282 HANDBOOK OF NATURE STUDY 



takes to the water, if possible, and will readily swim any 

 large river or a lake a mile wide and escape ; but hunters 

 say that, in the winter time, wolves nearly always run down 

 the deer which they start to chase. 



Economical value. The meat of the red deer is the most 

 palatable of all kinds of venison. The pioneer settler, who 

 lives on venison and little else for years, the lumberman, 

 the hunter, the Indian, and the guests of our luxurious 

 metropolitan hotels, all prize it. Its skin furnishes valu- 

 able robes and leather for Indians and whites, its antlers 

 furnish the handles for much fine cutlery, and the fine 

 mounted heads adorn the home of many a sportsman. Deer 

 do no injury unless they make frequent inroads into a 

 settler's field and garden. 



Hunting the deer. The true sportsman gives his game a 

 fair chance to escape. His endurance, skill, and knowledge 

 of woodcraft are pitted against the fleetness and endurance 

 of his game. He finds his deer without the assistance of 

 dogs, which he can do best by tracking them after a light 

 fall of snow. He prefers bucks to does, never shoots at a 

 fawn, never Mils more game than he can make use of, and 

 obeys the game laws of the state in which he hunts. Hunting 

 with hounds is generally prohibited because they drive the 

 deer into lakes and rivers, where they are simply butchered 

 by men on land or in boats, and where they have been killed 

 with clubs. The so-called fire-hunting is not sportsmanlike, 

 because it does not give the deer a fair chance. It is likely 

 to cause more game to be killed than the hunter can use. 

 He cannot see whether he shoots at a buck, a doe, or a 

 fawn; and in settled regions may shoot domestic animals 

 or even people. The light of his lantern in the boat is 

 reflected only from the eyes of the creature, which curi- 

 ously gazes at the uncommon sight from the near shore. 

 A true hunter is also merciful. He does not shoot unless 



