IN THE FAR WEST. 277 



persons consider the meat dry and somewhat leathery, but 

 that has not been my experience, and I doubt if any one 

 could find fault with a buck or doe in good condition. Fawns 

 are not fit for the table before the October or November after 

 their birth, that is when they are about six months old, for pre- 

 vious to that time their flesh is insipid and devoid of much fat. 



The black-tail is found from the wooded plains to nearly the 

 snow line on mountains in some portions of the West, and in 

 California it frequents thickets of undergrowth ; hence it is 

 also known as the mountain and the brush deer, besides its 

 ordinary appellation, according to the character of the country 

 which it inhabits. It is so abundant in certain portions of 

 the Pacific Coast that I have heard of market hunters who 

 killed five and six hundred in a season by stalking alone, and 

 it was reported to me in 1874 that over three thousand were 

 slaughtered within a period of five months in a region having 

 an area of less than two hundred miles, and that most of 

 them were sent to market and sold at four cents, or two pence 

 per pound. The retail sellers charged from ten to twelve cents 

 per pound for the venison, so that they realized more than a 

 hundred per cent profit on their investment. 



Great as the slaughter is, the animal is still very abundant, 

 especially in the densely wooded regions north of California, 

 and for years to come it will probably be looked upon as a 

 nuisance by some pioneers in that country, as it frequently 

 injures or devours young crops of growing cereals, and tram- 

 ples down strawberry and vegetable beds. Its profusion may 

 be judged from the fact that a person need not go three miles 

 from any town in Oregon or Washington Territory to meet 

 one, and perhaps a dozen. It is, I understand, the most nume- 

 rous species of deer in California, for thousands are slaughtered 

 there annually by market hunters, pot-hunters, and sportsmen. 

 This is specially true of the more northern region of the State, 

 where the forests are still heavy and extensive, and settlements 

 are scarce, compared to the more southern parts. 



Many of the ranchers depend largely on wild game for 

 their fresh meat, and of this the flesh of the black-tail forms 

 the most prominent portion. 



