, and, while there, 

 the officers decided to go on a deer-hunt a proposition 

 with which I felt much pleased, as I had not used rifle or 

 shot-gun for six months, and I longed to roam in the 

 woods once more. 



After spending the night among congenial companions, 

 whose hospitality is proverbial, I retired to the simple 

 couch in use among bachelor officers, and slept soundly 

 until the boom of the cannon aroused me in the morning. 

 A hasty breakfast was soon despatched, and we were ready 



