THE SENSES OF THE GAME AND HUNTER. 39 



direction of the noise that alarms him and stops a 

 minute to locate it. Such an one makes an easy shot. 



The deer you will be apt to meet at this day are 

 animals very different from the one above mentioned. 

 And in order to understand them thoroughly it is 

 necessary to consider well their senses. 



You have doubtless heard and read dozens of times 

 that the deer is timid, shy, and watchful. The trouble 

 with all such information is that it gives no idea of 

 \hepractical extent of a deer's acuteness. From all I 

 have ever heard or read one would never dream of a 

 deer's starting two hundred or three hundred yards 

 away, out of your sight, beyond your hearing, etc., 

 when you were walking " so quietly," as you thought, 

 and against the wind too. You feel dazed when you 

 find the tracks of his long jumps so fresh and far 

 apart. And many times must even this be repeated 

 before the light of the true state of affairs breaks in 

 upon your picture-trained mind. 



As a general rule, the nose of the deer is perhaps the 

 most important sense to avoid. Not that they can 

 smell any farther than they can see or hear; but be- 

 cause the smell of a man alarms them more thor- 

 oughly and completely than any sound or sight. A 

 deer will often stop an instant to locate a noise or 

 look at any unusual object; and when entirely undis- 

 turbed by hunting deer are so certain to do so that 

 there is hardly ever any need of taking a running 

 shot. But almost every wild animal knows instinct 

 ively the smell of a man. A deer seems to know it 

 above most all others. When he catches the scent he 

 does not have to take a second sniff of the tainted air. 

 He has generally no further curiosity. He is perfectly 

 satisfied as to the character and direction of the odor, 



