250 SPOR TING AD VENTURES 



between erotic males, and they sometimes become so entangled 

 that they cannot be separated, and both animals, as a conse- 

 quence, die of hunger. 



The syrens whose voices lead the gallants to destruction 

 bring forth their young in June. These number one or two at 

 a birth, and while they are in their infancy the mother keeps 

 them concealed in the most inaccessible thickets, in order to 

 protect them from hungry foes. She remains with them until 

 the commencement of the next rutting season, then leaves 

 them to shift for themselves, while she goes careering and 

 whistling through the woods in search of lovers. The cry of 

 the females and the defiant snorts of the males may then be 

 heard in the usually silent forest, and these sounds give it an 

 air of life and animation most pleasing to the lurking hunter. 

 Should he then be engaged in " fire-hunting " during the 

 night, he may feel assiired of bagging many a stately stag and 

 graceful doe, as their whistling makes their position known, 

 and they are attracted so much by the blazing torches or 

 gleaming jack-lamp that they may be approached from the 

 leeward to within a few feet, and killed as easily as cows in a 

 farmyard. Aim is always taken between the large, soft, and 

 glistening eyes, and, as the bullet goes crashing into the brain, 

 death is the immediate result. 



The mule deer is seldom, so far as I could learn., hunted with 

 hounds in the Far "West, owing to the rugged character of its 

 haunts, and its habit of dashing for the mountain peaks and 

 concealing itself, if possible, in rocky ravines or steep 

 precipices. It always selects the most stony and difficult 

 ground it can find, and where the scent cannot lie well ; hence 

 it escapes in the majority of cases. When the bucks isolate 

 themselves to grow their horns, they assemble in small groups 

 occasionally, and frequently use the same bed several nights 

 in succession, especially if they are not hunted much. Think- 

 ing I could avail myself of this characteristic to bag some, I 

 tried to run them with hounds on one occasion, but soon 

 found I could do nothing, as they separated at the first signal 

 of the dogs, and ran in different directions towards the sum- 

 mit. Presuming some would return on what I supposed to 

 be a regular runway, T posted myself there, but I waited in 



