192 HUNTING TRIPS 



as it is on the open prairie or in the dry 

 thickets. 



The white-tail is the only kind of large 

 game for which the shot-gun can occasion- 

 ally be used. At times in the dense brush it 

 is seen, if seen at all, at such short dis- 

 tances, and the shots have to be taken so 

 hurriedly, that the shot-gun is really the 

 best weapon wherewith to attempt its death. 

 One method of taking it is to have trained 

 dogs hunt through a valley and drive the 

 deer to guns stationed at the opposite end. 

 With a single slow hound, given to bay- 

 ing, a hunter can often follow the deer on 

 foot in the method adapted in most of the 

 Eastern States for the capture of both the 

 gray and the red fox. If the dog is slow 

 and noisy the deer will play round in circles 

 and can be cut off and shot from a stand. 

 Any dog will soon put a deer out of a 

 thicket, or drive it down a valley ; but with- 

 out a dog it is often difficult to drive deer 

 toward the runaway or place at which the 

 guns are stationed, for the white-tail will 



