110 THE COMMON AMERICAN DEER. 



^^liile pursuing this sport, I have often 'jumped' 

 coyotes, or prairie wolves, instead of the buck I ex- 

 pected to find, and in such cases have never hesitated to 

 destroy the ' varmint,' even though I might have the 

 chance or the opportunity of killing a deer. 



Fire-hunting is a cowardly, treacherous method of 

 killing deer, and is resorted to by conscientious hunts- 

 men only when game is exceedingly scarce, and, in 

 consequence of having been over-hunted, too shy to 

 approach during the day. 



The fire-hunter carries upon his left shoulder a fire- 

 pan, generally an old fryingpan, with a stout stick 

 attached to the handle, in such a manner that the pan 

 shall be about a yard behind the head of the hunter. 

 This is filled with combustibles in the shape of balls 

 made of cotton-seed and tar or pitch-pine knots. A 

 comrade accompanies him with a well-trained dog, 

 around the neck of which is a bell, the clapper of 

 which is muffled with cotton or moss, so that it shall 

 not alarm the deer. This dog is to track the deer if 

 the hunter only wounds it, and then the cotton being 

 removed, the bell indicates the direction which the doer 

 has taken. 



The most favourable weather is a dark, damp night 

 after a rain, when the grass and dead leaves are so 

 moist that thev make no noise as the hunter treads 

 on them. AVhen they have reached that part of the 

 prairie on which they intend to hunt, the contents of 



