SLACK-TAILED DEER. 179 



bound indicate the presence of the game sometimes only 

 a few paces off. An outline is visible through the thick 

 branches. A quick sight, a sharp report, and another is 

 added to the bag. 



In such hunting, an old-fashioned round bullet pro- 

 pelled from a muzzle-loader, even ' Hawkins's best,' is 

 worth absolutely nothing. Each twig and they are in- 

 numerable between the gun and the game would serve 

 to deflect the ball. The ' old hunters ' killed very few 

 black-tails, and those were usually stalked when feeding. 

 I have never seen a black-tail feeding in the evening, 

 and am inclined to believe that they remain crouched 

 until nightfall. 



When suddenly surprised by the very close vicinity of 

 an enemy, the black-tail seems sometimes to make up 

 his mind that the best policy is to remain concealed. 

 Under such circumstances he will crouch close to the 

 ground, with his head down, and allow a man almost to 

 step on him without moving. I was once hunting in Elk 

 Mountain. My route led through a little vale, in which 

 thickets and open sports or parks irregularly alternated. 

 Passing in the open but close to a thicket, my orderly 

 called to me in a low tone, and on my halting pointed out 

 something in the bush which he said was a deer. I 

 scouted the idea. We were too near, and I could see 

 nothing unusual, but he insisted that he had seen it move. 

 I dismounted and walked quite near, when I could see 

 through the bush a grey patch as large as my hand, 

 apparently on or very near the ground. I was about to 

 fire at it, when it flashed across my mind that there were 

 many men, tie-cutters, at work about the mountain, and 

 that this might be some sleeping or drunken man. I 

 approached still nearer and called out in a loud voice, 

 warning whoever was there that I was about to fire. I 

 did this two or three times, still advancing, until I was 

 scarcely twelve feet from the object, when, giving a last 

 loud warning, I fired, and bagged a splendid black-tail. 



K'2 



