214 AN AMERICAN HUNTER 



coat, it would sink when shot, and therefore the guide 

 would usually take hold of its tail before the would-be 

 Nimrod butchered it. If the deer was in the blue, the 

 carcass would float, so it was not necessary to do anything 

 quite so palpably absurd. But such sport, so far as the 

 man who did the shooting was concerned, had not one 

 redeeming feature. The use of hounds has now been 

 prohibited by law. 



In regions where there are no lakes, and where the 

 woods are thick, the shooters are stationed at runways 

 by which it is supposed the deer may pass when the 

 hounds are after them. Under such circumstances the 

 man has to show the skill requisite to hit the running 

 quarry, and if he uses the rifle, this means that he must 

 possess a certain amount of address in handling the weap- 

 on. But no other quality is called for, and so even this 

 method, though often the only possible one (and it may 

 be necessary to return to it in the Adirondacks) , can never 

 rank high in the eyes of men who properly appreciate 

 what big game hunting should be. It is the usual method 

 of killing deer on Long Island, during the three or four 

 days of each year when they can be legally hunted. The 

 deer are found along the south and centre of the eastern 

 half of the island ; they were nearly exterminated a dozen 

 years ago, but under good laws they have recently in- 

 creased greatly. The extensive grounds of the various 

 sportsmen's clubs, and the forests of scrub-oak in the 

 sparsely settled inland region, give them good harbors 

 and sanctuaries. On the days when it is legal to shoot 

 them, hundreds of hunters turn out from the neighbor- 



