44 THE WILDERNESS HUNTER. 



the does all night, and their flesh becomes 

 strong and stringy far inferior to that of 

 the barren does and yearlings. The old 

 bucks then wage desperate conflicts with one 

 another, and bully their smaller brethren un- 

 mercifully. Unlike the elk, the blacktail, like 

 the whitetail, are generally silent in the rutting 

 season. They occasionally grunt when fighting; 

 and once, on a fall evening, I heard two young 

 bucks barking in a ravine back of my ranch 

 house, and crept up and shot them ; but this 

 was a wholly exceptional instance. 



At this time I hunt on foot, only using the 

 horse to carry me to and from the hunting- 

 ground; for while rutting, the deer, being 

 restless, do not try to escape observation by 

 lying still, and on the other hand are apt to 

 wander about and so are easily seen from a dis- 

 tance. When I have reached a favorable place 

 I picket my horse and go from vantage point to 

 vantage point, carefully scanning the hillsides, 

 ravines, and brush coulies from every spot that 

 affords a wide outlook. The quarry once seen 

 it may be a matter of hours, or only of min- 

 utes, to approach it, accordingly as the wind 

 and cover are or are not favorable. The walks 

 for many miles over the hills, the exercise of 

 constant watchfulness, the excitement of the 

 actual stalk, and the still greater excitement 

 of the shot, combine to make still-hunting the 

 blacktail, in the sharp fall weather, one of 

 the most attractive of hardy outdoor sports. 

 Then after the long, stumbling walk home- 

 wards, through the cool gloom of the late 

 evening, comes the meal of smoking venison 

 and milk and bread, and the sleepy rest, lying 



