424 BIG GAME SHOOTING 



twenty-two deer in one day. But to hunt deer or anything 

 else upon Vancouver Island a man must be a born woodsman. 

 Where the deer are thickest the woods fairly swallow a man up : 

 every rolling hill is exactly like its neighbour, high peaks are 

 scarce and landmarks very few. 



Fortunately the island deer are not as wary as the white- 

 tail, and will generally stand to gaze for a moment after having 

 jumped from their lair amongst the sal lal. Early in the 

 season the neighbourhood of swamps is the likeliest place to 

 find deer, but during the rutting season (middle of October) 

 the old bucks seem to keep to the higher grounds. Like other 

 deer, the black-tail browses on all manner of shrubs and 

 deciduous trees, and, unfortunately for farmers, has a decided 

 weakness for growing crops. 



The largest head I have seen was shot in 1892 near 

 Cowitchan Lake, Vancouver Island. It measures along the 

 beam from skull to extreme point 21 ins., and in span it is 

 19 ins. from tip to tip. A typical head appears in the illustration 

 on the next page. 



Mr. Rowland Ward records a head of this deer measuring 

 28f ins. in length, with a span of 26 ins. 



